Accessories before dress?

Angusaur

I won't bore you with all the details I've said in other posts but to sum it up, I'm pregnant, due 4.5 months before wedding, and am thinking to postpone dress shopping until after baby.

I don't want to wait this long for all of my attire though. I know basically what I want to do with my hair regardless of gown. Sometimes I think the jewelry, shoes, hairpiece depend on the gown. But then I see things I like and think I'd like it with just about any dress. Did any body else buy their accessories before the dress?

AddieCake

No, I figured I would need the dress to guide me.

doeydo

No, but on SYTTD someone came in with a veil and once they found a gown she liked, it was like "But will it match the veil?!" and it became a big to do because now she was looking for gowns that matched her accessory instead of just finding the "perfect" gown then getting accessories to go with that.  

Angusaur

Veils I do think have to match the dress. I don't think I'm wearing a veil though. I guess this just kind of sucks because although I'm over the moon happy about baby, it's such an awkward time in planning. I want to get stuff done, like now.

Senecaf

My dress is in production (my grandma) and I have an idea of what it will look like but there is not guarantee how it will be yet. That being said I am buying my accessories without having the dress done. If you stick to simple pieces and wear them when dress shopping you can probably get them now.

emmaaa

I think some accessories could be chosen beforehand. You could pick out shoes and jewelry. If you do go with a veil I would wait on that. 

lilacck28

I don't know... I was pretty sure what style of dress I wanted, and there are tons of pieces that I thought I LOVED regardless of the dress. And I still love those pieces but, once I got my dress, I decided that I won't wear a necklace because the neckline is so pretty, and though I love natural looking flowery headpeices, a pearl-based  headpiece would suit the dress better. 

I'm sure you could get away with it if you really want to, but I would hate to buy accessories that don't quite work with the eventual dress, and either wear them anyway knowing that or eating the cost to buy new ones. 

I think if you're doing a long dress, shoes are definitely an easy pre-dress buy. 

vmj23

I didn't pick my jewelry out until the day of the wedding!  The day before I bought a couple options, to try with the dress.  I had previously worn an option to a fitting, but didn't like how it looked.  

lilacck28

Though, if the accessories DEFINITELY matter to you more than the dress, and you're willing to pick a dress based on what goes with them, then go for it. 

[Deleted User]

I think the color & style of the dress you get can impact the accessories you wear. For example I was planning on wearing some pearls I have but they weren't pure white, they were more off white & I wore a champagne colored wedding dress and the two colors looked bad together. So like other posters said, you either have to wait to buy accessires until you buy the dress or buy a dress based on your accessories. Personally I think it's easier to do the dress first.

But on a side note, a friend of mine went in with her veil, well technically it's her mom's veil. She wants to start the tradition of passing the veil down through generations. We all know most women won't want to wear their mom's dress but a veil is something that can be passed on through generations even with different tastes in styles or different sizes. So her dress had to go with her veil.

theartistformerlyknownas

It depends on what you buy, and how much you're willing to let your accessory choices guide your dress choice. Necklace and neckline are pretty dependent on her, as are pearls and dress color. You could probably pick shoes, earrings and a bracelet easily enough. 

I bought my shoes before my dress (aqua, no worries about white vs ivory or anything) but had a lot of ideas for a necklace that got kiboshed because a necklace just wouldn't work with my neckline. And, like Erikan, the color of pearls wouldn't look good with the champagne color. Then I got a sash that has some smoky colored crystals on it, so bright rhinestone jewelry would look strange.

tammym1001

I knew what jewelry I would wear with my dress before I bought it, but it was jewelry that I already had and it was very simple. I think it would be difficult to pick out shoes or anything like that before you pick a dress unless you're fairly certain what kind of dress you will get. 

chibiyui

I bought my shoes before the dress. I saw my hat before, but waited till after to buy it. The necklace I wore was a family heirloom, I borrowed my mom's bracelet, and my earrings and epaullettes were made by a friend. Earrings would have gone with any dress though.

Angusaur

I think I can at least do shoes, bracelet & earrings for now. Maybe hairpiece. I'll wait on the necklace until I know what kind of neckline I'll be having. Thanks for all the input!

Alyssa18o6

I had picked out shoes, but ended up changing my mind. It's ok though because i'm wearing sandals cause I can't walk in heels. But I haven't picked out any jewelry yet, I picked out a veil but haven't purchased it yet.

ahyatt87

The only real 'vision' of my wedding that I had prior to getting engaged was that I wanted to wear a dark purple sash. After getting engaged and starting dress shopping, I found and purchased the sash. The dress was purchased a few months later. There were some dresses that were not in contention because they would not go with the dress, but I knew they did not fit my 'vision'. I realize that some brides change their vision once they start shopping, but that was not the case for me. For all my other accessories I waited until after I purchased my dress, but before it came in.