You want the perfect wedding dress, so you have made it a major
focus of your pre wedding planning. There are some things you need to
find from the bridal shop, before you even look at your first gown. Do
you need to make an appointment to visit the shop? Does the store carry
dresses you can afford Can you browse the whole collection, or do you
only get to see the dresses the sales person chooses for you? If this
shop doesn’t carry the dress you love, can it be ordered?

Once
these questions have been answered and you find a dress or two that you
like, there are still more questions you need to ask. Can a particular
dress be ordered with different sleeves, or neckline? What alterations
can be done and what will that cost? Can you get a written estimate on
the alterations? If we order the bridesmaids dresses here, can we get a
discount or free alterations? Do you have headpieces and or veils that
will go with my dress? How much is the deposit and when is the balance
due? What are the cancellation and refund policies? Can we get a Rush
on this dress if necessary? These are the most important questions to
ask, but you will probably have some of your own. Beware of any shop
that won’t give you straight answers or written estimates. When you
think you have found just the right dress, ask if they can hold it for
a day or two, then go home wait at least 34 hours and go back for
another look. If you still love it, then go right ahead and buy it.

On
the other hand, if your mother, maid of honor, sales clerk or friend
thinks a dress is perfect and you are not sure, use the same strategy.
Wait a day; go back for a second look before you reject it. If a dress
just doesn’t feel right or you just don’t like it do not yield to
pressure from the store staff, friends or even Mom. It is your dress,
your day, you decide.

After you have chosen your wedding dress,
the clerk or the shop’s seamstress will take measurements of your bust,
waist and hips, and determine if the dress needs to be taken up. Just
about every wedding dress needs some alterations. You will also need to
go in for fittings, usually at least three times. Make sure, if your
alterations are not free, that you get a written estimate. Find out if
you will be able to “borrow� your dress for a portrait sitting, and
return it for pressing afterwards. Pay with a credit card so that if
anything goes wrong, you can dispute the payment.

You have
another big decision to make. What about your headpiece and veil? The
sales staff should be able to assist you in choosing a headpiece that
goes with your dress. Veils come in several lengths and styles, and
again the staff can help you decide which is best for you.

The
veil you choose for your wedding depends on the dress you have chosen.
If you are wearing a street length casual style dress you wouldn’t
choose a cathedral or chapel veil, both of which trail the floor. By
the same token you wouldn’t wear a flyaway veil, which barely brushes
the shoulders, with a formal dress with a train.

Don’t forget you need to get the right lingerie, shoes and jewelry, to go with your beautiful wedding dress.

Before
we leave the bridal salon, there is one more detail to attend to, your
bridesmaids dresses. When choosing these dresses, you need to take into
consideration the ages, complexions, and body types of your attendants.
Fortunately today’s bridesmaid’s gowns are no longer the cookie cutter
dresses all in the same color, that nobody would ever wear again.

Some
options for bridesmaid’s dresses are to choose a color and fabric
suitable for all of the women and let each of them pick a style that
she is comfortable with. Or you can choose a simple a-line or empire
waist dress that flatters all figures, and let the girls choose the
from a color family, say purple, the options could be lilac, lavender,
plum, mauve and orchid. If you do choose to have all attendants wear
the same dress, they can personalize the look with small beaded purses,
scarves, jewelry or shawls.

Also, be aware that the colors and
your bridesmaid’s wear have to complement
The color scheme of your reception, you don’t want a red plan for your
reception in red if your maids are wearing green, unless you are going
for a Christmas look.

The
wedding is over, now you have to decide what to do with that beautiful,
expensive dress. You can put it on a hangar in the back of your closet,
where any stains will set and be very difficult to remove at a later
time. You need to ask your bridal shop or wedding consultant in advance
for the name of a gown preservationist. Many dry cleaners claim to
clean wedding gowns, but most are not experts in preservation.

There
are two cleaning methods used by preservationists. Some use the wet
cleaning method, this entails washing the dress by hand with a mild
cleanser, that removes visible and invisible stains (champagne and
sugar) Other companies use the dry cleaning method, where stains are
pre-treated and then put in a dry cleaning machine. Once the dress is
cleaned, it is wrapped in white acid free tissue paper or unbleached
muslin. Ordinary tissue paper has acids that can stain and eventually
eat holes in your dress. Then the wrapped dress is in is placed in an
acid free or paperboard box. Sometimes the box has a viewing window of
acetate. Store the box in out of direct light to keep the dress from
becoming yellow.

Having your gown cleaned and packaged by a
reputable preservationist can cost between $200- $400 depending on
where you live. Before sending your dress off to be done, ask if the
work is done on site. Also find out if you have to sign a disclaimer
and sometimes say that the company is not responsible for damage done
during the preservation processes, You should seek out a
preservationist who will guarantee her or his work.

To help
preserve your dress never wrap it in plastic, don’t hang it on an
ordinary wood or wire hangar, because the dress could stretch and
distort from its own weight. Don’t try to clean stains, this could
cause them to set.

If you are all tapped out after the wedding
you can do things to prolong the life of the dress. Wrap the dress in
unbleached muslin, or a white sheet, and store in a sturdy box under
your bed. Then as soon as you possibly can take the gown to a
professional preservationist. Some day your daughter may want to wear
it on her wedding day.

About the Author
Martin Smith is a successful freelance writer providing advice for consumers on purchasing a variety of
Wedding Dresses which includes
Informal Wedding Dress,
Discount Bridal Gowns,
and more! His numerous articles provide a wonderfully researched resource of interesting and relevant information