Dress Diaries Pt. 1: The Multi-Dress Bride

And just when you thought finding one perfect dress was difficult enough...

The Dress: two words that can strike fear into the hearts of even the bravest and most dedicated shoppers. But, then again, searching for your wedding dress is more than just your average, run-of-the-mill shopping experience. Many brides spend hours surfing websites and scanning through magazines to find the cuts and styles they envision wearing on their big day, before they even enter a showroom. Sometimes these trips end fruitlessly without finding “the one” (keep your head up, gal, it's out there somewhere!), while other times brides find themselves grappling with a different dilemma: finding the more-than-one.

Some of you might be thinking, “Oh, she's found more than one dress, life must be tough.” But, hey, that is tough! It can be equated to not finding a dress at all. What if you pick the wrong one? What if the other one would have looked better? At the end of the day, you're still dress-less because you can't wear more than one right? Wrong.

In recent years we've seen a growing trend in brides purchasing, and wearing, more than one gown on their wedding day. High profile brides including Carrie Underwood and Chelsea Clinton have hopped on this train, generally making the switch before the reception. One UK bride in 2011 bought a staggering 18 (yes, you're reading that correctly. 1-8. Eighteen!) dresses for her wedding. Don't worry, though, she only wore 9 of them. This may be an extreme case, but the trend of rockin' more than one wedding dress still holds and continues to grow.

To us here in the States, this may seem like a new phenomenon, but in other areas of the world it's common practice to don multiple looks and it has been for years. Hundreds even. In many Asian countries, including India, China and Korea, it is expected to make multiple dress changes throughout the course of the event. But it is thought to have taken hold in the US within the last decade when brides were being weighed down by big, heavily ornamented ball gowns and wanted something a bit more accommodating for their receptions.

My thoughts on the multi-gown movement? Personally, I think that if you've found more than one dress and you're heart just shatters at the thought of leaving one behind then go for it! But limit it to two (and make sure it fits your budget! Don't skimp on another aspect of your wedding day for a second dress). Make the change prior to cocktail hour or the reception or whenever you see fit, but make sure you aren't ditching your party to change your look. Your guests came to celebrate with you! So spend as little time as possible away from them.

Two gowns not in your budget, but still looking for a way to change your look from ceremony to reception? Check back on Wednesday for muli-dress alternatives!