Your wedding dress could be the single most important purchase for your wedding day.  Are you ready to say yes to the dress? 

There are a lot of thing to keep in mind when looking for that perfect dress.  What I tell most brides-to-be is to have a mental picture of what your think you want to look like on your wedding day.  Then find a dress that matches your fantacy.  More often than not, you'll know when you've found the perfect dress.  Many brides actually begin to cry when they see themselves in the dress they've always dreamed of. 

Other brides find out that the dress they thought they wanted, really doesn't do much for their figure.  In that ?case, I encourage the bride-to-be to try on every dress in the store.  This way you can get a good idea of what basic style looks good on you.  Once you decide on a style, you can look at more dresses in that style with different embelishments, appliques, and accessories.

When you find the wedding dress of your dreams write down the designer, the model, the size you need and the price.  With that information your able to call other bridal boutiques, or check online to see if you can find a better price.  Most wedding gowns are made in limited quantities.  To insure the gown you want isn't sold out, you should act quickly.  Find the best price and buy the dress, or risk not being able to find it. 

Here are a few things to keep in mind when shopping for your perfect wedding dress:

1. Shop at several different bridal shops and try on many different styles of wedding dresses to insure you have a good selection and that you choose a dress suited to your body type.  
2. Take along a good friend, or you mother...someone who will give you an honest opinion of the dress and how it looks on you.
3. Wedding dresses usually run about 1 size smaller than most of the clothes you wear.  Don't assume that because you wear a size 6 dress, that you're going to wear a size 6 wedding dress.  This means that you should listen to your sales person when they tell you to order a size 10...don't think she's lost her mind!
4. If you're lucky enough to find a dress on sale, remember you can buy a dress 2 to 3 sizes bigger than you need.  Most wedding gowns require alterations anyway.
5. Wear your Spanx.  If you're going to wear Spanx on your wedding day, you want to wear them when you're shopping for your dress and when you go to have your alterations done.
6. Because different style of wedding dresses require different types of slips, I wouldn't recommend buying the slip until you know what type slip your wedding gown will require.  Use a slip at the bridal shop when trying on dresses.  Make sure you've purchased your slip and have it with you when you have alterations done.
7. If you haven't found the shoes you plan on wearing on your wedding day, at least decide what size heal you want to wear.  Wear that heal size when you go for alterations.  Also, if you're tall you'll want to wear that heal size when you're shopping for you wedding gown to insure the dress isn't too short.  If you have time to order a dress, most offer additional length (at an additional charge).

Most of all, don't settle on a dress.  Keep looking until you find the perfect wedding dress, and you too can say yes to the dress!