Dress Shopping
Dress shopping is such a surreal experience when you become engaged. For some people, it is the first time they feel like a bride. I recommend keeping your group small. I was so grateful I got to share this moment with my two Grandmothers, Mom, and Aunt. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. I went dress shopping two times. I recommend going to multiple places and trying on as many dresses as you can. This gives you a great idea of what your style and budget should be. Before I went dress shopping, I thought that a wedding gown was going to cost $2,000 - $4,000. This is SO not the case! Some dresses on the rack were priced that crazy amount, but you can find a nice dress for a lot cheaper if you look! The first place I went to the wedding dress shop was a boutique in Tyler named Brooke & Bre Bridal & Prom. I actually won $250 off a wedding dress at an open house. They had beautiful dresses, but I did not feel like any dress I tried on was the one. If you are in the East Texas area, I recommend stopping by there. The ladies were so nice, and the dresses were beautiful.
The next dress shop we went to, I think my Nana found this place (Gracyn Elizabeth Bride), was having a sale and we decided to go all the way to Texarkana to check it out.The sale was "off the rack" and had REALLY good deals. The all-lace dress in the pictures with the lace veil was $250 or $300. I am kicking myself that I did not buy it along with my wedding dress with getting eloped and everything, but I digress.
Before you go wedding dress shopping, it is better to have an idea of what style you are looking for. If you don't know a style or what you might like, you will get asked 100 questions from 10 people. Pinterest is a great place to see dress styles are out there. You can also look at the shops Insta and Facebook because they will post pictures of new dresses they got in or what they currently have. This is basically how I found my wedding dress.
This was my dress inspiration from Pinterest.
Before I went to Gracyn Elizabeth Bride, I looked through their Instagram and found a dress I really liked. This could have dangerous because I could have had my heart set on this dress, and it could have looked horrible on me. Of course, when I was sifting through the sale rack I couldn't find the dress there because it wasn't on sale. About halfway through trying on dresses I showed the ladies the picture of the dress and asked if I could try it on. And the rest is history. That was it I fell in love.
I hope you enjoyed seeing all the pictures, and let me know what you thought of the dresses! Last dress pictured is my wedding dress! (It was less than $1,000, if you were curious. $980 something.)