10 Apr What to expect when wedding dress shopping at House of Oliver Bridal

You may not quite know what to expect when you come wedding dress shopping, you may be feeling a bit nervous about the experience and some brides do understandably get quite anxious before coming in for an appointment. I’ve written this guide to calm your nerves and put those niggles to rest, choosing your dream dress should be a massively enjoyable and special moment and we are here to take care of everything. Here’s a handy little guide full of tips and tricks of how you can make sure you make the most of your appointment here at House of Oliver Bridal.

Preparation

Here at House of Oliver Bridal we open weekdays between 9 and 3, and Saturdays 10-5. We can offer pre-arranged appointments outside of our normal opening times too. We open the occasional Sunday throughout the year too for your convenience. You can book an appointment with us by calling us on 0333 012 9037 or by contacting us here. Our friendly assistants are on hand to book you an appointment that is convenient to you and your party or to answer any questions or queries you may have too.
Take some time to think out the underwear you may wish to wear at your appointment. It’s not 100% necessary at all, so don’t worry if it’s an afterthought but if you wanted to be super organised it can help to wear a good fitting strapless nude or white bra and some boy short style undergarments. Don’t worry though if you forget, it won’t make a difference to your appointment.

Your Appointment

Take your time, relax and most importantly have fun! It’s completely normal to feel nervous your first time trying on dresses, we are here to help in any way we can so please don’t feel embarrassed to ask any questions at all.

You will be greeted at the door by one of our friendly girls. We will ask you a few questions about your wedding and offer yourself and members of your party a drink. One of our expert assistants will be allocated to you and your party, we believe it is important to build a relationship with you and she’ll be on hand to guide you through the process whilst you are with us here at House of Oliver Bridal. They are lucky enough to have had extensive training and have helped hundreds of other brides find their perfect gown.

With over 200 dresses in store we have a style and dress for every bride and budget here at House of Oliver Bridal. Take your time to freely browse our rails set across two floors whilst your personal bridal assistant continues to get to know the details of your wedding and style. Our dresses have been organised into sizes to make our giant dress room easy to navigate and your assistant will be more than happy to pick out or suggest a few styles.

No dress in the store is more than £949 and most of our dresses are between £349 and £720. We house more than 50 designers and also exclusively stock India Grace Couture dresses. Our assistant will be able to explain all about the 4 main styles of wedding dresses and suggest styles and dresses you may not have thought about.

Carrying designer gowns is important to us here at House of Oliver Bridal. We are able to offer you discounts of up to 85% off the price of your gown, meaning that when you walk away a House of Oliver Bride you are saving thousand off the RRP of your dress and you can be assured you have superb quality. Something which is of wholesome importance to us and also makes all the difference should you need a few alterations further down the line too!

Don’t worry about the size dress you try on in your appointment – Wedding dress sizes can come up different to the size clothes you may wear at home. Please don’t worry, the important thing is the fit of the dress and finding a dress and style you love. Do look at dresses one or two sizes bigger too as we can alter these perfectly to your size. Your assistant can explain the sizing of each designer to you should you need them to, and can make recommendations on any alterations and provide you with a rough idea of cost too so you can be sure you won’t get any nasty surprises further down the line.

Finding the perfect size and silhouette can sometimes seem daunting before an appointment but don’t worry. Your assistant is on hand to explain the silhouettes of the dresses to you and will encourage you to try on dresses in lots of different shapes and materials so as we can learn what you like and don’t like. It becomes really easy, very quickly – as soon as you like something and don’t like something we can learn and browse the rails some more if you like to find that perfect dress!

Try to come with an open mind if you can. Whilst it can be handy to have an idea of a style you would like to try before your appointment, you may fall in love with something that was totally different to the idea you had when coming in to store.

It can be easy to be overwhelmed when there is so much choice out there but your assistant is on hand to help you narrow down your choices, when you see something you love it becomes obvious to everyone! It’s a lovely part of our job! It can be handy to start with your favourite dress that you picked out and then try others on. You’ll have dresses to refer to then and points that you loved.

Your family and friends get to relax in one of our private, changing suites whilst your assistant helps you get into your dress and does up any fastenings or lace. It’s important to us here at House of Oliver that we keep your appointments private between you and your bridal party so you won’t come out to a room of other brides whilst at an appointment with us. This helps to make sure that everyone’s attention is on you, the bride and that there are no distractions too. We want you to enjoy the experience of finding your dress and really feel that private changing rooms help to create that.

The Reveal

Once into your dress you will walk out from behind your curtain or from your room (depending on which suite you are in) and will get to experience your family and friends’ reactions. Our changing rooms and bridal suites have plenty of mirrors, so you will be able to see your dress from all angles. Your assistant will straighten out the train for you and you can play around with any accessories you may wish to try on too. Take a walk down our aisle too so you can get a real feel for how your dress moves. Our bridal assistants know their stuff so will be able to pick out accessories or suggest bridal hoops to complete your outfit. Even if you are unsure on a veil, we would always suggest trying one on – when else will you have the opportunity? It can sometimes just complete your outfit.

Choosing your dress is a big decision so take your time and enjoy learning about all of the different dresses and finding your personal wedding dress style. Our appointments typically last around 2 hours but there is no right or wrong time, just take as little or as long as you need. You can go back to the dress room and pick out new styles as many times as you like! We really encourage you to make the most out of wedding dress shopping.

There’s absolutely no pressure to buy at all but remember that our dresses are off the peg.

Finally, when you do find ‘the one’ you’ll just know. Your assistant will bag your dress up in a complimentary dress bag which will keep your dress clean and dust free before the wedding. Take advantage of our complimentary dry cleaning service too, to ensure your dress is in the best condition before you take it away. Best of all there’s no lengthy waits for your dress to be ready. Once paid for it can be with you safely at home in just a couple of weeks. A huge thing ticked off the list for your wedding day preparations, freeing up time for other planning.

After Care

Our dedicated team are on hand to answer any questions you have and arrange any alterations you may need once you have purchased your dress. We love getting to know you, your partner and the details of your wedding and are always on hand should you need any assistance or wish to come back in further down the line for bridesmaids dresses, suits or accessories. Your original assistant will be keen to do the appointment I’m sure as we do like to build a relationship with all of our clients here at House of Oliver Bridal.

We offer complimentary steaming of all of our gowns the week before the wedding completely free of charge too. Pop back in for a cup of tea whilst we press your gown ready for the big day!

After the wedding, should you require, we can arrange for your dress to be cleaned, steamed and boxed for you too. Just ask one of our assistants for details.

To make an appointment with one of our expert bridal consultants call 0333 012 9037 or send us a message here.

Happy Planning. We look forward to welcoming you soon.