My Truths For Brides To Be

As a bridal consultant and now a bride to be, my life pretty much revolves around weddings 24/7. When I'm not painting the picture for my brides at work, I'm painting my own with my fiance at home. Sure it's a job that brings me more joy than I've ever felt in any of my previous career roles but its also taught me so much and perhaps has burst my bubble a little where that big dream wedding is concerned. 

Here are my truths for brides like me who got a shock to their system's when they first started planning or have yet to plan and want an insight before they get stuck in. 

You won't always have a "say yes to the dress" tearful moment.  

A lot of the brides I meet have an expectation when picking out their wedding look and who can blame them when they've dreamt about the dress and the big day since they were little girls. But one thing I dread to come across is a bride who watches the show 'Say yes to the dress' because its one of the most unrealistic wedding reality shows to have any expectations from. Not every bride will cry when they find the dress and in some cases not every bride will walk in and have her expectations met in her first fitting with that designer/company. Finding your dream dress can be stressful, but it's not as dramatised as the reality show makes it look. Admittedly, I did not cry when I found my dress and considering I'm very in touch with my emotions, everyone was surprised when they saw no tears but just the biggest smile on my face. Inside you'll know when you've found the one, tears do not need to convince you- the dress does. 

If it wasn't Covid19, it'd be something else.

Not everything goes to plan at weddings. Rather than me writing a full blog post just about the reality of covid19's effect on weddings, Ill sum it up like this- if it wasn't something as big as this, it would be something else, maybe a few things and likely all smaller but there is always something and we can't allow that to defeat us and the passion we have for our big day. We'll get married eventually and what's important is that we have our loved ones there and healthy.

You don't have to have a wedding workout routine. 

Wedding workouts/bridal fitness routines are not actually a necessity in the lead up to the big day. Unless you worked out before your engagement and did it for your personal health reason, you shouldn't be feeling forced into changing your fitness now a ring is on your finger. I think a lot of brides get the idea in their heads because they see it in media all the time. Its something ingrained into our brains from a young age as if its a tradition or mandatory. The bridal industry is just like the fashion one, we supply dresses for all sizes and women of every shape, you have options so just know you don't have to strain a single muscle or go down two dress sizes to look incredible. You already do!

Dream weddings cost dream money. 

Brace yourself when looking into how much a wedding costs. It's a lot. And at times you'll question if it's even in your price range getting married at all. However, once you start budgeting you'll find things are less stressful and your options are more fun to explore. The people around you can also be of help. I had a friend mention shes baked wedding cakes before and just like that I didn't have to carry on my search for wedding cake bakers.

Don't try on more than 10 dresses in one boutique.

This was something I found out within research during my consultant training and its something I've passed on to other brides since. It's pretty simple really- the more dresses you try on, the more confused you become. So after you've done your research and have an idea of what you're looking for and have found a boutique that does the styles you like and is within your budget. Go and try them out, but if you've tried on 10 of their dresses, and still haven't found the one, look elsewhere. That designer wasn't for you but there is one out there.

It's okay to not fit into the statistics.

"A bride will usually find her dress within the 3-7 dresses she tries". Its a great statistic, but it doesn't mean it's helpful when you've tried on those 7 and still have no dress you love. Not every bride is going to fit into that statistic or any of the others so if you don't, do not worry. Alike to my last point, you will find your dress, just try not to confuse yourself or put unnecessary pressure on, instead put it on your consultant, that's what we're here for and we're good at our jobs for that reason. 

Images taken in the WED2B Milton Keynes store.