Wedding Dress Shopping: Pinning Reality on Expectations | Carrie’s Bridal Collection

You’re engaged! You have the guy, you have the ring, and now you need the centerpiece to every beautiful wedding: the wedding dress. Planning a wedding can be a full time job, as you work to  manage a timeline to get everything accomplished while also adhering to your wedding budget. During planning, many brides will experience plenty of “expectation vs. reality” moments. Carrie’s Bridal Collection, an Atlanta and Macon-based off-the-rack bridal dress shop, is sharing how brides can pin reality on their expectations.

Photo: Kelly Anne Photography, Dress + Belt: Carrie’s Bridal Collection 

Wedding Dress Shopping Tips from Carrie’s Bridal Collection

Brides, keep your head above the water and remember, this is your wedding and with a little imagination and understanding, your vision can and will come to fruition if you open your mind.

It’s easy to get sucked into the wedding world. Before you were even dating your fiancé, there were shows about brides. Now you’re watching “Say Yes to the Dress” religiously and your Pinterest boards are now home to your 50 different dream weddings and your 100 favorite dream dresses.

These pictures are all romantically shot, every dress is impeccably tailored, and the end result is edited perfection! Then comes the day you’ve been waiting for: it’s your turn to pick out your own dress! You make your appointment with a salon that seems to fit what you’re looking for, you arrive and the consultant begins the appointment by asking what style you see for yourself, and other questions such as budget and size.

GAME ON! You got this in the bag. Last week, you pinned the A-line that was perfectly photographed in a beautiful garden setting in the spring, hanging lanterns above the kissing couple standing in a light breeze with the bride in perfect flowing chiffon. Yesterday though, you pinned the most beautiful fitted $7000 lace mermaid gown from a high-end designer that is EVERYTHING! But, what about a month ago when you pinned that long sleeve, off the shoulder fit and flare, set in a vineyard at sunset. How romantic – maybe that’s the one!  

Wedding Dress Expectations vs. Reality

You show your consultant all the styles you love, but now comes time to be, wait for it, REALISTIC! It’s easy to get sucked into the fairytale whirlwind, but purchasing a dress is just as much of an informed, educated, practical decision as it is a once in a lifetime experience. As your appointment begins, have a budget in mind and stick to it. Bring a clear mind with you, and keep it open. Put your Pinterest board in another tab and focus on YOU!

You try on an A-line similar to the garden wedding you pinned, it’s fitting well, but looks too sweet for your more modern industrial wedding. Don’t be disappointed because it doesn’t look like the picture. Next! On to one that is similar to your lace mermaid high end designer gown. Your consultant zips you in and upon seeing yourself you know this isn’t the one, it looks nothing like the picture! Is it you? Is it the dress size?

Not even close! It may be the fact that your budget is $1000 and you’re trying to fit a $7000 expectation into that! It’s not you at all. It’s learning what dresses look and feel like on YOU! There are beautiful dresses in every price point, but just like walking into Banana Republic looking for a Hermes Bag may be disappointing, hoping for a $7000 dress with a $1000 budget will be too. Again, it’s all about expectation.  

Finally, you try on the long sleeve vintage gown. It’s beautiful and everything you dreamed of, but you love to dance and can’t even lift your arms! In the pictures it looked beautiful. And you never even thought about how dancing the night away may not be possible! But now you know, because you are educated in bridal shopping and you’ve tried things on IN PERSON!

Finding the Best Wedding Dress for YOU!

So you don’t like A-lines, the mermaid fell flat, sleeves aren’t your thing, WHAT NOW!?  Now, you can try on things that fit YOU and not your idea of you. Your consultant pulls a lace gown, fitted through the hips, crisp, clean lines, strapless with some ruching through the bodice. You try it and suddenly everything makes sense. This isn’t that Pinterest brides’ garden wedding dress; it isn’t your high-end, out of budget, forever making payments, $7000 gown; and this isn’t your long sleeved, can’t dance gown, either. This is YOUR timeless, yet modern, fitted to perfection, lace you’ve never imagined, look that you’ve never seen in pictures!

That’s when you realize, you can look at millions of pictures and dream millions of dreams, but you can never know that feeling until you have YOUR MOMENT, and those are the moments worth pinning!

Here at our estate wedding venue, we would love to hear about how our brides found their dream wedding dress! Brides, how were you able to pin reality on your expectations?