By Lei Lydle, Founder and Editor Last Updated: 1/1/2000

Again let me stress that choosing a wedding gown is not a simple process. In addition, to the stress you put on yourself, the bridal shops can give you a headache!

For one thing you need to make an appointment with most of them at least a week in advance if you plan to shop on a Saturday. And please take this advice - make an appointment. The waiting lists for walk-ins are very long and there is a chance that you will not be able to try on any dresses thus wasting your precious time!

Another problem is that many bridal shops are not open on Sunday. This is a problem if you are looking for the small boutique atmosphere. If you just want to look at some dresses on Sunday try the stores that are located in the malls or some of the larger ones that are open on Sunday.

Another potential problem with some bridal shops is that they remove the tags from the dresses and write numerical vendor codes on the tags. Thus it is very hard for you to find a particular dress that you are looking for. I don't think that this is meant to be any type of deceptive practice - I think it helps the shops (especially the large stores) keep the merchandise organized.

Don't worry - they will tell you the proper vendor and style # if you ask for it. I did not find one shop that wouldn't give me that information. They will write it down for you and everything. But, if they write it down for you, please make sure that they write a physical description of the dress for you. It is very hard to remember which dress is which when you were never able to see the vendor name.

I had an experience where the salesperson wrote down the vendor names, style numbers and prices of the two dresses I was trying to decide between. When I got home I wasn't sure which was which because I never saw the original tags on the dresses. I thought for some reason that the dress I really liked only cost $850. So, I assumed that the dress was made by Galina because the $850 dress written on the card was made by Galina. I was ready to go in and buy that dress until I saw a magazine ad for the exact dress - it was made by The Diamond Collection. Oh no!!! The price on the card for the Diamond Collection Dress was $1500. "Okay - maybe she made a mistake," I thought. So I went back out to the store and found that she was right and the dress I really wanted cost $1500. So, I didn't get it. It was heartbreaking at the time because I thought that I had finally found the dress - but I hadn't. Oh well. Luckily I kept looking and I found a dress I loved even more for only $760!!

Something else to watch out for with bridal shops is the size that they order. Some bridal shops will take your measurements and then order a size that sounds too large to you. Don't worry, bridal gown sizes do not correspond to your regular dress size. If you wear a size 8 in a dress you will probably wear a 10 or 12 in a bridal gown depending on the designer.

I have heard that some shops will order a larger size so that they can make a lot of money in alterations. This particular practice did not happen to me so I cannot attest to the validity of this claim. However, if you want to be certain, do the following when ordering your dress:

1. Get measured in the bust, waist, hips and from the base of your throat to the hemline with a vinyl tape measure. Make sure they use a vinyl tape measure because cloth tape measures get stretched out over time and can give inaccurate measurements.
2. Ask to see the manufacturer's sizing chart and select the gown that corresponds to the largest of your measurements. And don't depend on your goal to lose weight before the wedding. Order a dress that will fit you today. After all, its a lot easier to make a gown smaller than it is to make it larger.
3. Finally, if the store recommends a different size than the one that is listed on the manufacturer's sizing chart, make sure that this different size is noted somewhere on the receipt or sales contract.

One thing I found suspect in bridal stores is that 90% of the time the salesperson says that you look beautiful in whatever gown you have on at the time. She may also tell you that their alterations department can fix elements of the dress that you don't like. For example, I loved everything about a particular dress except for the neckline and the sleeves. The salesperson told me that her seamstress could lower the neckline and add some capped sleeves. Now I'm not saying that they couldn't do it, but let me tell you - all I could think of was DISASTER!! "What if they mess up my dress? What would I do? I'll just keep looking for that perfect dress for now."

And one last thing, as with every wedding related purchase, get everything in writing! When you place your order, be sure to get a receipt with the price, color, size, manufacturer, style number and most importantly, the promised delivery date. Also, listed on the ticket should be any extra special-order requests (rushes, extra beading, different fabric, etc.) and any deposit paid at the time of order.

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