Weddingbee Blog

Hive, I have a confession to make.

I’m terrified of going wedding-dress shopping!

Image via ETF Trends

More than anything else, I have been dreading wedding-dress shopping. Probably because I know it’s the only thing that I definitely HAVE to do. Whether we have a 500+ person wedding (which would never happen) or an intimate elopement, Mr. Parasol’s one request of me is that I wear a wedding dress. And while I definitely agree with him and acknowledge that I would be really sad if I got married in anything other than some sort of white dress, I am actually really scared of going wedding-dress shopping.

Perhaps I am missing the bridal gene or am just flat-out crazy, but right now the idea of trying on dozens of dresses does not sound appealing to me. But maybe that’s to be expected because I’ve never really enjoyed shopping at all. Sure, I love to get new clothes, but I try to be as quick and efficient as possible. I know what I want, I know where to find it, and then I go and get it. End of story. I don’t like browsing for hours just for fun. I feel a little put off by pushy salespeople who won’t let me pull out my size on my own or carry my garments over my arm. I especially don’t like crowded shopping areas, and living in New York City has not helped this. To me, shopping is a chore, and while it can have great results (new clothes!), the process of getting there isn’t really an enjoyable process for me, so I avoid it when possible and get it over with as fast as I can when I absolutely have to go shopping.

Given my feelings about regular shopping, I guess it should come as no surprise that I am not really looking forward to wedding-dress shopping. First, I need an appointment, and those are usually at least an hour long, if not more, so I already know that this particular trip will not be quick and easy. Not to mention that I’ll probably need well over one appointment to find “the dress.”

Second, there will be no pulling garments on my own. No, no, there’s a salesperson for that. And given the difficulty of getting in and out of wedding dresses, this person has to actually help you put on the gowns. Ah! My personal-space bubble just went down to zero. I know the salespeople are probably really nice and helpful, but I’m still pretty worried about working so closely with them as I look for a wedding dress.

And finally, wedding-dress shopping tends to draw crowds, if only for the fact that brides usually bring entourages of various sizes with them (though I recently discovered that there are brides who shop alone and love it!). Basically, this is the exact opposite of my approach to “no-fuss” shopping, and for a while, the very idea of going wedding-dress shopping was enough to send me into a little bit of a panic attack.

I also had a lot of really weird hangups about what kind of underwear to wear when trying on dresses. For some reason, this stressed me out to no end. I knew I couldn’t wear my usual underwear (if only because bridal salons may look down on Target brand unmentionables), but I had no idea what was actually appropriate. Thankfully, a dear friend who is actually sane and was recently a bride herself offered some sound and very practical wisdom about appropriate bridal underwear. In fact, she is the one who finally introduced me to long-line underwear, AKA Spanx. I now have all the appropriate undergarments I could ever need.

Even though I’m still pretty terrified of going wedding-dress shopping, I finally bit the bullet and made my first appointment. It’s just a few days away now, and I’m growing increasingly worried that I’ll break out into hives a la Carrie Bradshaw. I just hope that the experience won’t be too stressful and overwhelming; who knows—perhaps it will even be exciting!

I feel a little more at ease because I think I have a pretty good sense of what I’m looking for. I have done what can probably only qualify as an unhealthy amount of research on wedding dresses, and I really just hope that I don’t end up hating what I think I like, if only because I’m not up for more work. Even though I’m dead-set on not buying anything at my first appointment—it seems that buyer’s remorse is not at all uncommon when it comes to wedding-dress shopping–I’m really hopeful I’ll walk out knowing exactly what I want. It doesn’t have to be an exact dress, but even just knowing the particular style and silhouette of what I want would relieve so much stress and pressure. Although I may get excited about wedding-dress shopping while there, I know myself, and I know that I don’t want to spend months and months trying on wedding dresses. Hopefully I’ll have my fun, find what I’m looking for, and, without too many more appointments, order my dress. Then I can go ahead and cross “get wedding dress” off my to-do list and let out a big sigh of relief.

Also, let me just say that wedding-dress shopping would be infinitely less stressful if Mr. Parasol would just come with me. He’s honestly the best shopping buddy ever, and I totally trust and value his opinion about what I wear. He’s also like me when it comes to shopping: quick and efficient. While I’m not a stickler for tradition when it comes to this aspect of wedding planning, Mr. Parasol is old-fashioned and doesn’t want to see me in my dress until our wedding day. He has looked at wedding dresses with me, though, and knows what I’m looking for; he’s even seen pictures of my “favorite” dress and agrees that it is stunningly gorgeous and (hopefully) perfect for me. We may eventually compromise: once I’m ready to buy, he may come with me to the store to purchase the dress; I just won’t let him see me in it. We’ll see!

OK, hive, wish me luck!

How did you feel about wedding-dress shopping? Were you excited or did you feel worried and anxious about the process like me?