Shopping for a wedding gown can be emotional, stressful and scary! If you don’t think you can do it alone, here’s who you should have at your side.
Walking into a bridal salon can be incredibly overwhelming. Every store has certain rules and procedures, there are dresses everywhere and you’ve probably never had to make this type of decision before. That’s why many brides will choose to bring someone along for the ride, but how do you pick?

A wedding gown isn’t like any other dress, you want to choose someone who knows you well and who will be honest with you. We think a mother, a sister, or a best friend will tell you what you need to hear and here are our reasons why.

Mothers and Mother Figures. For most people their mothers are their best friends and the ones who help them with all of life’s tough decisions. While choosing a wedding gown is also joyous and exciting, it can seem very high-stakes and mothers are great at giving you a much needed reality check or diffusing the emotional tension. Even if your mother has a totally different style than you, she just knows how to talk to you and what’s the right thing to say.

Oftentimes you will have found the perfect dress but you will start to doubt yourself. This is where a mother knows best and you’ll find that a few validating words from the most important person in your life will give you the confidence you need to say yes to your dream dress.

Sisters and Best Friends. While a mother can give you that little push you need to trust yourself, a best friend or a sister can be instrumental in finding that dress in the first place. One of the biggest pieces of advice we can give you is to try on gowns you thought you wouldn’t like.

Gown shopping is new to most and while you have many ideas about your style, it always helps to try on something totally unlike you–even if it is just to make sure that you don’t like it. Best friends and sisters can help you make that uncomfortable move outside of your comfort zone and then give you honest feedback to boot. For example, this Melissa Sweet trumpet dress might seem too busy in the bust for a bride looking for a simple dress but when you try it on the elegant nature of the dress could be revealed. It’s always worth a try, and your best friend will definitely tell you that!

In a perfect world, you would be able to ask everyone you know or there would be some heavenly sign that you’ve found the dress for you but until then bringing your mother and your best friend is the next best option. They will give you that much needed combination of support and courage that will make gown shopping not only easy but fun!