I was so amazed when I was looking for my wedding dress how hard it is to find wedding dress shops online. There are obviously the big ones that everyone knows about but the smaller private ones were difficult to track down.
My first day of dress shopping was with my mom and sisters.
One of the first places that I visited was Brickhouse Bridal in the Woodlands. I found one dress that I really did love there and ended up going back two more times to try it on. I fell in love with this dress but it was a little out of my budget and due to the time constraints of planning a wedding in 4 months and the fact that I waited till last minute to pick out my dress I could not get the dress in time. I loved my experience at Brickhouse Bridal, they were very sweet and helpful when looking at dresses. I think I tried on what seemed like 20-30 dresses. I tried to make sure I tested out all of the different silhouettes and types of dresses to make sure what my heart was set on (the fit and flare/mermaid) style was actually the one. The girls working there were great at helping make recommendations.
We also visited a little place in Old Town Spring, and we walked in right before closing so we weren’t able to actually try on any dresses.
The second attempt at dress shopping was with my future mother in law.
We went down to some shops in the Willowbrook area.
We started out at M2 Milan Bridal aka Mommy Dearest. I love this store, is is actually where I bought my homecoming dress my senior year of high school. They had gowns in all price points. After spending hours trying on gowns we did find couple that we really liked. We also went down the road to a couple of other shops off of 1960 but they were a total strike out for us, a few of them were a little rude because we didn’t have an appointment and just wanted to browse.
*Lesson learned, always make an appointment at dress shops.*
The final day of dress shopping my Mom and I went to Parvani Vida it was a little bit of a drive but well worth it. The girl that helped is was amazing, the dresses were all fabulous. At this point in time I had discovered that I really was at the point of no return and would have to buy a floor sample. Luckily I was able to find the dress, it was everything I wanted.
When you are dress shopping they will ask you what you want over and over…and for me that was the hardest thing ever. I knew I wanted a fit and flare/mermaid style dress that was strapless. I also knew that I wanted it to be unique. I thought I might want lace, but in most cases lace was too plain for my dress. Other than that I was hopeless, I kept telling everyone that when I saw the dress that was unlike anything I had ever seen before that it would be my dress. I looked online for hours and hours and would go to the stores hoping to find that dress I would fall in love with online only to discover they look nothing like they do online in person on an actual person (not a 6 foot tall 100 pound model).
Here are a few of my favorite dresses from my past brides.
The Bridesmaid dresses were a completely different story for me. I knew I wanted them in coral dresses, and I had a certain color coral in mind. This coral color I dreamed up in my head was impossible to find. After exhausting all of the normal options I headed for Nordstorms. I fell in love with the Adriana Papelli lace dresses and was able to find one in the perfect color coral for my wedding. Plus I thought it was a pretty cute dress to, so I was hoping my girls could wear it more than once. They were all able to order them from Nordstorms or pick one up at a store near then so it worked out really well.
I find that most brides go the Davids Bridal route. It is super convenient when your bridesmaids are in different locations because they have stores all over and it is super easy for them to run in to the store and find the size and style that works best for them and order their dress.
When you are deciding on your bridesmaid dressed you will need to decide if you want all of them to be the same or if you want them to all select different styles in the same color. Some brides go as far as telling their bridesmaids to go find a dress in a certain color or shade and just snap a picture before they purchase the dress to make sure they approve.
You will also need to choose short or long dresses. I think the type of wedding you are having and the time of year of your wedding will dictate what direction you go on this. Long dresses are a little more formal in my opinion and are a great choice for weddings during the cooler months of the year. Short dresses are a little more fun and casual, and a must for most summer weddings in the Texas heat.
I found an amazing article over at The Knot with some tips on how to choose your bridesmaid dresses. Just remember to keep your girls in mind when making your selection, you want to make sure they look and feel good too…and it’s even an added bonus if they LOVE their dress so much that they can wear it in the future for other events!
Designs by Karinda Photography specializes in wedding, newborn, and child photography in Montgomery, Texas and surrounding areas including but not limited to The Woodlands and Magnolia.
