What Happens When A Wedding Magazine Editor Goes Wedding Dress Shopping

When you see dresses on beautiful brides every day, how are you supposed to find your ‘one’ when dress shopping?

Not many brides know when new season dress collections come out, which trends are going to last, which ones won’t stand the test of time, and don’t look at wedding dresses every day. So what happens when it’s the turn of a wedding magazine Art Director to say yes to the dress? Well, it starts with a lot of pinning, a lot of Instagramming and then visiting a lot of boutiques.

It was always in the back of my mind I wouldn’t find the one, but five bridal boutiques in, it’s a serious concern now.

I’ve worked in weddings for 8 years and have heard countless love stories from real couples, from the engagement to the honeymoon. They always include the feeling they got when the bride found their dream dress. I’ve been waiting for the feeling, but it hasn’t come. It started with working at a wedding photographers, then my first editorial role at Wedding Ideas, where for three years, I looked at wedding dress styles every day. Saying ‘when I get married I’d have something like this’, and now it’s come down to picking one, it’s really not that easy. For starters, wedding dresses are expensive, so the cost comes into the thought process. I don’t want to spend thousands of pounds on a dress that I don’t love and don’t think is worth spending money I’ve worked for years to save. Secondly, I’ve seen alot of brides wearing alot of dresses, so when I see one I know someone else has worn, it’s an instant no. I want my dress to be unique, not a cookie cutter wedding dress, and that’s proving harder to find than first thought. Lastly, it’s nothing like Say Yes To The Dress! My mum and myself have watched Randy Fenoli ask that question countless times for years and we couldn’t wait for that moment. But five bridal boutiques in and I’ve learnt it really isn’t going to be like that. The main problem I have discovered while dress hunting is that there isn’t one large store like Kleinfelds where hundreds of designers and different dresses are in stock. British bridal boutiques are small and seem to only stock a handful of designers and not their full collection either, so when I visited, I thought they would have more dresses available from each designer than they actually do. If it wasn’t for the pandemic and current travel restrictions, with how I’m feeling towards dress shopping now, I would be jumping on a plane, flying to New York and banging on Randy’s door until he helps me find a dress!

Speaking of Randy Fenoli, I have already met him in London. I got his signature ‘Hello Beautiful’, which if you are a fan of his too, will understand why I squeled when this happened! And to answer your question, he’s just as lovely, wonderful and humble in real life as he comes across on TV. So I’m sure he wouldn’t mind a surprise visit from me!

For now, I’m still on the hunt. It’s back to Pinterest and Instagram and leaving the South West to the big city of London for dress shopping to find one that’s more me. I think this is the best route to go down now, so at least I don’t have the worry of finding one that someone I know will wear. Although, my wedding is now less than a year away so I need to get a move on. If you have any London bridal boutique suggestions for me, please let me know in the comments. Or while you’re there, any dress hunting tips at all would be greatly received! And if you’ll all interested, I will keep you updated on my dress journey and you can see if I do eventually end up with the feeling…

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