When to Buy Your Wedding Dress: When You Know, You Know
With 2025 and 2026 weddings just around the corner, we know the question of when to start shopping for (and when to say YES to) your wedding dress is starting to pop up for many brides. Luckily, we have answers!! Everyone has their own unique dress journey, and no matter whether your wedding is a month or a year away, it’s always a good idea to be ready to find your dress when you start shopping! So here are our best tips on when to shop for and say YES to your wedding dress!
Timelines to Keep in Mind
Special order dresses take about 6-8 months to arrive in our shop once we order them. What does that mean for you? If you try on a gown in our collection that you’d like us to order in a different size for you, we can definitely do it, and it will just take 6-8 months for the designer to create your dress and ship it to our boutique so you can take it home with you! If you want the absolute MOST options while shopping for your gown, we recommend booking your appointment 8-10 months from your wedding date so you can try on both the off-the-rack dresses and the special order ones as well!! Don’t have that kind of time? Not to worry–80% of our dresses are available to take home day-of.
Additionally, we recommend starting the alterations process about 3-4 months before your wedding date! All dresses will need some form of alterations, whether that be hemming the gown, adding a bustle, or altering straps (or having customizations done!)
Photo by Enchanted Peaks
I’m just shopping for styles, is that okay?
While you can definitely shop for styles, we want to offer you a gentle warning! Wedding dresses are magic. We don’t mean that in a cheesy way, it’s just real. When you put on a wedding dress, you just feel something. And then all of a sudden, you can be standing in your perfect dress and be really feeling your something! Then you’re there thinking, “Oh shoot, I wasn’t ready for this. I’m having this moment and my mom isn’t here, or I’m just not ready, I can’t say yes today, I wasn’t mentally prepared!” We want to be fair to you and fair to your moment, and protect that experience that every bride dreams of. So make sure when you really feel ready to say yes, then make your appointment and start your search–because every bride thinks they aren’t going to find their dress, and then they do.
Photo by Cody + Bailey Photo + Film
How do I know if it’s THE dress?
Whether we want to admit it or not, “Say Yes to the Dress” has really grown our industry. But one thing it has also created is pressure. Every bride is now wondering, “what if I don’t have that ‘moment’ that everyone talks about? How will I know it’s THE dress?” Let us tell you – you will have your own moment, in your own way. Do some brides cry? Yes, of course! Do all brides cry?? Absolutely not. The something that tells you it’s THE dress is a feeling. You will just feel amazing in one dress more than any of the others, like you can picture yourself walking down the aisle. You will have this gut feeling that this dress is better than all the rest, and you will be comparing all your other favorite gowns to this one dress.
Photo by Ronny and Rene
I don’t want to buy on an impulse - how do I make sure that doesn’t happen?
We know, it’s like once you’re in a dress and you’re feeling all these feelings, you better be careful it’s not an impulse buy! But in reality, feeling something is how you know it’s the right one. It’s part of the totally normal and amazing process of finding your dress. When you said yes to your fiance proposing, it wasn’t an impulse decision, it was both your head and your heart coming together. And it’s the same thing here, finding your dress!
P.S. You know what’s so cool about finding your dress the very first time you try on? You get the most perfect moment that nothing can touch. You skipped all the mediocre (or flat out bad) experiences and you got to say YES! while all your special people are with you and so hyped for you!
At the end of the day, when you find a dress you really love at your first appointment with us, just know 99% of the time, it’s not because you’re feeling impulsive, it’s not because you’re too emotional, and it’s not because it’s the first dress you’ve tried on. Our stylists are highly trained to make sure we communicate with you beforehand to understand your dress and wedding vision, and because of that, quite often our brides are able to find their perfect dress within the first 1-3 dresses they try on! We are here to help you check finding your dress off your planning list, and make it an incredible life moment for you and all your special people attending your appointment!
Feeling ready to find your dress?? You can call our shop to book an appointment at 541.330.7090, you can text us at 541.368.2090, or you can book online HERE! We can’t wait to meet you!!
