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"I want to tell you how extraordinarily pleased Joan and I were with your performance, at Jenny’s wedding … all were superb"
JOHN C. BLEW
"Your orchestra's performance was truly outstanding. We couldn't be more pleased"
HOUSTON GRAND OPERA
"One of the country's most popular orchestras"
TOWN & COUNTRY MAGAZINE
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SECTION IV - SHOPPING FOR YOUR WEDDING GOWN
How to Shop for Your Wedding Dress
You will want everything to be perfect and perfection comes with careful planning, attention to details, and allowing adequate time to complete every phase of the process. Begin actively shopping for your gown at least six months prior to the wedding date, or nine months if you have scheduled a wedding portrait to be taken several weeks before the wedding or if your dress is a special order from a prominent designer. Many design houses require a minimum of six months to order a gown from the manufacturer or a local renowned designer. If your dress has to be made or special ordered, you will want to make certain you have allowed ample time for ordering, altering, or returning the gown or accessories should there be problems. There are so many people involved in the chain of events associated with a wedding gown that anything could go wrong with any one of them.
It would be wise for you to shop for several days, trying gowns on in a few different stores. When you first begin the ritual of seeing and trying on gowns, the salesperson will inquire as to the budget you have for your gown. It is a good idea to reveal an amount that is slightly lower maybe as much as 25% than you have actually allocated for your dress and accessories. The majority of salespeople will try to influence you to buy up. If you have $ 1,000 budgeted, tell the salesperson $750. Make anywhere from one to three selections, and ask the salespeople to hold the gowns for up to a week while you think about them. Note which points about the gowns that you like and do not like. List which and what style of accessories should accompany the dresses you have selected. If the clerk will allow you to do so, have the person with you take pictures of you in the gowns you have selected. You can have the pictures developed quickly and study them at home at your leisure.
After a week has passed, style your hair the way you think you will be wearing it the day of the wedding, wear appropriate lingerie, wear a pair of shoes the height you will be wearing, select any accessories you have that you are certain will be included, and return to try the dresses on again. It is amazing how many times a bride forgets something that is very important in regard to the attire she will be wearing. You may also remember the dress differently than it really is or, when you return, you may not have remembered several of the important details of the gown that you thought at the time were essential.
The price of your gown will be based on the originality of the design or the designer's name that is attached, the intricacy of the dress style, the type of material, the amount of handwork required to attach the details, and the number of alterations needed to the original design. Custom gowns are the most expensive. The least expensive are those you buy off the rack at a department store, purchase secondhand, rent from a bridal salon, make yourself, or that you borrow. To ensure that the gown is worth the price being paid, make certain to examine it carefully. What type of material and lace are being used? How nicely are the buttons, zippers, and seams put together? Is the trim glued on, sewn by machine or hand stitched? Is it an original or mass-produced?
When choosing a dress that needs to be special ordered, you will probably have to have alterations made. The salesperson can take your exact measurements for reference, using a vinyl tape measure to assure accuracy, and pin the sample gown so that it is closest to your size. He or she will then order the estimated size from the manufacturer. Do not order a size smaller than you actually are on the day of the fitting because you are certain you will lose weight before your wedding day! It is much easier to take a dress in than it is to let it out, and the whole point of having the dress special ordered is so that you will have a perfect fit. When the dress finally arrives at the shop, you will then go in for your first fitting. If you are buying a dress off of the rack, chances are it will also need to be altered in one or two places so that it fits you perfectly and comfortably. You may also wish to make additions to or deletions from the dress more pearls, less lace or a shorter hem.
Back to Wedding Gowns and Wedding Dresses
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