Fit is everything, which is why, when it comes to your wedding dress, alterations are everything. You can splurge on a pricey dress, but if it’s not altered properly it won’t look any better than a gown that’s a tenth of the cost.

Here are 5 TIPS when it comes to bridal alterations.

Keep on Schedule:   It is best to buy your dress early enough to leave plenty of time for fittings and tailoring.  Schedule a fitting 2 months before the wedding and a final fitting no later than two weeks before your wedding.

Budget for Alterations:  Bridal Alterations can add up.  Some shops charge per service ($200 to shorten your gown, $150 to resew seams, etc.) while others charge a flat fee that covers anything you’ll need to make the dress fit you perfectly.  Design changes can cost anywhere from $50, to cut a sweetheart neckline, to hundreds of dollars.

Don’t Buy a Gown to Small:  Never buy a too-small dress, thinking you will lose the weight.  It’s easier to take in a larger dress, than to let a smaller one out.

Wear your Wedding Shoes:  A seamstress will adjust the hem based on the shoes you’ll be wearing at the wedding.  If you haven’t picked out your wedding shoes yet, bring a pair with a comparable height.  Your hemline should gently graze the ground, so that you don’t trip.

Bring Along Undergarments:  Whatever undergarments you plan on wearing bring them along for your fitting.  Spanx or the right strapless bra can make a difference.

Many large weddings this spring have been postponed due to the COVID 19 situation, but some couples are considering having a civil ceremony now and a larger wedding later.  Great!  Civil ceremonies can be presided over by a legal official such as a justice of the peace (right now, probably not) or any person who has become an officiant.

Bride St. Louis has a list of officiants that might be able to assist  (https://bridestlouis.com/listings/officiant). Check with Marry Me Cottage, 9036 Veterans Memorial Pkwy., O’Fallon, MO, 63366 or call them at 636-734-6077.  Tuscany Gallery is an incredibly special and intimate venue that’s designed for small elopements and weddings. They also have a special OUTDOOR package for the St. Charles County area (limited to under 10 people total) for just $350.00. You can reach them at weddings@TuscanyGalleryandEvents.com or call 636-345-1945.

 

To get married you will need a marriage license. You can still get a marriage license at the following locations. With regard to getting a license, here

is the latest that we know:

 

St. Charles County Court House, Recorder of Deeds

Please complete the online application available at www.sccmo.org.  Go to the Administration Building at 201 N. Second Street, St. Charles, MO 63301. Currently hours are 8am to 4:30pm, except they are closed between 10am and 11am. When you go, stay on the first floor and go to the assessor’s window.

 

St. Louis City

We were unable to reach anyone to confirm details. (Probably closed)

 

Lincoln County Court House, Recorder of Deeds

You must CALL FIRST as doors are locked. Talk to JEAN at 636-462-7935. Address is 201 Main Street, Suite 203, Troy, Mo 63379.

 

St. Louis COUNTRY Court House

We were unable to reach anyone to confirm details. (Probably Closed)

 

This information is current as of today, March 23, 2020 and the situation could change.

I would suggest you call first to confirm.

Many of you have questions concerning your upcoming wedding as we are all challenged with the uncertainly of the COVID-19 pandemic.   We are here to help you during every step of your wedding journey and this situation is no exception.

Here is what we are recommending to our LOCAL St. Louis area brides:

The CDC (Center for Disease Control) mandates that no events over 50 people can be held for the next two months, so that takes us until about May 15^th.  Be aware that the time period could change depending on circumstances.  Also, everyone is also mandated by our local city and state regulations.

Therefore, if you wedding is scheduled prior to May 15^th, you have two options:  the first is to contact your wedding venue first, to see if you can reschedule that date.  A second option, that some of you are doing, is reducing the number of guests to just a few close friends and family and having a small intimate wedding….but that needs to be under 50, and you may want to cancel your wedding venue and have the ceremony outdoors.  If you decide to do the second option, every wedding vendor you contracted with generally has a contract, and you need to contact them by email, to see what the situation might be and if it can be cancelled.  Every vendor is different and they are all going to have varying policies.

If you want to re-schedule your wedding, but your wedding venue is fully booked for the remainder of the year, we have requested from our venues to give us their open dates, and these are listed on our web site.  Again, you will need to coordinate any refunds with your booked venue.

If your wedding is later in the year, it is best to not to postpone at this time.

I know for a fact that our community of wedding professionals is banding together to assist in whatever way possible to help you through these challenging times.  We all just need to work together.

 

Welcome to part five of our wedding planning journey.   I am sad to report that I did not meet my goal of finding a photographer.  I had every intention of sitting down for a few hours and doing research, making a spreadsheet, and narrowing down my options.  However, my laziness got the best of me this week! The dreary cold weather was just screaming, “Go to bed early and binge Netflix!”  Next week I will resume my goal and hopefully finish this task that has been looming over my head!

As for this week’s post, I do have some exciting things to share with you!  My fiancé and I finally registered for shower/wedding gifts! Bed Bath & Beyond was hosting a “Rock Your Registry” event.  They had a few appetizers, desserts, soda, and I even went home with a small bag of freebies. They also had vendors from various companies around the store to talk about their products.  It was a great way to jump into the process of “registering”.

As I went into the night, I was definitely nervous about the process.  I was positive that this was definitely not going to be an easy task for someone like me who cannot make decisions.  How am I supposed to decide what sheet count to select? Towel colors? I have no idea! Don’t even get me started on the pots and pans!  Luckily, we just took on the store section by section. It might have taken us a few hours, but we did it! I would highly suggest looking into Bed Bath & Beyond’s future events!  If they have another event such as this in the near future, you should definitely take advantage of it. One of the things that I found really nice about this event is that there are SO many other couples there.  I didn’t feel silly walking through the store talking with my fiancé about which pillow to choose, because there were so many other couples there doing the exact same thing. I’ve also been to plenty of stores where there is not a soul in sight to help answer questions or give assistance.  However, I feel as though this location brought in extra workers for the night because at every turn there was someone asking me if I needed help. Even if I said I didn’t need help, I think they could tell that we did need help. They would politely insert their thoughts about certain brands.  It was so helpful to have a second opinion! Overall, this event was a great way to get our feet wet and start thinking about what products we would want to start our new life together!

I do have a question for all of you brides out there…how many places are you registered at?  We are definitely going to look at Target as well as Bed Bath & Beyond. I’ve also heard great things about Amazon as well, though!  Is three too many? Of course, my fiancé would also love to register at Lowe’s, but four might be pushing it! I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below and I’d also love to hear the item you are most excited to register for!

Welcome back, brides! Now that you have heard my wedding dress saga, I have to share a little dress hack that I recently learned about.  How many of you have helped your friends use the bathroom on their wedding day? 🙋‍♀️ I’ve been a bridesmaid 6 times now so I’ve gone through this experience quite a few times!  Well, if you want to relieve your bridesmaids of this duty (no pun intended), then use this little genius idea…First, you need one of those large, blue, Ikea bags. Next, cut the base out of the bag.  Now you will basically have a blue cylinder with straps. You can now step into the bag and as you pull the bag up, scoop your dress up at the same time in the bag. Place the straps of the bag on your shoulders so you can be hands-free!  You can always just leave the blue Ikea bag in the bathroom so you don’t have to walk out of the restroom with a giant blue bag!

Sorry for that little off track piece of advice, I just felt like I had to share!  On to the next step of my wedding planning process! Since I have the pleasure of working for Carol with Bride St. Louis, I have been to many bridal shows and I have recently been scoping out a great DJ for my reception.  I have to admit, there is something specific I have always wanted at my wedding.  I’ve always dreamed of having karaoke.  I love a good night out with friends and singing terribly at the top of my lungs.  I’m the first to admit I have absolutely no musical talent but that doesn’t stop me!  So as I was hunting down a decently priced DJ, I wanted to make sure karaoke would be an option that wouldn’t break the bank.  I also wanted to make sure karaoke wouldn’t be the only thing played at my reception.  I wanted a good mix of fun dance songs as well as singing with the mic!  I checked out about 4 different DJ options and ultimately went with the one that was able to offer the karaoke package at a reasonable price and without hesitation at my idea.  They were all for my idea and I can tell they will really make my vision come alive! I feel as though my decision for a DJ has been the easiest process so far. I didn’t ever really stress about this part of the wedding planning process because I knew there were always DJs out there and I would always have an option.  Don’t stress about this area! Take joy in the fact that this should be a painless part of the process.

My goal for next week is to have a photographer!  Now that is one area that is totally stressing me out!  By the time I share with you next week, it is my goal to have found a photographer.  I expect you to hold me to it! Have a great week!

I said YES…to the dress!  A wedding dress can take anywhere from 5-6 months to come in (not including alterations) and with my wedding coming up in less than 6 months, I knew what I had to do next!  As much as I dreaded dress shopping, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had expected.

I had a few ideas of the dress I envisioned myself in.  So, I went on Pinterest and found a few I liked and added them to my wedding board.  This way, when consultants asked what I was envisioning, I could just hold up my phone and I wouldn’t have to try and explain the hundreds of ideas swirling around in my head.  The main aspect to my original vision was long sleeves. I’ve always loved the idea of wearing long sleeves on my wedding day. Partly because I am self-conscious about my arms (ridiculous, I know) and partly because I think long sleeve dresses are elegant.

Once I had a few dresses pinned and ready to show, (I may have done this on the car ride to the dress shop #procrastinationatitsfinest) we made an appointment at a bridal store that was close to home and that I had heard about through some friends.  My mom and dad were the only ones I wanted to come with me on this first go around. Remember how I said I’m very indecisive? I wasn’t sure what I really wanted so I didn’t want to make my friends endure a long day of trial and error. I might not know what I want, but I definitely know what I don’t want.  I knew I could go to this appointment with my parents and send back any dress I wasn’t “feeling” and they would totally understand!  I wanted to get a feel for what I liked before I asked some friends to come along.

The first appointment went just as I expected.  I tried on a few dresses I thought I would like and ultimately, I wasn’t impressed.  It was a great first appointment though to feel out a few styles and now I felt like I was ready for my second attempt!  After we left the first appointment, there was a bridal store down the road that luckily allowed walk-ins! I went into my second appointment with a little more confidence.  I told my consultant my “vision” for long sleeves and I tried on a few options both with and without the sleeves. But yet again, nothing I really loved.

I went ahead and called a third and final place and I also randomly called a few friends to join me.  And I’m glad I did because, like they say, the third times the charm! The one thing that I loved about this shop that the other two shops were lacking was the organization.  The dresses were organized by style which helped me see all the long sleeve dresses they had available. I was also able to look in their “lace” section as well, which was the second best option in my vision.  I tried on exactly what I had thought I would love and had always pictured wearing.  As you can guess, I didn’t love it. It just didn’t feel right for my venue, body style, and time of year (I realized long sleeves in July would be pretty toasty).  If you try on a dress that isn’t feeling quite right, go with your gut and keep searching!

I ended up branching out and realizing that a trumpet style gown WITHOUT sleeves was more my style!  I ended up saying YES to a lace, ivory, spaghetti strap gown with a nude underlay. Completely different than what I had planned!  The moral of my long drawn out dress saga is to keep an open mind!  I know you probably hear this all the time and roll your eyes (just like I did), but it’s the truth!  I can’t wait to tell you more about my wedding planning journey next week!

Need some help choosing your style.  Check out this previous blog post:  https://bridestlouis.com/mermaid-trumpet-or-fit-flare-whats-the-difference/

Need some help selecting the right dress for your body:  https://bridestlouis.com/selecting-the-best-wedding-dress-for-your-body-style/

And one more helpful article about purchasing a wedding dress – the basics:  https://bridestlouis.com/everything-need-know-buying-wedding-dress/