The Pros and Cons of Shopping for a Wedding Dress Alone

Bringing your nearest and dearest along to help you shop can be a joyous occasion; however, it can also be stressful as opinions clash, and you may wind up with an unpleasant memory especially if drama is typically inevitable with your group. This – with the addition of Covid making larger appointments more difficult – is why some brides choose to go shopping for a bridal gown alone. If you need help deciding what's best for you, read the pros and cons of going shopping for a wedding dress alone, below.

Pros of Shopping for Your Wedding Dress Alone:

A calm atmosphere.

There will be less stress and tension resulting from disagreements about the wedding dress if you go by yourself. If your friend group or family typically feed into drama, going shopping alone may be the best choice for you.

Your decision is yours.

Without other people’s opinions muddling your thought process, you’ll know that the bridal gown you choose is truly your favorite. If you tend to let others influence your decisions, going shopping for a wedding dress alone may be your best bet to getting what you want.

More flexibility.

When you go to a bridal appointment alone, you don’t have to try to coordinate the schedules of several loved ones – which can be especially tricky if someone plans to visit from out of town to attend a dress-shopping excursion. Consider going to bridal sample sales and trunk shows too – since these appointments may go quickly, it'll be easier to not have to coordinate schedules.

Cons of Shopping for Your Wedding Dress Alone:

Losing out on bonding time.

Shopping with your mom, sisters, or bridesmaids is often a great opportunity to bring everyone together for the wedding. If everyone is local to you, not including them in the day may hurt feelings as well.

No decision tiebreakers.

The salon consultant can help provide a second opinion, but brides who are less certain of their vision may prefer to have friends or family who know their style available in order to point them in the right direction. If you're a bride who thrives on the opinions of your closest friends or family members, going shopping alone could cause you more stress.

It can cause hurt feelings.

While bringing nobody means you’re not excluding any individual person in the wedding dress shopping excursion, those who may have expected to help you shop for your bridal gown could still be hurt that you chose to do it alone. With Covid, this may be more understandable, but it's important to consider.

As a compromise, one thing that can work for brides is to go to a few preliminary bridal appointments by yourself, or even with one trusted friend, like your maid of honor. Then, once you have either narrowed down the dress selections or essentially decided on the wedding dress that's right for you, bring along the entourage for a smoother shopping experience to purchase your bridal gown. 

For more tips, read frequently asked questions about wedding-dress shopping and find out why you should practice wearing your bridal gown.