Where/how to shop for wedding dress?

hanson2B

This seems like it should be easy, but I'm a little confused on the wedding dress shopping process.  I'm looking in central Illinois and the far south suburbs of Chicago.  I want to get a nice dress for a good price... I've seen that places like House of Brides have discounted dresses, but it sounds like maybe they don't actually have all the dresses in stock that are shown online (understandably, since there area  lot).  So what do I do?  Go to a downtown boutique, fall in love with a dress, and then say "Sorry, I'm going to order it online instead" ??  Are there any "middle of the road" places that have lots of dresses in stock but aren't full MSRP price?  I've looked at David's Bridal but haven't found much I like there.  And how do I locate a shop that actually sells the dresses I've bookmarked online?

Amy111608

Bridal elegance in ottawa, il has a huge selection of dresses

hz80408

If you live a decent amount of time outside of Chicago, I'd search outside of the city.  FSIL found her dress at a local Chicago boutique for $600 less in our hometown.

If it's not too far, what about trying Peoria or the Quad Cities?

hanson2B

I'm more confused about the actual process though.  I mean, if I go in with a few photos of a dress I like, how do I know if they're going to have that in stock?  Will they have it in my size?  If they don't, how do I know whether I really like it?  Etc. ...

mishel13

It depends on the shop you go to on whether or not they'll have every dress in the size you need. Most boutiques only carry one or two sizes and they either clip you in, or hold it up while you look in the mirror. When I went in to look for dresses, I took a few pictures of what I liked and the coordinator took it from there. She pulled multiple dresses that fit my criteria and we narrowed it down from there.

I actually found out that I looked terrible in what I thought I would love, and the coordinator pulled something completely different that I fell in love with.

hanson2B

Thanks for your help!  I found THE ONE at David's Bridal (Aurora) that I got to try on in my size and it's absolutely beautiful. 

mariannebride

I would head out to the west suburbs - Barrington, Geneva, etc. Wedding Belles and Veiled in Elegance I think were the names but they are sample shops so the dress you try on is the dress you get which I loved because then you don't have to worry about ordering and waiting! Good luck and have fun!