Dress shopping-appt length, number of stores

Melissasm77

I am planning to go on a dress shopping trip with my mom and FMIL in about 3 weeks.  There are 3 highly recommended shops in my area that seem to carry a great variety of dresses.  It is a bit difficult to coordinate schedules with everyone, so I would really like to make the most of the day without wearing us all down too much. 

If we are making a day out of it, incorporating a lunch break, do you think 3 shops is reasonable or too many?  How long is a typical appt and do they normally run longer than scheduled?

TIA

dizzinea

my appointments were between one and two hours, It can be an emotional and exausting process three sounds like pushing it to me, maybe one in the morning one after lunch?

kd.joseph

I agree with PP, mine was a 2 hour appt. She's right,one in the morning,lunch and maybe one more. Good luck.

amysmomma

mine was 1 hour (if that) ... i tried on 6 dresses, and the first one I tried on was THE ONE...

I was lucky, but it helped that I had a very clear description for the sales person as to what I wanted.. maybe make a short list of things you're looking for (strapless, a-line, lace-up back, etc.) it will help

it's hard to say how much time you'll need because everyone is different

richelleleigh11

I think it all depends on you. I took no longer than 30 minutes at each of my appointments, I could tell right away if I liked a dress or not and moved on to the next one. My mom and I went shopping yesterday and this time I had already tried on dresses so I knew the style I liked best and stuck to trying on those dresses - we hit 7 stores in one day.
Every time I've been dress shopping with friends (when they were the one searching for the wedding dress) we've always done 3 to 4 stores with out any problems and it didn't seem like too much when there was a lunch break in between.

Knittibell

I think three in one day would be fine, with a break somewhere in the middle. If you're focused, and keep enjoying it, it'll be fine. I once did 4 in one day when my MOH was up visiting, and it was a lot of fun, if not exhausting!

APW2010

I did 4 in a day, all walk-in though so two were short. If you are decisive, it isn't really tiring, especially if you can establish right away which styles don't work for you.

If you do three in a day, I'd just take a break between each store (one lunch break, one coffee/snack break) and I think you'd be fine.

Melissasm77

Thanks for sharing your experiences, it has been really helpful in figuring out a schedule. 

Amivy06

Three appointments in one day, IMHO, is a lot. I did two in one day and we were all ready to pass out from exhaustion after we were done with the second one. My appointments took anywhere between one to two hours. I finally found my dress at my third appointment a week after the first two.