Not Another White Dress

Selecting your wedding gown may be one of the most challenging part of planning your wedding, next to getting your non-suit wearing fiancé to put on a tuxedo while trying to convince him that he doesn't look like a pigeon.

How do you ease the pain of visiting 50 shops in a 3 month period, while keeping the joy of planning what is to be one of the most important day of your life? Research. Do your homework. Buy magazines, read books, ask friends who've walked that beaten path. Some things to make dress shopping amazing and fun:

Do research! Find out what the average cost of wedding gowns is today! Not twenty years ago. This is not your grandmother's wedding. Things have changed drastically. There are more options for you now.

Which leads to, create a budget . Be honest with yourself before you take a trip to the various bridal salons. An educated shopper is always the best customer. Search the internet by brand names, bridal shops and reputation. When you hear Vera Wang, Monique Lhuillier, Reem Acra, Oscar De la Renta, Ines DeSanti, Adele Wechsler, and Azura are not your low budget items.

So when calling a salon, ask for some of the designers they carry and their price points. That will tell you whether or not you should schedule an appointment or not.

Once you've determined your budget, now consider your sense of style . What sort of wedding are you having? Day wedding, afternoon wedding, or evening wedding. What is your setting indoor, outdoor, gallery, loft, museum or restaurant?

Setting - masquerade, old Hollywood, jazz-funk or country classic. All these things play a factor in the sort of dress you select.

Silhouette - sheath, ball gown, or A- Line.  

Fabrication - also important for the look of the dress. Satin, silk dupuoni, dutchess satin, silk organza, crepe, double face satin all of these will determine the cost, feel of the look you are looking for.

Once you've narrowed these things down, now begins the fun. Let us start from the top down. Bridal Salons that will not only give you lux and atmosphere but the whole package:

Mark Ingram - This man of style is definitely giving you everything one could ask for in a bridal salon. From the moment you walk in the door the ladies meet and greet you with a smile. The ambiance is like no other. He has this amazing wall of family photo's that scream glamour and style. The staff is very knowledgeable and ready and able to answer all your concerns and questions. This modern salon is definitely for the chic bride with style and flare.

Kleinfeld - The huge loft is breath taking. Once you can get past the museum like setting and past get over impeccably decorated space. The dresses will definitely bring you to your knees. This showroom for a lack of a better word is a princesses playground. This is definitely for the classic bride who wants to be a princess and has dreamed of this day all her life.

Designer Loft - This cozy living room setting is tantalizing. No pressure from the sales help is definitely relaxing change of pace. The staff has amazing sense of style and can help you in creating the one of a kind bride you want to be for your special day. Dress after dress you that are brought to you prove to as unique as the proceeding dress. This is definitely not for your cookie cutter bride.

Saks - Has a great bridal salon. The space is small within the department store but the selections are amazing. The sales help is also well informed and friendly. The advantage of shopping in a department store is you can do all your shopping under one roof.

H&M, J. Crew, Ann Taylor have also ventured into bridal for the less fussy bride. Don't under estimate the great everyday shops, their finds can be pretty amazing for that City Hall, restaurant wedding.

Now the option of Renting:

Alexandria's Formal Gown Rental in Sacramento (www.alexanndriasformal.com) also has a great selection of bridal rental gowns.

This process has been common in Japan with the rental of Kimono's. This process is quite amazing to report, " the gowns are usually gowns form a couple of seasons prior, overstock. So what I decided to do is rent from my present stock and from items that did not sell during our clearance sale. This concept was a hit for the chic girl who had no intentions of keeping her dress or just didn't have the room to store it after the wedding they went crazy." says Chrystal manager of Myrjan.

Debra, the Philadelphia manager had this to say "The brides were excited to have the option come to Philadelphia, it saved them the trip to New York. These brides don't want to sacrifice style because they don't want to keep to a budget."

For those who still want to keep their dress for other reasons, the option to buy a slightly used dress or previously owned dress is the other route you may want to explore. White Chicago Stacey Senechalle and Ursuala Guyer, these brilliant ladies offer new, sample and once worn designer gowns. They have managed to keep the buzz going in Chicago with their great eye for style and classy atmosphere. Their brides are described as being the classic contemporary woman. "From Monique Lhuillier to Amy Michelson and everyone in between - you can find over 30 different designers in our gown gallery and best of all they are always rotating - you never know what you will find."

Definitely worth taking the trip.

So dream big, dream smart and be fabulous.