By popular acclaim, one of the most exciting, and we hasten to add, nerve-racking activities that brides undertake before their wedding is choosing their wedding dress and purchasing it from their chosen bridal store.

We say exciting because it must fill every bride with excitement knowing that this dress is the one she will wear on what will be one of the most important days of her life, her wedding day.

However, we also mentioned nerve-racking, and ironically it is for the same reason that her wedding day is so important, that a bride feels so much trepidation when choosing her wedding dress, from a fear of getting it wrong.

We must say, we have yet to hear of any bride who has subsequently stated after her wedding day that her wedding dress was anything other than perfect, a sentiment which is usually repeated by those in attendance at that wedding.

Nonetheless, the fact that most brides will only ever buy one wedding dress, and thus not had any practice doing so, it is understandable why it does throw up some nerves.

To try and combat that, we thought it would be useful if we put together a simple set of seven actions that bridal stores advise those buying a wedding dress to follow so the process is less worrisome, and so here are those seven steps.

Action #1 – Set A Schedule

Anything you need to do which might seem stressful is always less so if you have a plan and timeline to follow rather than taking random actions at unscheduled moments along the way.

That is why you should set a timeline from today through to your wedding day with dates by which the actions required to choose and buy your wedding dress should occur.

Action #2 – Determine Your Budget

Your search for a wedding dress will be improved and less stressful if you do it knowing what the limits of your budget are.

If you know what you can spend, it negates the shortlisting of possible wedding dresses that you then discover are two or three times what your budget is.

Action #3 – Establish What Style You Want

This is where it gets to be fun and exciting as you start to research possible styles of wedding dresses that you think are possibilities for you.

You can ask those whose advice you trust for ideas and opinions but remember this is your wedding dress so whilst you might welcome advice, do not feel obliged to choose a wedding dress just because someone else insists it is the right one.

Action #4 – Keep Your Entourage In Mind

Although the key choice you make will rightly be your wedding dress, and you should not lose sight of that, you must also consider what your entourage will be wearing such as your maid of honour and bridesmaids.

If you can find a wedding dress style that also has entourage dresses that complement it perfectly, then you are definitely heading in the right direction.

Action #5 – Choose A Bridal Store

Choosing a bridal store can be done by researching online to find those which have top reviews and are located near you.

You can also ask your circle of family, friends, and work colleagues for any bridal stores they would recommend.

Action #6 – Arrange Your Fitting Day

Having chosen a bridal store, you then should arrange your fitting day. We suggest you take at least one person with you for support.

Another tip is to wear undergarments that are similar to what you expect to be wearing on your wedding day to make the fitting more accurate.

Action #7 – Pause Before You  Make Your Final Decision

Having gone through all the steps, before you make the final decision to tell your bridal store to go ahead and order your wedding dress to be made, know that you should not rush this.

Relax, take some time to reflect, and be certain of the wedding dress that you truly want to wear on your special day.