What if...

As a future bride you are planning an entire wedding that is unique to you and your groom. You are spending more time planning and more money on your "all-about-me" day than probably any other time in your life. With all the effort, you want everything to go right with one of the major parts of the entire day--the part you've dreamed about since you were a little girl...the showpiece of the event...the part that provokes the "oo's" and "ah's" from everyone ...

...THE DRESS.

It's finally the time to find and purchase your dream dress, but the "dreaming" part turns into “doing” eventually. There's a practical side to purchasing a gown and making sure it comes in safe and sound and on time. It's always important to be prepared when you are putting everything together, so we'd like to share some tips with you that will help you prepare for the "what if" feelings that every bride experiences during the process.

1) Give yourself plenty of time.  Purchasing your gown should be one of the first things that you do after he pops the question. It takes about 12-16 weeks to order and receive your gown. That's roughly 4 months! Unless you're purchasing a custom gown made by Cinderella’s mice, you will need to expect some alterations once your gown arrives. You should allow 4-6 weeks for it to be completed. There's always the option of purchasing a gown off the rack, but it is more limiting and it is always better to plan ahead.

2) Be prepared "3 levels deep."  Not everything will go as planned on the day. If it's not the flower girl crying down the aisle, the cake is bound to arrive later than planned and the wrong song played during the unity candle. Relax! You can't control everything, so the best thing to do is plan "3 levels deep," meaning you have a couple plans for each potential problem that could happen. Start with giving yourself plenty of time to find your dress and order in time, making sure you have more than enough time before the big day. On your wedding day, keep a couple pins for a last minute tweak in your gown, baby wipes for accidental makeup smears on your Maggie Sottero sweetheart neckline, and tissues tucked somewhere on hand for the written vows where he gushes his undying love for you at the altar.

When you are flipping through your wedding album years later, you'll remember that the dress was perfect, everyone thought the flower girl was adorable, everyone loved the cake, and the Bono song played during the unity candle wasn't so bad after all. It's always better to be safe rather than sorry, so if you have months left before your day, get started now and plan along the way to ensure smooth sailing into forever with the man who loves you...(even with your smeared mascara and cake on your face.)