Arranging a wedding can be tedious at times, but choosing a wedding dress isn’t one of them when you’re a shopaholic. However, just before my first wedding dress appointment I began to panic ‐ not about getting married but about what underwear to put on for the occasion! It’s bad enough having high street shop assistants scrutinise you when you try on an everyday suit but having them dress you and stare at you when you’re all you’re practically wearing is your birthday suit is another thing entirely! No wonder many bridal shops offer you a glass of wine when you enter ‐ you need it to build up courage to go through the ordeal. 
After choosing a ‘respectable’ pair of knickers and bra and having a few large sips of Chardonnay I disappeared behind a screen as an assistant brought a selection of gowns for me to try on and my mother waited patiently outside. The assistant informed me that on a bride’s first visit it’s important to try on a range of dresses of all shapes and forms. They claim this is because having never worn a wedding dress you won’t know which one suits you until you put it on. I disagree. I think they just want a good laugh. Not wanting to spoil their afternoon, I followed the tried and tested formula and proceeded to try on everything from dresses with meringue‐like skirts to straight, body‐hugging numbers while everyone ‘umm’d’ and arrhh’d’ in the shop around me.
Although self‐conscious at first, I soon got into the spirit of things and within an hour thought nothing of discarding my bra, being squeezed into the most incredible bodices and prancing up and down the shop floor pretending to walk up the aisle while my mother looked on in amusement. I hadn’t had so much fun since dressing up for school plays but after an hour I still hadn’t found what I was looking for…This dress made me look too ‘flat‐chested’, that one ‘too lumpy’.Another hour and four dresses later I put on one which felt the part. I grinned and my mother nodded in approval. Of course every high point has a low and in this case it was the price tag.
Most designer dresses cost at least £1600 and the label on mine said two thousand big ones! As I’ve still got 10 months to go I’m going to make a few more appointments at different stores and try on a lot more dresses, but first I’m going to buy some new underwear!
