Who Should You Bring Wedding Dress Shopping?

Choosing who to bring wedding dress shopping is absolutely a personal decision.

Some brides prefer to shop alone, using us as their guides and relying on what feels right for them — and only them — to make a decision. But if you want to bring people, you should have people around you who know you, love you, make you feel comfortable and understand that the whole point of the appointment is to help you find a wedding dress that feels completely right for you.

At Accapella Bridal, brides can bring up to three guests to their appointment. Our boutique is intentionally intimate, and we find everyone can get overwhelmed when there are too many voices in the room.

We lovingly refer to the support crew as The Opinions Bench. The people whose opinion you care enough about to bring, but never anyone whose opinion matters more than your own!

Choose People Who Know Your Style

Your mum may adore lace.

Your best friend may think you look hottest in a fitted gown.

Your sister may have pictured you in a huge ballgown for years.

But what they love is not always what you are going to love as YOUR wedding dress.

The best people to bring wedding dress shopping are the ones who can separate their own personal taste from yours.

They are the people who can think:

"It isn't what I would choose for myself, but it looks so YOU."

Those are very good members of the Opinions Bench.

More Opinions Aren't Always Better

It can be tempting to bring your entire bridal party, your mum, your mother-in-law, your sisters and your favourite cousin.

But sometimes too many voices can make the appointment harder rather than more helpful.

One person wants more sparkle.

Someone else wants less.

One loves the sleeves.

Someone else wants them gone.

Meanwhile, the bride is standing in the middle trying to remember how she actually feels in the dress.

This is one of the reasons we limit appointments at Accapella Bridal to three guests plus the bride.

Our boutique is designed around a relaxed, one-on-one experience, and keeping the group smaller gives you the space to really look at yourself and work out what feels right.

We Can Be Part of Your Opinions Bench Too

You are never left to figure it all out on your own.

We are very happy to be part of your Opinions Bench too.

Sometimes you may love a dress but feel that one little thing isn't quite right.

That is where our experience can really help.

We can suggest things like changing a neckline, adjusting a waistline, adding sleeves, altering straps, changing the shape of a bodice or adding more structure and support.

Sometimes the dress itself is right — it just needs a small change to make it feel right for your body.

We also look at how a gown is actually fitting you, from its internal construction to the lines it creates on your body.

A waistline sitting a little higher or lower can completely change the balance of a dress. Bust support, the width of a strap or even the way a gown is graded between sizes can completely change how it sits on your body. It is important to have someone there who can explain what can be changed, what shouldn't be changed, and why.

That is part of what we love about bridal styling.

It isn't always about finding a dress that is absolutely perfect the second you put it on.

Sometimes it is about being able to see what it could become.

Your Guests Don't Have to Love the Dress as Much as You Do

This is an important one.

Your Opinions Bench does not need to independently choose your wedding dress.

They aren't wearing it.

You are.

Sometimes a bride steps into a gown and something changes.

She stands differently.

She smiles at herself in the mirror.

She starts touching the fabric.

She keeps looking back at herself.

And she really doesn't want to take it off.

Then someone on the bench might say:

"I'm not sure about the skirt."

That doesn't mean the dress is wrong. Sometimes it just means that someone feels like they need to have something to say.

Your guests are there to help you talk things through and give you another perspective, but the final decision should still feel like yours.

We never want a bride to walk away from a dress she genuinely loves simply because someone she brought would have chosen something different.

Bring People Who Make You Feel Good

Wedding dress shopping should feel exciting, relaxed and fun.

Bring people who will tell you the truth kindly.

People who know when you are genuinely happy.

People who will laugh with you when a dress is completely wrong.

And people who will recognise when something suddenly feels very, very right.

There is a big difference between:

"I don't think that one is showing you off as much as the last dress."

and:

"Absolutely not."

Honesty is welcome.

Taking the joy out of the experience is not.

What If You Want to Shop Alone?

That is completely welcome as well, and happens more than you might think!

Some brides actually find it easier to work out what they like without anyone else's opinion in the room.

You can focus entirely on how the dresses feel and what you like.

There is no rule saying wedding dress shopping has to involve an audience.

Sometimes the perfect Opinions Bench is simply you and us.

The Perfect Opinions Bench

So, who should you bring?

Maybe no one! But if you bring people, bring the people who know you.

Bring the people who want you to feel beautiful rather than look how they imagined you would.

Bring the people who will listen to what you love.

And know that we are there beside you too — suggesting shapes, waistlines, customisations and little changes that can help a gown work beautifully for your body.

At Accapella Bridal, the Opinions Bench isn't there to choose your dress for you.

It is there to help you see the possibilities.

And at the end of the appointment, there is only one opinion that really gets the final vote.

Yours.