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The Bridal Boutique of Horrors – How to Avoid It

You’ve heard of predator lenders, how about a little shop of horrors of a bridal boutique? Not that it has vampires for sales clerks and black capes and sinister gowns, but it has caused unfortunate brides headaches and regrets, not to mention the money they plunked on lousy bridal gowns. Here’s how to avoid this shop of horrors.Don’t Rush When You ShopExcited brides fall into the trap of going to a bridal boutique because they have not done their homework. They also fail to scour the area for more choices or compare prices and bam! They get the dirty end of the stick. Once stuck, there is no way out because they fear the terrible repercussions this may have on the wedding schedule.

The common cause for the error is their blind focus on the budget, not knowing that there are choices out there and they forget that not all bridal shops are equal. So they are stuck with a bridal boutique peopled with snooty or clueless sales clerks.

The ideal bridal boutique would be one that cares about how you want to look on your wedding day and gives personalized and friendly service all the time and a wedding dress specialist will guide you through the process to help you avoid costly mistakes.

How to Choose Your Bridal Shop

A wedding dress has to be bought six months before the wedding. This is to give time for time for fittings and alterations. Six months before your wedding, you never know how much weight you can gain or lose. During this time, you have to keep in touch with the bridal boutique so go for one that gives personalized service and one that is within the locality.

What to watch out for:

* Salesclerks who hurry you to make a choice
* Limited samples
* No discounts for a number of purchases
* Outdated styles

If you are shopping online, do not trust what you see on the website. Visit the store. Some bridal shops are not so honest about their merchandise so you have to see the dress to believe it is for real and available or you’re prime target for rip-off.

Hey, it’s your money so you have all the right to go to another shop. You have to deposit 50% of the total cost of the bridal dress before you can get a hold of the real thing. So do your bridal boutique hunting on weekends to avoid crowds and to have more time to do the rounds.

Shop Smart

Brides have choices of shops where to get their wedding gowns. If they have the money for a high-end designer wedding dress or one within a budget, there are appropriate shops uptown in malls, bridal boutiques, department stores, and charity shops.

It is recommended to visit the familiar or big shops as these have been in the business for years; narrow down the field until you find one that carries all brands of designer dresses and accessories and other wedding needs for convenient wedding shopping.

A one-stop shop bridal boutique saves you the trouble of dealing with numerous merchants for your bridesmaid dresses, wedding cake and invitations, and honeymoon arrangements. When everything goes smoothly, you won’t have a bag of horror stories to tell about your wedding dress to your family and friends.

A bridal boutique should also have wedding invitations and wedding favours to make your wedding shopping convenient. At BestForBrides.com you can have wonderful choices anytime.

 

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What to Look For in an Online Bridal Shop – Five Hot Tips

Tip No. 1Budget is not an issue when you start searching for a bridal shop. These shops carry a line of designer wedding gowns priced accordingly from the most expensive to the very affordable for the budget conscious bride.

Tip No. 2

Customer service should be an issue in your choice of a bridal shop. Friendly customer service makes you comfortable in picking out the wedding dress and other formal gowns for the wedding entourage. The sales people should be patient and accommodating and not bulldozer you towards expensive gowns or to their outdated selections.

Tip No. 3

Smaller shops are friendlier than those shops offering high volume merchandise. The sales people are aware that you are looking for the wedding gown of your dreams and will offer you a wide selection plus gown alteration for a fee.

Tip No. 4

A bridal shop should carry a line of wedding services. Skip the search for wedding shoes and accessories, discounted wedding invitations, wedding cakes and wedding favors, and honeymoon destinations. It is practical to get the services from the same shop where you are getting your wedding dress because you can get more discounts. You also do not have to deal with a number of shops, which can be confusing and time consuming.

Tip No. 5

The bridal shop should have a stock for the plus sized and the petite. The salesperson should be knowledgeable about body shapes and types of fabrics that would enhance your body shape.

The Best Surprises Come in Small Packages

It is a toss-up between big bridal shops and the small bridal boutique. Small bridal shops win hands down if you want personalized service. You can find this out by visiting the local bridal store in your locality or by the prompt response to your queries from online shops.

When the salespeople don’t rush you to make a purchase, you have found the shop that wants you to help fulfill your wedding fantasies. It does not matter if you buying an expensive gown or renting an affordable bridal dress, so you are better off here. With small shops, you are in the company of sales people who are after your complete satisfaction.

Surprisingly small stores carry the latest in designer gowns and offer an assortment too. These shops provide gown and accessories rentals if you decide to rent the whole kit and caboodle for you, your bridesmaids, and your mother and your mother-in-law to be. It would be fun swooping down to the shop with your family and friends for your first look-see.

Choosing your wedding gown should not be confusing if you stick to the wedding theme and your budget. With the information, the bridal shop of your choice will steer you to the appropriate gowns if you let them know what you want.

If you cannot explain the details or describe the bridal dress, it would help to have a picture of the gown, probably a cut-out from a bridal magazine, with you. The bridal shop will offer similar gowns or may have the very one thing you are looking for. Now you are ready to shop for your bridal dress.

The best bridal shop offer shopping convenience from wedding gowns to wedding favors to discount wedding invitations. Why look elsewhere when BestForBride.com has them all and at affordable prices?

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Style Squad: Expert Tips for Dressing Up Your Bridesmaids with Elegance and Flair!

Finding dresses for your bridesmaids are a couple of the things that you have to do along with planning your wedding. This should be done as soon as you find your own wedding dress, or when you have finally made up your mind on the theme and motif of the ceremony. The dresses should go along with the latter and satisfy the preferences of your bridesmaids, as well.

There have been many stories of bridesmaids and brides arguing about the bridesmaids dresses. Some dispute on the color of the dress and some on it’s style. There are even times when the brides were given no choice but to boot out a bridesmaid from the list. Hopefully, this won’t happen to you. That is why you should bring along your bridesmaids when you go shopping for their dresses to avoid this kind of conflict.

It’s good to know that you don’t have to run from one bridal shop in search for a wedding dress and then to another for bridesmaid dresses. There are those, like Best for Bride, that have them all under one roof. You can shop for your wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses at the same time! This can help you save plenty of time to do other things later like visit the caterers or the flower shop.

You might be skeptical on finding the right bridesmaid dresses in Best for Bride. How can one shop have the all dresses that you need? Well, you should know that Best for Bride has a wide array of bridesmaid dresses among other things.

These dresses come in different styles so you don’t have to worry about not finding the right one to suit your bridesmaids’ personalities. You might also already have a color in mind that would match your wedding theme and Best for Bride bridesmaid dresses collection all come in a variety of colors. You don’t even have to worry about the fit since alterations can be done swiftly without damaging the fabric.

Dressing up your bridesmaids is no hassle at all in Best for Bride. Expect quality services and professionalism once you have stepped inside it’s portals.

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Forever in the Aisle: The Tales and Triumphs of Being Always a Bridesmaid, Never the Bride!

“Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.” That’s one line that I have come to hate. It’s an expression that has become associated with me. “So you’re a bridesmaid again?” Those snooty girls in my neighborhood would never miss a chance to say that to my face.

“Why am I always a bridesmaid,
Never the blushing bride?
Ding! Dong! Wedding bells
Always ring for other gals.
But one fine day“
Please let it be soon“
I shall wake up in the morning
On my own honeymoon.”

Oh, how I hate Charles Collin and Fred W. Leigh for writing that song. It’s become my brother’s invincible weapon when he feels like badgering me. And believe me, he feels like it all the time. And he has creative means of finding a way to pull in the issue. Picture this he is all engrossed in a basketball game and would suddenly scream, “The team’s a damned bridesmaid, always too close but never there, just like my pathetic sister!”

And there’s this Listerine advertisement. Can you believe it’s blaming the whole syndrome to halitosis? Hey, I don’t have bad breath! They gave my brother yet another reason to taunt me.

But I am currently rejoicing. Do you remember that old myth? The one that says you break the charm after your seventh bridesmaid service? Well, I had been a bridesmaid for six times now and a good friend just invited me to become one of her bridesmaids (better keep my eyes on that bouquet). What do you know? I just might break the spell!

You might already be laughing by now. It must be funny to listen to a girl grumbling about being unmarried and actually relying on superstition to solve her problem. What can I say? A girl could hope.

Anyway, I’m so excited about the event that I volunteered to help with the wedding preparations. And of course, I asked that I be assigned to the most fun part. What else could it be? Shopping! I’m done with the ring bearer and groomsmen gifts. And would you believe I also did the shopping for bridesmaid gifts? It’s fun buying your gift and wrapping it too.

Anyway, I’m on to the last part. But why, I actually saved the best for last. I’m on to shopping for bridesmaids dresses and found this impressive collection. It’s called Bridesmaids Gowns AfterSix. The bride and I agree it’s the best line we’ve seen. They’re not too loud, yet stylish and trendy.

Now we’ll have to choose from three lovely dresses. The first among our top three favourites is the Style – 6504. The dress runs a little below the knees. It’s actually more like a cocktail dress than a bridesmaid gown, but my friend and I prefer it that way. Style 6504 is an elegant v-neck dress with a trendy empire waist. We especially loved its shade of olive green.

Second in line is the Style – 6500. It looks like a long gown but not quite. It’s a simple cut, and the sweetheart neckline dresses it down. But still, it has an imposing presence with its vivid pitch-black colour.

And there’s the alluring Style – 6510. Its cut is not flattering to the figure, and you don’t get to show much skin because of its knee length. Still, the dress is a teaser, very sexy. Nothing beats the colour red. What do you know? Playing the part of a ‘lady in red’ might win me a new guy.

Anyway, what I love about these dresses is that I wear them to any formal party. They make for a great addition to my wardrobe. Now that’s smart shopping.