Choosing To Buy Or Rent Wedding Dress: Top 5 Tips For Selecting Your Wedding Dress

More brides these days are considering the idea of renting rather than buying their wedding dresses. This could be as a result of a tight budget constraint or simply the desire to save costs. As a result of my conversations with a lot of brides especially those who may be financing their wedding in part, the issue on how much to budget on their wedding dress is usually a big problem. Whatever your reason for considering renting a gown, you need to be aware of its pros and cons.

Why you may consider renting wedding dress: Pros

Renting wedding gown is fine if you know that the dress is in excellent shape and fits you properly. It’ll be easier and cheaper plus you won’t have to worry about where you’re going to store your dress afterwards.

Cons of renting your wedding dress

On the other hand, despite the fact that it can be a much more affordable option, you have to take into consideration that there may be some rather extreme limitations on what you can do in the way of altering it. You may have to put a large amount for a deposit and you have to be extra careful on your wedding day as the dress isn’t yours and would have to be returned in the same condition as how you got it.

Why buying your own wedding dress is good if you can afford it

Renting a wedding gown might not be a good option if you’re more concerned about passing on your wedding gown to your daughter in the future or want to keep looking at your gown after your special day.

However, you know yourself and only you will know what will make you happy. Not spending money and saving or having something from this special day in case as down the road when you get older, you might regret not having your own gown.

My Top five wedding gown selection Tips

• You need to begin shopping six to nine months before your wedding. You don’t want to battle with heartbreak caused by disappointment. Special orders can take four to six months, plus time for alterations.
• You need to do first things first by setting your wedding dress budget. It should take upper hand when determining what to include in your wedding budget. Try not to look at wedding dresses that are out of your price range, unless you plan on going over budget. If you don’t, then use top of the range gowns as inspiration for a less expensive design, so you won’t have to spend a fortune.
• You’d need a lot of research to enable you settle on a perfect choice. Pore over bridal magazines, books, and websites to learn about fabrics, silhouettes, and the lexicon so you can better put across what you’re looking for.
• Don’t settle on one wedding dress till you have tried on as many wedding dresses as you need to. There may be temptation to make hasty decision. Resist such impulsive and spontaneous judgment. Just as it takes time to find a husband or wife, it takes time to find the perfect bridal gown for your silhouette.
• You only get to wear your wedding dress once in your life, so make sure the gown you choose is a direct representation of your style. While you might like some of today’s popular trends, be mindful that you don’t want to look back on your wedding photos years from now and feel like your dress was over the top.