What Should I Expect at a Bridal Appointment?
We understand that booking a bridal appointment can be intimidating. It’s unlike anything you have ever done before, and you probably don’t know what to expect. We hope the details laid out in this blog post help you prepare for a wonderful bridal appointment experience at Ellen’s!
Before you walk in the door.
First things first…decide how many people you want to bring with you to your appointment. We recommend choosing 1-4 close family members and/or friends whose opinions you value. Too many opinions can get overwhelming for a bride. It is also best to keep children at home. We love kids, but many bridal boutiques are not kid friendly. There are large clothing racks, mirrors, pedestals, and much more than can be a hazard to children. Additionally, this is a special time for you to focus on being a bride. You should be the center of everyone’s attention! Once you decide who you want with you, find a few dates and times that work for everyone before you sit down to book your appointment.
Schedule that appointment! We offer online booking at https://ellensbridal.com to make it easy for you. Additionally, our booking system sends you a questionnaire to fill out. Details such as your wedding date, styles you like, venue, etc. are included to help our stylists find the perfect gown to match your vision. Our bridal consultants review this questionnaire prior to your appointment to ensure a personalized experience.
The day is here!
Today is the day! Before you arrive to your appointment, make sure to eat a healthy breakfast or lunch. Trying on wedding gowns is a workout, and you want to be sure you are fueled and ready to go! We do offer water for our brides and their guests during the appointment. Also, think about wearing full coverage underwear, a strapless bra, and bring shoes you might wear on your wedding day. We provide hair ties for our brides to pull their hair up if that is the wedding day look they are going for…it can help you get a better picture of how you will look on the wedding day!
You have arrived!
Congratulations! You have made it! When you arrive to Ellen’s, make sure to snap a picture with your name on the welcome sign! All our brides are welcomed with our iconic sign out front.
After stopping for a photo op out front, you will be greeted by your individual bridal consultant upon walking through the door. Ellen’s is by appointment only to make sure that each bride has one-on-one attention from one of our trained bridal consultants. We know this is a big decision, and we want to make sure to support you every step of the way!
And now, the moment you have been waiting for….it is time to get in some dresses!! Ellen’s is closed stock, so the majority of our dresses are stored in our back room. We have tried open stock and closed stock, and we have found that closed stock is so much better for our brides. Walking into a room filled with 100+ wedding gowns is intimidating. Where do you start? Where do you put the ones you want to try? Mom pulled this one and I don’t like it but I don’t want to hurt her feelings…ah! Don’t worry, we will handle this for you. Remember when you filled out that questionnaire after booking your appointment? Well, this helps guide our bridal consultants as they pull 4-5 wedding gowns to start off the appointment. As you try each of the gowns, be completely honest about what you like and what you don’t like. This helps guide the appointment and helps the consultant pull dresses that align with what you want.
It’s crunch time.
As you try on gowns, your bridal consultant will start a favorites pile for you. She will talk to you about each dress you try on and how it aligns, or doesn’t align, with your vision. As you go through the dresses, you will begin to get a feel for what you like and don’t like, and you, the consultant, and your party will start to eliminate gowns. Once you have it narrowed down to 2-3 favorites, it is time to try them on again and get jacked up (adding a veil, jewelry, etc.). Think about your wedding day as you try on your favorites…can you sit in the dress? Can you dance in the dress? Can you walk in it? Keep in mind, these are sample gowns so it is very unlikely that the gown you try on at your appointment will actually fit you (more on that later). Your bridal consultant will help clip you into the dress to help you get a better idea of how the dress will look when it does fit you!
I’m saying yes to the dress!
Once you find the one, enjoy the moment when you say yes to the dress! Congratulations! One of the hardest decisions regarding your wedding is over! At Ellen’s, we offer champagne or sparkling grape juice to our brides and their party when they say yes to the dress! It is such a fun way to celebrate the end of the appointment!
Sing the wall! Brides that say yes to the dress at Ellen’s get to sign our wall with their married name and wedding date! We take your picture and post it to our instagram stories as well!
Now what?
Congratulations! You have said yes to the dress! Unless you have made special arrangements to buy the sample gown prior to the appointment starting, your bridal consultant will take your measurements and will recommend a size to be ordered for you based on our individual designers charts. Don’t be surprised if the size recommended is bigger than you typically wear. Just like jeans, sizes for wedding dresses are wonky!
Once your measurements are taken and you have enjoyed that champagne, it is time to order your wedding gown! You will sit at a desk with your bridal consultant and go over all the details of the dress one more time. Each gown is ordered for each bride to ensure that a new, clean gown arrives. To order a gown at Ellen’s, you must pay 1/2 of the total cost of the dress at the time of the order. The dress must be paid in full within 30 days of its arrival at Ellen’s. It typically takes a wedding gown 6-8 months to arrive at Ellen’s. If you don’t have this much time, don’t worry! Talk with you bridal consultant about your short timeline prior to your appointment and she will pull gowns that can be sold off the rack. Rush shipping can also be arrange for a fee.
Ellen’s places orders every Tuesday, so expect a confirmation email on the Tuesday after your appointment with an approximate ship date. Once your wedding gown arrives, an Ellen’s team member will unbox and steam your wedding dress. You will be notified to set up an appointment to come in and try on your gown. Remember when we recommended only bringing 1-4 close family members/friends to the initial appointment? This next appointment is a great opportunity for you to bring additional guests to see you in your wedding dress. Just let your bridal consultant know when you book your appointment so we can accommodate large parties.
Between “the dress is here!” and “I do.”
Ellen’s can store your wedding dress for a fee of $75 if you don’t want to take your wedding gown home right away. This covers the insurance we need for the gown to be in our care. Most gowns will need alterations (so consider this when thinking about your budget). Ellen’s has a list of seamstresses we recommend, or you can use your own. Last but not least, Ellen’s will steam and prepare your gown for the wedding day during the week of your wedding. Brides typically drop off their gown on the Wednesday before their wedding (if it is that Saturday). We will steam the gown to ensure it is wrinkle free, and you or a trusted friend/family member can pick up the gown the day before the wedding!
Some final thoughts.
When shopping for your wedding dress, here are some things to consider based on challenges we have seen brides experience.
Start with the styles you think you like, but don’t be discouraged if you quickly move in a different direction. Some things just don’t look how you thought they would once you get them on…and that’s okay!
The gowns you try on in the store will not fit you perfectly, and unfortunately, we can’t afford to have every dress in every size and color. Know that your consultant will do their best to clip you into the dress so you can see how it will look once it fits, but be prepared to use your imagination a little.
Not everyone will cry. In fact, most of our brides don’t cry. They are so happy that they get the biggest smile on their face! We have heard several brides worry that this might not be the dress because they didn’t have a bridal moment like in the movies…don’t worry if you don’t have that moment!
You will need alterations. Even when your measurements are taken, nobody is a perfect size 6, 12, 14, 20, 28, etc. Your dress will likely need some specific alterations from a seamstress that will help tailor the dress to fit you perfectly.
Wow. That’s a lot.
We hope that this post is helpful and not overwhelming. If you would like even more details about a bridal appointment at Ellens, email us at info@ellensbridal.com and we will send you the link to download our free Ultimate Guide to a Successful Bridal Appointment! This resource provides a step by step process for preparing for a bridal appointment and a free checklist!
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