Mrs2Be

How to avoid wedding planning stress Part II

 

Read Part I

 

Pushy sales people and small budgets don’t mix

Okay, so here I am obsessing over designer wedding dresses, all of which cost the gross national product of a developing country. Of course they are expensive. They are expensive because they are designed specifically so that you look willowy, beautiful and perfect on your wedding day. Each one is beautifully crafted from the finest magical material which, the instant you put the dress on, transforms you into a natural beauty any man would fall in love with.

I imagined my body suddenly taking on magical skinny proportions, all imperfections gone and with the ability to walk gracefully in heels. Who was I kidding? I was almost 30 with two children and body parts that wobbled so much when I ran I could never wear a strapless dress without some kind of invisible scaffolding built into it and, in my father’s words, ‘walked like a navvy.’

Nevertheless, the dress of my dreams presented itself in a magazine but the nearest stockist was almost 10 miles away. Off I went to the shop which looked curiously like the one in Mr Benn, where a clearly magical lady greeted me with warm enthusiasm. It made me feel better that she looked at me, and not my friend, as we walked into the shop. See? I was looking like a bride already!

Sadly, she was no longer a stockist for that particular dress but offered to have one made for me that

was almost identical. So I tried on a few different dresses, eventually coming up with a drawing of a dress that was similar and only just over budget. Okay, so it was £200 or so over. Still, if I spend £20 less on food every week, it will save money and help me to fit into it…

Which brings me to tip number two – don’t be pushed into a dress you are not completely happy with, or more to the point a price you are not happy with. Be realistic. Have a look on the website for tips on finding a dress on a budget, and as long as you accessorise well you will look like it has cost you thousands. And don’t worry about losing weight/growing your hair/looking wonderful and magical – as far as your groom is concerned, you already do. Stay true to yourself!

Once you have decided on the basic shape there will be plenty of choice, but the magical lady fawning all over you in the shop would not have you believe that is the case. For me, it was a small train (barely there as it turned out, due to budget restrictions she had to shorten it), a v-shaped back with buttons, and that sort of swags-and-tails effect that you see women wearing in BBC period dramas.

That was the dress sorted anyway. So now what? Don’t be fooled into thinking that is all you have to do. A-ha! There are details. Lots and lots and lots of details. One thing you must do is prioritise. Is it your priority to have your guests munch on very delicate and expensive crudités, washed down with Veuve Cliquot, before you have even sat down for the wedding breakfast?

By Mrs2Be feature writer Allie Matthews

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