The people you choose to bring to bridal gown shopping can make or break your wedding dress hunting experience. Everyone involved will have an opinion on what looks good on you – and what doesn’t. One wrong move and you could easily get back to square one.
For a better, special wedding dress shopping experience, learn more about who goes wedding dress shopping with the bride and why they’re important.
Who Goes Wedding Dress Shopping with the Bride?
Here are people you might want to consider inviting to help you with wedding dress shopping:
Invite Your Mom
Ask your mom to spare some time to go wedding dress shopping with you in preparation for your big day.
Your mother is a big part of your life. She has watched you grow and develop from a child into the adult that you’re now. Because she knows you better than anyone else in your family and friends’ circle, she can help you to determine whether a garment truly reflects your personality.
While it’s good to involve your relatives in wedding preparation, it’s not a good idea to involve them in bridal gown shopping. Cousins can invite aunties and aunties can invite their other cousins, and that will eventually result in overwhelming shopping ideas and opinions that you just can’t deal with.
If your extended family is truly interested in being a part of your wedding dress buying experience, assign someone to give them gown images to ensure that they feel included.
Invite Some Members of the Wedding Party
You may feel compelled to invite members of your bridal party to wedding dress shopping, and that’s completely fine. However, how many people you invite matters. We strongly recommend inviting at most four people only. Remember, the last thing you want to deal with is too many divergent opinions, as it can make it difficult for you to find the right dress for your big day.
Identify individuals who understand your style and attitude towards life and fashion. These individuals will do their best to provide you with a candid response, which can help you to make an informed decision when shopping for a wedding dress.
If you’re unsure who to invite or fear upsetting someone by failing to extend an invitation, just consult your bridesmaid. Depending on your wedding party, this individual may turn out to be your sibling. Additionally, you may engage certain people at various stages of the process, such as dress fittings that have their own etiquette, to ensure they take part in the wedding dress shopping process.
Invite Your Close Friends
We’re certain you’ve made many friends from the time you joined the junior high school to the very moment you said “Yes” to a marriage proposal. So, bringing two or three close friends to wedding dress shopping can add a unique thrill to the occasion.
If you’re a little unsure about the type of bridal gown to choose and have a friend who provides excellent counsel, invite her along. Whether they enjoy contemporary fashions and trends or not, your bestie can provide some impartial input that will help you to make the right purchase decision.
If one of your friends is famously judgmental and pessimistic, she may be better off staying at home. The most important point to remember is that you’re inviting individuals who can assist you in making a decision and feeling good about it.
Go Wedding Dress Shopping Alone
Some people prefer to shop for clothing alone, and bridal gowns are no exception. While you adore your family and friends, you’re the one who will be wearing the wedding gown, not them. So, it’s completely fine if you decide to go shopping alone.
Shopping alone provides a judgment-free environment in which to consider how you feel in a dress without relying on other people’s reviews or opinions.
You may certainly start shopping alone and then invite family and friends to accompany you once you’ve narrowed down your options.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do dads go wedding dress shopping?
Unfortunately, the answer isn’t in black and white.
Based on etiquette, there doesn’t seem to be a problem if your dad goes wedding dress shopping with you. But according to some superstitions and traditions, only the bride should see the wedding dress before the big day.
Regardless of the existing beliefs, it’s up to the bride to decide whether they would like their dad to go wedding dress shopping and see the gown before the ceremony.
Should the mother-in-law see the wedding dress?
Tradition dictates that it’s the bride’s mom’s role to take the lead on wedding dress shopping. However, many women nowadays use this as a guideline rather than a strict rule.
To be clear, there isn’t any rule suggesting that you should bring your mother-in-law to be for wedding dress shopping. So, they don’t have the right, on any ground, to feel offended if you don’t want them to see the bridal gown before the wedding day.
You might consider letting them see the dress, provided the fiancé’s mom is respectful and supportive.
Can a groom go wedding dress shopping?
A groom can go wedding dress shopping with the bride, but they don’t necessarily have to. Many grooms prefer to see their brides’ dresses on the wedding day. So, they won’t participate in the shopping rendezvous.
Do bridesmaids go dress shopping with the bride?
They attend the engagement party, the wedding rehearsal, and the rehearsal dinner. They give a wedding gift and help to get the party started on the dance floor at the wedding reception. They also buy and wear whatever bridesmaid dress the bride wants for her big day. They can go wedding dress shopping with the bride but that’s up to her.
Does the groom’s mother go wedding dress shopping?
It’s not too unusual to invite the groom’s mother for wedding gown shopping when you have very strong and friendly relations. It’s however not the most common arrangement so you could always explain not inviting her if you want a more intimate experience.
Who goes to the bride’s dress fitting?
Fitting a dress can be laborious so better have someone to help the bride out. It would most often be the mom or the maid of honor but could be both of them. It’s not as fun as choosing a dress so just ask someone you can rely on to keep you company and help out during a dress fitting.
Conclusion
It’s easy to fall into the temptation of inviting as many people as you can to bridal gown shopping. However, when it comes to deciding who does wedding dressing shopping with the bride, we strongly recommend keeping the group small.
If you think about it, you’ll get too many points of view. Your friends will tell you what they want, your mom will say what she thinks you should do, and you’ll probably have a differing opinion. In the end, shopping can be much more difficult than you anticipated it to be.
To get the wedding dress selection right, it’s best to limit the number of people you bring to gown shopping to one to four.