Your wedding dress is such an important piece to your wedding puzzle! When choosing your wedding dress, you want to know where to start and what’s involved! This is why I have got the top tips from one of Hampshire’s best Bridal Boutiques! Hannah Elizabeth Bridal is here with all of the information you need to choose your perfect wedding dress!

When should I start looking for my dream wedding dress?

“For a dreamy stress-free bridal shopping experience ideally you want to start dress shopping around 12 months before your wedding date! Our gowns are all made to order with a production time of around 6 months. You will then need to allow around 2 months for alterations so the process at minimum can take around 8 months. Some of our brides will shop sooner than 12 months, it is very personal and will depend on when you feel ready to committing to your dress when you find ‘The One’!

Don’t panic if you don’t have the beauty of time we always have a gorgeous selection of gowns which you can purchase off the peg to be taken away with you that day! These gowns are part of our Bridal Sample Sale and are simply styles which have been discontinued or simply need to go to a loving home and are sold at a reduced price! You can view these on our website under the Bridal Sample Sale section!”

Who should I bring with me to try on wedding dresses at Hannah Elizabeth Bridal?

“This is a really important factor to consider! Less is more when it comes to your guests. Having one or two really close friends or family members who really are there to support you and your decisions when it comes to your bridal dress or separates is key! You want to bring your cheerleaders, those who lift you up and empower you! This is your time to shine and not the time to appease others! Some of our brides even like to shop solo which is absolutely fine and we salute you! Myself and Kelly are here to guide you every step of the way! We promise to make you feel at ease at Hannah Elizabeth Bridal.”

What should I wear? Bra or no bra? Shoes? Jewellery?

“We would always suggest to wear skin toned or flesh toned underwear to your bridal appointment. Avoid dark colours as these can show through the dresses and becoming distracting! You are welcome to wear a strapless bra but we tend to say to go braless as with the nature of our dresses, a lot of them already have built in structure or have low, detailed backs which we would suggest having bust cups sewn into the gown during your alterations. So you need not worry on the day about your bra being on show!

We have a podium for our brides to stand on in the gowns to help you envisage the look of the dress when the length is right! We do have an amazing selection of shoes by Harlo which you can try on with your dress to help bring the whole style together! If you have a specific pair of shoes you know you want to wear on the day, bring them! The same goes with jewellery! If you have key pieces you know you want to wear, do bring them along! However, we also have some contemporary jewellery by Kiri and Belle that our brides LOVE!

We do suggest to keep fake tan to a minimum and non fresh to avoid discolouring the gowns. A lot of our brides will come with soft make up and we always suggest it a good idea to have your hair in a similar style to that you would consider for your day as this really helps build a picture of your look when trying on the dresses!”

How do I know what size wedding dress I will fit in?

“So when it comes to sizing we really try to encourage our brides to not focus on sizing.

Bridal sizing, like high street sizing can vary A LOT! What you might wear on the high street will differ to that of bridal. You might even be one size with one designer and another with another of our designers! When it comes to ordering your dress for you we will order in the closest standard size to your body measurements and then you will have a seamstress alter your dress for the perfect fit for you! So in the end it will no longer be a size – just a tailored version for beautiful you!

To give you a rough idea most of our sample dresses and separates in our boutique are around a size UK 12 – 14 and we find this sits nicely in the middle. Don’t panic if you don’t wear this size! We are a dab hand at pinning and clipping to give you a really clear idea of what the dress would look like when in your size.”

How much do wedding dresses cost?

“In Bridal the cost of wedding dresses is so vast! Our range of bridal dresses range from around £1,500 – £3,900. Our Catherine Deane bridal separates can vary between £150 – £1,200.”

Do I need a veil?

“Veils are so personal! Nothing is a must when it comes to bridal nowadays, you set the tone for your bridal look! It all depends on what it is you want and envision for your day… We LOVE a dreamy long veil at Hannah Elizabeth Bridal and have a gorgeous range of detailed and simplistic modern veils which we love to style with our brides overall look. We help style you based on your chosen dress, style of your wedding and the feel you want to create!”

How will I know if it’s the right one?

“There isn’t one set answer to this question I’m afraid!

We know that brides feel that they need to have a complete overwhelming epiphany crying moment when they try on ‘The One’ on (too much Say Yes To The Dress may have influenced this idea! ) The truth is not everyone will experience finding The One in this way! We all shop so differently and feel so differently
so try and take the pressure of yourself when it comes to that YES moment! The key things to ask yourself is do I feel truly amazing in this dress? If the answer is yes and you can imagine stepping into it the morning of your wedding with pure delight and excitement , knowing you are about to marry the love of your life then this is a clearrrrr sign that it’s The One! You also wont want to take it off!! Feeling like the most beautiful version of yourself is the end goal and this looks different for everyone! Go with your gut feeling, it wont let you down!”

What can I expect from a bridal appointment with Hannah Elizabeth Bridal?

“All of our bridal and accessory appointments at Hannah Elizabeth Bridal are by pre booked appointment. This is to ensure that you have the full exclusivity of the boutique and one of our dreamy bridal suites to yourself and your guests!

We allow our brides to bring up to 3 guests to the appointment and provide you with flowing bubbly and sweet treats for the duration of your 90 minute appointment. Either I (Hannah) or our fabulous boutique
manager Kelly will host your appointment and we tailor it entirely for you.

We love to find out about our brides and your wedding day prior to your appointment so that we get a feel for your ideas and style. To do so we send all of our HEB Lovelies a pre -appointment questionnaire. This gives you the opportunity to tell us about your day, venue styling and also to let us know if there are any of our designers, dresses or styles you are specifically drawn to , or are coming in for and would love to try on! Upon arriving at the boutique we warmly welcome you into our relaxed bridal haven and love to have a good chat with you in person to go through your ideas. We will then then help select key dresses and separates and start the trying on process! We guide you throughout, help you find ‘The One’ that makes you want to get married tomorrow!”

A little about you and your business:

“My name is Hannah Elizabeth and I have now had my boutique for 9 whole years, we’ve just had our 9th Birthday and cant quite believe where the time has gone! Over the years we’ve welcomed so many amazing women into the Hannah Elizabeth Bridal lovely girl gang! We have loved being able to be part of such a poignant moment and honoured to be part of a brides wedding journey!

I’ve always had a creative flair and a love for art, fashion and interiors. After studying Fashion and Textile Design at university which feels like a VERY long time ago now, the area I knew my passion lay was bridal design. I loved the romance of bridal design and really wanted to explore this area of the industry so started working in a bridal boutique and fell in love with the industry. I have such a strong passion for styling and working with people that it just felt right! After a lot of consideration, planning and shop hunting I found the property which was soon to be HEB!

We are a two man band at HEB with myself and my manager Kelly, also known as my work wife! & our brides love her as much as I do! She is a massive part of our business and has been since I had my little boy back in 2017 so needed someone to help me manage the business and we’ve never looked back! Kelly is from a design background too and makes bespoke luxury jewellery and engagement rings. So she has an amazing eye for detail! We work together with such ease to provide our brides with a really relaxed, personal and unforgettable service.

Opening my own boutique all those years ago was a massive and scary step but I’m so glad I
took the plunge! Over the years the business has grown and evolved to where we are today;
bringing our brides a carefully curated of modern and chic designs by designers worldwide
with a reputation I am proud of.”

Please make sure you go and give Hannah Elizabeth Bridal some love on Instagram! Also, make sure you book in an appointment if you are trying to find your perfect wedding dress!

Check out these blog posts if you need help planning your wedding:

How To Choose Your Wedding Flowers With Wildflower Studio

Planning Your Wedding – The Step by Step Guide

Also, feel free to leave a comment, share this on social media or share with someone you know that needs this!