We are excited to kick off our “In the Shoes of” series with the wonderful ladies of Couture Bride. Dawn and Annette were kind enough to let us shadow them in their salon for the day and teach us the ins and outs of bridal couture retail and care. We also had the husband and wife team from Orange Soda there to document the day. We received a crash course is bustling different kinds of dresses (something we always do for our brides on the wedding day), learned how to care for different types of fabrics and how to get our brides into those tricky lace up and button up wedding gowns. Our bride to be, Tara, even got to try on some wedding dresses for the first time! Here are some more tips we learned at our day in the shoes of Dawn and Annette:

• It takes four to six months for wedding gowns to be shipped from the designer to the store. Start shopping for your wedding gown eight to ten months in advance to ensure you will have enough time for delivery and alterations.
• Alterations usually begin two months before the wedding with another appointment one month before the wedding and the last the week before the wedding.
• If you are a last minute shopper and don’t have that much time to find a dress before your wedding, there are still options. You may have to buy a gently used sample dress and have it altered to fit or expect to pay rush shipping fees from the designer.
• Know your budget before you go shopping. Different wedding salons have different price ranges. You do not want to fall in love with a dress that is way out of your price range.
• Be open to trying on various styles. What looks good on the hanger may not always look good on your body type and vise versa.
• This year’s new trend in couture wedding gowns is BLACK!

We are pretty sure that spending the day at Couture Bride is every girl’s dream! A huge thank you to Dawn and Annette (and Chloe) for your kindness and hospitality. To schedule an appointment with Couture Bride please call 702-647-7778