Important Bridal Gown Shipping Tips

• Confirm the store’s refund, cancellation, and return policies before you walk out with a gown or plunk down your non-refundable 50 percent deposit.
  
• Find out if there are any hidden shipping costs.
  
  
• Don’t buy the first time out. At least sleep on it.
  
  
• Be certain you are comfortable in the dress, both emotionally and physically. Move around, mimic poses you will be striking on your wedding day, dancing with you arms up, bending over, sitting down, etc. Be certain the gown affords you the necessary range of motion. Equally important, make sure you feel like YOU in the dress (an especially dressed up romantic you to be sure). If you don’t feel you belong in the dress, then you don’t. Listen to you intuition.
  
  
• Also, listen to experienced and knowledgeable salespeople. Remember, this is probably your first time shopping for a wedding dress, and they have most likely helped hundreds of brides choose their perfect dress. Let them put their years of experience to work for you.
  
  
• Have the style number, dress size, and color ordered written on the receipt, along with the deposit amount and promised delivery date.
  
  
• A couple of weeks after the gown is ordered, call to verify that the order has been placed with the manufacturer, and confirm a delivery date.
  
  
• Stay in touch with the salon periodically. Some salons have been known to close their doors after taking deposits from brides. They may not have ordered the dress or made any arrangements for the bride to take delivery of her gown. Who needs a last minute surprise like that!?
  
  
• When ordering a gown, be sure you are measured properly with a cloth tape, then ask to see the manufacturer’s size charts and order the size according to your largest measurement. This will help minimize costly, unnecessary alterations. Remember, it’s better to order the dress a little larger than too small. And don’t order a dress one or two sizes smaller than you normally wear based on the idea that you’’ lose twenty pounds. If you don’t lose it, you’re in real trouble.
  
  
• Pay the smallest deposit you can, and put your deposit on a credit card. If you have the problem, you can dispute the charges, and subsequently, often have the disputed charges taken off your bill.
  
  
• Your contract or receipt should include a cancellation clause, stating that the deposit will be refunded if the gown ordered doesn’t arrive in good condition by the desired date.