Ask LisaThe many formal occasions we attend can be so confusing. Lisa Rak uses her expertise with formal occasions to answer your questions! Q: I have no idea what type of dress I want to wear. I’m afraid I’ll never find a dress. How do I start my search?Actually sometimes that’s a good thing. A lot of brides will have a set vision of a dress in her mind and spend hours searching for that one dress, that may or may not exist. So, if you are open to anything you’ll have a great time trying on every style of dress and learning what looks best on you. From there you can narrow down your choices. Remember, there is a dress for everyone so don’t panic and enjoy the whole process. Q: I’ve done some dress shopping but I find it a little overwhelming. Do you have any suggestions on how to make it less hectic?There are a lot of things you can do to make dress shopping less overwhelming. First, limit the number of bridal shops you visit in one day. If you stack up too many appointments the sheer task of getting from shop to shop is stressful. Second, limit the amount of people you bring with you. It is always great to have a second opinion on a dress you think might be the one, but, a third, fourth and fifth opinion may get overwhelming. You may want to do your initial shopping with just your mom and MOH. You can always bring people to see the dress you’ve chosen when you’ve actually chosen it. Q: Is there a reason most bridal shops won’t let you take pictures of dresses you like?Well, I can’t speak for most bridal shops but I can tell you that we do allow pictures to be taken. You should keep a few things in mind when you are taking pictures during your gown search. You should wait until the end of your appointment, so you are only taking pictures of the gowns you really liked and not wasting time taking pictures of dresses that are just okay or may get weeded out during the appointment. You need to keep in mind that the picture you are going to take is not going to be the best representation of the dress you are looking at,. i.e., bad lighting, not a great fit… things like that. The best picture you’ll have is the picture your mind creates when you see yourself in a dress for the first time and it takes your breath away. That should be the guide you use to choose a dress. Q: I have six girls in my wedding party. They all are different sizes and coloring I want to make them all happy. Do you think this is possible??Well….. Yes, I do think it’s possible. If you want all the girls in the same dress/color, my first suggestion would be to not shop with all six girls. As wonderful as they all are, know that it is impossible to make six different people happy at once. That’s just human nature. I would say bring two of them and make sure they are different from each other in size/coloring. The three of you could narrow down your choices and then you can bring the other girls in to see what YOU have chosen. Your other option would be to find a designer that you like and let the girls all pick their own style dress from that designer in the color of your choosing. This way everyone looks great in their own style and the color will all be consistent and from the same dye lot. Good Luck! Q: My son is getting married to a great girl. She is from another state and the wedding is taking place there. She says the wedding is small and not so formal but her mom is wearing a floor length dress. That’s so not me but I don’t want to look out of place. I’m not sure what the venue is like and I don’t want to rock the boat but I would like to ask a few questions so I can be sure I get the right outfit. Do you have any suggestions on the right things to ask with out coming off like “the mother- in- law”.Congratulations!! I’m sure you're not in anyway “the mother in law” type. The fact that your even thinking about doing this without being pushy says a lot about you. My first suggestion would be to do some dress shopping first. Get a feel for what you're comfortable in. You may find that floor length dresses are more you than you thought; however if you find you truly are more comfortable in cocktail or tea length dresses than ask yourself a couple of questions. What time of day is the wedding taking place? If it’s before 3:00 than a cocktail dress is more than acceptable even if the MOB is wearing a full length dress. What are the bridesmaids wearing? If they are wearing floor length dresses that might be your sign that maybe you should be too. They usually set the tone for how formal a wedding truly is. That being said, the day really is about the bride and groom. Ultimately all eyes will be on them so you should wear something that looks and feels great for you and let all other worries fall to the side. Good Luck!!
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