Happy Monday!
Calling all bride to be’s! I found my wedding dress a little over a month ago, but I wanted to do a round up of some of the places in Chicago and surrounding suburbs that I visited to look for wedding gowns.
This was the first place I visited when shopping for dresses. I found this boutique because I really love the designer Pronovias and they were hosting a trunk show. A trunk show gives a bride a unique opportunity to try on Bridal Gowns that are straight off the runway. They typically offer anywhere from 10-15% off the dress for the length of time the trunk show is in that boutique. I could not have been happier with the women who owned this shop. They were sisters and have been working in the Bridal business for years. They worked for another couture store downtown before deciding to open up Dantela Bridal together. They were warm, knowledgeable and didn’t push me into buying anything I wasn’t ready to buy. My mom, Grandma, Yiayia, sister and niece were able to join me for my first appointment which was so special. We had the whole store to ourselves, which gave us plenty of time to take our time assessing all the dresses I was trying on. I fell in love with a couple of dresses here, but was not ready to make this big decision after only going to one place. Not only did I fall in love with this one particular dress, but I measured every other dress I tried on against it. I recommend any other bride to go here! One of my girlfriends who is getting married a week before me, actually came into the shop three hours after I was there and bought her wedding dress!
This boutique is located in Logan Square, when I lived near this area for the last couple of years I had walked by this location a handful of times. For all of you Michigan brides they also have a location in Birmingham, MI. They carry an array of designer brands and price points. Always go into a bridal store with a budget in mind. My mom is guilty of never looking at a price tag. When I would hear her say “Maria come look at this one, its beautiful!”. I would respond back with, “How much does it cost mom?”. I didn’t want to look at something that was $10,000 because I didn’t want to fall in love with it. I knew the areas in the store that had things that fell more into my budget and the rack to stay away from. The rack that my mother was browsing through haha.
I had the opportunity to try on a Vera Wang Gown here that was on major discount. Wow, the detailing and construction was just absolutely beautiful and the dress did amazing things for my body. But the style of the dress was so fitted to my knees, that I could barely walk. If I could barely walk, how would I be able to dance at our wedding? Even though it was so gorgeous it wasn’t worth being that uncomfortable!
I was really torn between these two dresses. 
Laughing at all my facial expressions when I didn’t know my mom was snapping pictures haha.
Located in Lincoln Park this boutique offers designer gowns for half the price. This is where Stacy bought her beautiful Haley Paige dress and my friend Amy bought a beautiful Galia Lahav dress from here as well. All the gowns they have in their shop are from couture bridal salons across the country. Everything here is a sample and what you see on the rack is what you take home, so that’s just something to be aware of when you go in. I went in during a big sample sale they were having and unfortunately only found one dress I wanted to try on. It was a Lazaro beaded dress and it was absolutely beautiful but It just didn’t have that wow factor I was looking for. I still think its a fabulous place to add to your list of places to go since I have two friends who found two insanely beautiful dresses there! The staff was kind, the shop was so cute and I loved the location. If you have your heart set on buying a designer dress, but you don’t have the budget for it Aisle Chic is the place to go!
I ended up not going here to try on any bridal gowns because my appointment was after I found my dress, but I would still recommend it. They have so many beautiful dresses and ones that are very budget friendly. I did however get the experience of going into BHLDN for flower girl dresses. The store is located in the Gold Coast just a couple blocks off of Michigan Ave. It’s two floors and the first floor is filled with so many gorgeous mother of the bride and bridesmaid dresses. Upstairs is where they had everything bridal and the flower girl dresses. My niece tried on three dresses and told me that she has to “think about which one she wants!” haha it was so cute.
I definitely think we will buy her flower girl dress from there and when I need to go shopping for bridal accessories this is one of my places i’m going to go. Everything we saw merchandised for jewelry was so pretty, but we just didn’t have enough time to look!
My whole Bridal dress shopping heart fell in love with Viero Bridal. From the garments to the people who worked at the boutique. I was scrolling through Instagram and came across this dress and instantly fell in love. I made an appointment, went in and showed them this dress while keeping my fingers crossed that it wasn’t going to be $10,000. They informed me that everything in their store is less than $3,000. Which was music to my wedding gown budget ears. With a background in Fashion, one of my biggest pet peeves shopping is coming across gowns that were constructed poorly and with the insane price tags. I knew that I could find something within my budget that still had all of the wants that I had on my checklist! I tried on so many gowns here that I absolutely loved, but when I tried mine on I knew instantly that this was the one. I cannot wait for you guys to see my dress!
They have a location in New York, Chicago and Las Vegas. If you don’t find something in store, they also do custom dresses. When I went in I thought about both options until I found my dress. I thought getting a dress designed would be something so fun and creative to do especially with my background. Then when I really thought about it I didn’t want the added stress!
Tips when trying on wedding dresses:
- Make sure to bring proper undergarments. I always had nude underwear, spanks and a nude strapless bra in case I needed to wear one. Going into the appointment know that you are going to most likely be standing without a bra on in front of the sales consultant and you are going to have to be comfortable with that. They are helping you get in and out of these dresses. Remember they are professionals and you aren’t the first girl they have seen down to their skivies.
- Do your hair and makeup. Don’t go post gym or roll out of bed. It helps when you have your hair done and a little makeup on to see your vision come to life. Plus you feel prettier trying on these beautiful dresses!
- Go with a budget and stick with it! Whatever it is $1,000 or $15,000. Don’t let anyone talk you out of that, remember you’re paying for this dress not the sales consultant!
- Don’t go to a couture boutique if you don’t want to spend that kind of money. Chances are you will fall in love with their dresses but not the price tags. Would I have loved to buy my dress from Vera Wang? Absolutely, but I knew that wasn’t in my budget and that money was going to be used for something else!
- If you have to convince or talk yourself into a dress, then it isn’t the one! It’s just like boys. If you have to convince yourself that he has potential or that he could be someone good to date or you continue to make excuses for that person. Maybeee they aren’t right for you. That’s how I feel about wedding dresses too. There are so many gorgeous dresses, only commit when you for sure know!
Hope you enjoyed my round up as much as I enjoyed trying on dresses! This was my favorite part of the wedding planning experience thus far!
