HELP b/c I am clueless Dress shopping! who what when where?

Hey Ladies.

This wknd will mark one year till our wedding and I am ready to start dress shopping, for my dress and my bridesmaid's dresses. What do I do first? Do I do my gown shopping first? Theirs? Both at the same time. I am seriously COMPLETELY clueless to the formalities of wedding preperation.

Do I tell people I am going wedding gown shopping? Do I make multiple appointments.

HELP ME PLEASE!

Wedding weekend twin!! You do have some time, but if you want to get started you definitely can. Make some appointments and just know what you're looking for ... your consultants will do the rest!! HTH!!

Hi! Don't worry about being clueless....i'm the same way!
I've been told to start shopping for YOUR dress a year to 9 mon before the wedding and pick it out before you shop for your BM dresses. Your dress should guide you on how your BM dresses will look.

Make apts and go in with an open mind, y oull have a blast!

Hey,
Congrats on the 1 year countdown! I shopped for my dress first. I had first gone to get my feet wet in February at Pronovias NYC. The 1st dress I tried on I loved, and I felt it was too good to be true. Then I went to Village Bridal in Babylon (which I wasn't a fan of) and Bridal Reflections in Massapequa. I found a few dresses I liked at Bridal Reflections, but nothing compared to the one I tried on at Pronovias. I went back to Pronovias in May, tried on a few others, and decided to go with my original dress- their Marabu gown. My wedding is in June, so I was at just about a year in advance. This is still plenty of time. My first fitting is scheduled for the end of March.

Last weekend was actually the 1st time I went bridesmaid dress shopping. I took only my MOH (my sister) with me, as I knew I wanted her dress to be slightly different. The plan is to have my BMs measured by November and the dresses ordered by January. I didn't try to match my dress to theirs. I knew I wanted their dresses to be long (I feel its more formal), navy and chiffon (a lighter material for a June wedding). I came in with some pictures and honestly found something right away.

I highly recommend Pronovias, as well as Bill Levkoff to check out.

Don't try to think about it or stress out too much. It really is a lot of fun. You will find something you love and it will all fit together

start looking for your dress... while on your journey check out the BM dresses at the stores.
usually the stores let you browse them on your own.

i was clueless too!!! I went to the first dress store that carried a designer I liked (based on online pics). While i was there they knew it was my first time so we tried on diff styles, cuts etc until i figured out the style i wanted. from there dress shopping was easy! ok well thats a lie, it was not easy but it narrowed down my selection. My 4th store visit was to Gerri at Lillettes and I decided I was going to buy my dress with her because she is just fantastic, helpful, friendly etc. I was told i had time to wait to order a dress (they need to order it 8 months in advance) and she said the new dresses come out over the summer. so 2 weeks ago i called up and made another appt with her and i put a deposit on my dress last weekend!

you still have time to look but with the holidays coming up starting now is smart so that you arent rushed into anything.

good luck and have fun!!!

there really isnt an order. its just preference...
i went gown shopping and if there were brides maids dresses in the store i had my two MOH try them on. i brought them on the dress shopping excursions.

you can tell people, whomever you want. you can bring whomever you want. just remember the more people, the more opinions. i always brought my mother and 2 MOH.

you can make as many appointments as you want in as many places. when you find the one you will know. some people find theirs in the first gown, some the first day and some take months. just never give up. take your time. enjoy the experience!!! dont rush your decisions either.

start going through bride magazines, pulling out every dress you like. then find out where those dresses are sold, and make appointments there. and the sales person will bring you other dresses too. try everything, even if you think it looks bad on a hanger. try all different styles (even the ones you think you will hate, just to confirm lol, since you never know!)

edit.. i meant Most Importantly!!! HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

your dress is going to take longer to come in, so definitely start with that. and the style you choose could impact your BM dresses.

my dress is a ballgown, so i decided to go with mermaid BM dresses in order to create a contrast.

you can do anything you want!! i found dress shopping to be overwhelming, so make as many or as few appts as you want. also, i would get your dress first and then pick out BMs dresses after that. you want them to coordinate with you, not the other way around!

THANKS LADIES!