3 Things I Wish I'd Known Before Going Wedding Dress Shopping For the First Time

Up until about three weeks ago, everything I knew about wedding dress shopping was a direct result of my addiction to the TLC network. Countless hours spent watching the mind-numbing goodness of Say Yes to the Dress led me to believe that one only needed two things to be adequately prepared for wedding dress shopping: an aggressively curated Pinterest board and a wildly unrealistic budget. Easy enough, right?

But after venturing out to find my own wedding dress for the first time, I quickly learned that there's actually more to know about the gown-hunting process than my cherished lowbrow TV made it seem. The sizing options are rough, the privacy is limited nonexistent, and so many other elements of the whole operation are not at all like your typical shopping experience.

In the interest of making sure that you, dear reader, don't have to learn these lessons on the fly like I did, I've broken down some practical information that might be of use ahead.

The average American woman is roughly a size 16, but you wouldn't know it by walking into a standard bridal salon. I quickly learned that brides only have two sizes they can try on in most boutiques: a four or a 12. As someone who usually falls right in the middle between those two dress sizes, it was manageable to get clipped into a size 12 or stuffed like a sausage into a very snug size four. That said, it was a little bit of a buzzkill to figure out that I couldn't actually try on gowns closer to my size (especially considering the price tags). If you don't fall anywhere near either a size four or size 12, I would recommend doing some research on bridal salons that specialize in keeping size-inclusive samples stocked on the floor!

I am not ashamed to admit that I'm not a fan of undergarments. I will go to nearly any length to avoid wearing a bra, and if I'm wearing leggings, there's a 100 percent chance that I'm not wearing underwear either. Luckily, I was wearing both when I went to my first bridal salon, because — surprise! — your fitting room attendant will be standing with you in your underpants for the duration of your appointment. So if you're not comfortable with the idea of chilling bra-less for hours on end with someone you've never met, might I suggest wearing a full set of undergarments.

There are a few things I'm really great at, and shopping is one of them. I'm at my most decisive and efficient when I'm inside a department store, so I was totally prepared to take the lead in my wedding dress shopping experience. Unfortunately, you don't really get to flex your shopping muscles during the wedding dress search. Instead, you're asked to describe your style or show a Pinterest board to a sales assistant, who then goes and selects gowns for you to try on. I can't describe my style to save my life and I haven't used Pinterest in years, so I was at a bit of a loss when I realized I wasn't allowed to just pull gowns directly off the rack and try them on.

In the end, I trusted the stylists who work with brides day in and day out, and they all pulled looks I ended up loving. But it would have definitely been helpful to have a quick, three-word summary of my style ready to go. (And, you know, maybe my Pinterest password, too.)