Tips for Buying a Second Wedding Gown for Your Wedding Reception

While most brides are content with a single wedding gown, a new trend is starting to develop. This trend involves brides purchasing two wedding gowns. The first wedding gown is formal and elegant and it is worn during the wedding ceremony and for pictures. The second wedding gown that is purchased is more of a party dress and it is worn during the wedding reception. The advantage offered by this trend is that it provides the bride with the opportunity to change into a great looking dress that is more functional for wedding reception activities like dancing and mingling with her guests.

Setting a Budget

If you are like most brides then you will have a limited amount of money to work with when planning your wedding. If you are interested in buying two gowns for your wedding then you will need to divide your total wedding gown budget into two budgets. The majority of your wedding gown budget is going to be for your formal wedding ceremony gown, and the rest of your budget will be used for the dress that you will be wearing to your wedding reception. For example, you can create a 60/40, a 70/30 or an 80/20 budget scheme for your dresses.

Negotiate a Great Deal

With the economy still staggering, many wedding gown boutiques are struggling to make ends meat. This is good news for you, especially if you are interested in buying two dresses. When you meet with your wedding gown consultant let her/him know that you are interested in buying two dresses and see if they can give you a discount to help you get the dresses of your dreams. You will be surprised at the deals you can get on both of your dresses if you get the sales clerk involved in making your experience more affordable for you. After all they are going to make a bigger commission, even with added discounts, if they sell you two dresses as compared to one.

Decide on Two Looks

Before you start shopping for your wedding gowns you need to decide on two looks. The first look will be your wedding ceremony and wedding pictures look. This is where you will want to me more formal and traditional, if that is what you want. This is your high end look. The second look that you select can be more sexy, fun or flirtatious. This is the look that you will be wearing for most of the evening so it needs to be functional as well as fashionable. This look should allow you to move around easily and it should be more comfortable than your formal ceremonial look.