Welcome back to Monday Tips for Brides! Today’s tip revolves around the wedding gown– the breathtaking white dress that you’ve probably spent your entire life dreaming about, spent a small fortune on, and then had altered to fit you like a glove. The moment that you put on your wedding dress is the moment you feel like a bride. Everything suddenly feels real. But there’s one thing that wedding dresses have going against them…. they can be complicated! Lots of layers, delicate buttons, and zippers that you have to lay just right. And then there’s the bustle– one-point bustles, three-point bustles, Victorian bustles, French bustles. No matter what your gown looks like, this tip will potentially save you TONS of time in the getting ready portion of the day and also in the minutes just before you enter your reception. Here it is:

Tip #3: In the days leading up to your wedding, grab your mom/sister/maid of honor and try on your gown. Let the important women in your life who will be helping you get dressed on your wedding day practice buttoning/zipping/lacing up your dress AND bustling it.

I can’t tell you how many weddings I’ve been a part of where getting the bride in the dress becomes an entire project all by itself! This is especially important if your dress has a lot of buttons or a corset back. In certain situations, an extra twenty minutes caused by a button snag or a confusing lace-up back can push the rest of the timeline behind, which can cause unwanted stress for you and your bridal party. Nobody wants that!

At my own wedding, there were no issues actually putting the dress on, but we hadn’t practiced with the bustle. All I knew is that there were buttons and loops hiding somewhere in the massive amounts of fabric flowing behind me! As our entire bridal party stood outside the reception area waiting to be announced, I had multiple bridesmaids kneeling down around me frantically trying to solve the bustle mystery. Unfortunately, the DJ didn’t get the memo, so he went ahead with the announcements and I bounced into my reception with my dress half-bustled, and Josh actually almost tripped over it! It’s funny looking back on it now, but if I could do it over again, I would have my girls practice the bustle beforehand.

I hope this tip helps save you from potential stress on your wedding day! It’s my mission as a photographer to not only capture beautiful images, but also make your day flow as smoothly as possible. If you’d like to read Part 1 and Part 2 of Monday Tips for Brides, click the links below!

Part 1: One Thing Most Brides Don’t Think Of

Part 2: Your First Dance

You can also check out my Wedding Planning 101 series! Happy Planning!

Wedding Planning 101: Enjoy Being Engaged

Wedding Planning 201: Book the Big Two

Wedding Planning 301: Resist the Pressure

Wedding Planning 401: The Wedding Day Coordinator