ams- How funny; this was the dress I sent my daughter a picture of, but in long!
http://www.tadashishoji.com/alx1812ly-mint-corded-embroidery-on-tulle-cap-sleeve-gown
She loved the color, but thought the lace was too close to her dress. It was only my first stab of online shopping, so I will keep looking.
That is funny, snowball! There are a lot of beautiful MOB dresses out there. This was actually one of the first I saw and it was perfect for me. I didn’t want low cut, a low back or sleeveless.
I wonder if the sales person just meant that most people don’t come in with 12 dresses in mind TO try on. I mean, it’s possible you never get back dress #3 - or you might come in thinking you know “the one” but end up trying 10.
I went with my FDIL dress shopping - she tried on maybe 6 - but was pretty sure that dress #3 was “it” - it was!
@soozievt - my daughter’s #2 dress (the one she fell in love with and will be wearing at her wedding) is from BHLDN , and she told me that the appointment with the stylist was limited to one hour – so I got the impression that they are strict about time there. I don’t know how many dresses she tried on that day. But that might have been the source of the resistance to a list of 13 dresses. I think she tried on 4 or 5 on our first excursion to David’s bridal.
So probably DD did try on that many over the course of three shopping excursions, but not all in one session.
It could be even more challenging if there are two ceremonies, one in the US and the other in another country. If this is the case, which one should the first?
This info could be useful to some here.
I suspect (but not sure about it) that after the marriage but before the reception of the temporary permanent visa, there could be some time when the person is not in a good shape to leave this country even temporarily (unless some kind of authorization paper – is it called advanced parole? – is obtained first.) If there is a need to go out of the country (e.g., another wedding ceremony in another country), there could be a logistic problem. Some people may even suggest that an immigration attorney be consulted if there would be ceremonies in both countries within a short time. This is just hearsay only though.
WOWMom, Congrats to your D1.
You are right that the appointment is one hour. it may not mean she tries on a dozen dresses, but these were t he ones she wanted pulled for her appointment. It could turn out she falls in love with one of them part way through and that’s it. Or doesn’t like a certain kind of style and nixes ones that are like it. OR when she sees ones on the hangar in person doesn’t like it enough to try on. I don’t think it is far fetched to try 10 dresses or so when picking out a wedding dress and going to this expense. Unless she really doesn’t like any of them, she has limited the search for now to this ONE store and so it is not as if she has other appointments lined up. But we have not done this before. I think it is possible to try that many in an hour, but we’ll see. I don’t know the actual count but was going by the dozen or so she saved on Pinterest. She is not into fancy or lots of embellishment and is also not into strapless.
Unless you are on Say Yes to the Dress, you could try in a dress in a matter of minutes. While my daughter had appointments at 5 different bridal stores when she came home to shop, she was overwhelmed after 3 shops so cancelled the last two boutiques! She had a favorite at each shop and ended buying from the first shop. Actually, the first shop ordered a dress from a line they carried for her, as they didn’t have the sample in stock. She was sure that would be her dress, but when she saw it on, didn’t love it. The dress she picked she vetoed on the hanger, but her friend made her try it on; it was the favorite for all of us. So, you never know until you see them in person and try on those you like.
My DIL started at BHLDN when she went to visit her sister and though she had found her dress. After shopping once home at a small bridal boutique, found a dress she loved more. While many brides have to have that one dress, I believe many girls can love more that one dress. My daughter looked great in many, so she had several to pick from.
So let you daughter see as many dresses as she wants; most likely she will not try them all on. If she does want to, you may have to make another appointment unless she can change quickly or knows once she has a dress on if it is a no.
“While many brides have to have that one dress, I believe many girls can love more that one dress.”
Sounds a lot like the college search process! 
@soozievt, I attended my future DIL’s sole gown shopping excursion, along with her mother – just the three of us. She had an appt. at a non-chain salon in suburban Philadelphia, no time limit at all, just a start time. There were several salespeople working with other brides in other areas of the salon at the same time. My recollection is that future bride tried on perhaps seven to ten gowns that met her criteria in our time there. No gowns had been pulled in advance of the appointment. We were certainly there well over an hour, but probably not more than two hours, including the time to handle payment paperwork, etc.
One gown was the clear favorite for all as soon as she tried it on. Future DIL had very specific ideas of what features she wanted, including, like your D, not strapless. Since strapless gowns are 80% of the options, her preferences cut down the possibilities significantly, which made it easier. That was her one and only shopping excursion as she is very busy in her last year at an out of area professional school.
My guess is that if your D has a dozen “pinned,” she may actually end up trying on only eight to ten, and may well end up with her chosen gown at that one session.
The saleslady of course would like to make a sale with as little time/work as possible, but your D should feel no pressure – she can come back for another appt., there or elsewhere, until she finds what she is confident is “the one” for her. Perhaps the saleslady needs to be convinced that your D does not intend to be shopping all over town (perhaps an issue in NYC), and is coming in ready to make a decision. She can save some time by not coming out to “show” to you any dress she tries on but knows immediately she does not like on.
I took lots of pics – apparently some salons do not allow picture taking, but this one did.
Have fun!
Cal mom-
The glitch is fixed. See if you can note what part of the url is deleted and type it out, or make a tiny url
I’ve not heard of BHLDN, and am happy to see that the prices are reasonable and the dresses are not all strapless!!
My Daughter went to BHLDN in Boston (Chestnut Hill) and they held her strictly to the one hour limit. They had some beautiful dresses, but she got her dress at another shop in Boston. It was very simple, but lovely.
This has been a totally painless process for us for which my wife and I deserve little credit, lol. My daughter got engaged mid-August 2016, desiring an October 2016 wedding. We live in the Philadelphia area where that kind of lead time is a minimum in order to assure that you will have choices of dates, venues and vendors. My daughter and her fiancé both work for an entertainment company that does Bar and Bat Mitzvahs and weddings and my daughter also worked for a wedding planner for several years. As a result, both she and her fiancé know or have worked with all of the major Philadelphia area vendors at most of the popular venues. We told them our budget and turned them loose. Within 2 months of their engagement, they had entered into contracts with the venue, caterer, florist, photographer, videographer and had reserved blocks of rooms at 2 center city hotels for out of town guests. Entertainment is a non-issue since they will use the company they work for and their biggest dilemma there was deciding who at the company would be invited guests and who they would select to work their wedding. They selected their invitations and save the date cards a few months ago. My daughter found her dress after going to 2 shops in our area. They have a timeline for all the other details and other organizational documents on shared google docs so that we can easily check on the status of things. We’ve had to do little other than participate in putting together a guest list, write deposit checks and enjoy going with the kids to some of the vendors just to share in the fun. The bachelorette party is planned as is the bridal shower and rehearsal dinner. Her future in-laws are gems. We’ve known them for several years and for the past 3 years we’ve all related as a joint family, sharing holidays, occasions and even vacations together. They are laid back, participatory (offered up front to pay for the flowers and rehearsal dinner) and very understanding about how stressful the process could be, having planned a wedding for their daughter about 6 years ago. We took the position that the most important thing above all else is that everyone has at the wedding the people that are important to them, without any preconceived notions of which “side” gets how many and there’s been no drama at all about the guest list. Both the in-laws and we have been self regulatory to try to keep things within budget. The toughest part of the guest list is the kids who have close relationships in several different life endeavors and whose own guest list of must haves is about 70 couples! Between everyone’s guest lists, we are up to about 280 bodies and are fervently hoping the expected attrition levels bear out!
Perhaps maybe you meant she got engaged in mid-August 2015. Otherwise she is a woman ahead of her time!!
My DS and now wife were engaged for 15 mos. Gave them plenty of time to plan. We hosted a celebratory luncheon for them a few months after they got engaged. We were on a tighter time schedule than they were, but there was a lot less to plan.
Yup 2015 lol. Although there were some venues where reservations had been placed by some hopeful brides who were not even engaged yet!
Should we start a new MOB dress thread? Here’s a few summer long MOB gowns:
https: jcrew.com/womensfeature/NewArrivals2/Bridesmaid/PRDOVR~C5543/C5543.jsp?intcmp=catheadw_weddingsandparties
A light weight chiffon might be good in the hot weather.
Link doesn’t work
Thanks for all the replies.
@JEM My daughter (D2) is focused on this one shop and it could be likely that she gets a dress there and has no other appointments planned at this time. The appointment is limited to one hour. I suspect there is a chance that once my D sees some of these dresses in person, she may not even try them on. But she already has an idea of the type of dress she might like. And in this case, the dresses are all online and so she already narrowed it down, and so it is not like the salesperson will be pulling out possibilities or trying to figure out what my D likes. I don’t think it is far fetched to want to view ten dresses or so. She could get a few dresses into it and already decide for all I know. She also has a certain budget in mind.
@MichaelNKat Delighted to hear your D is engaged and will be married around the time that my D2 will be. I have enjoyed sharing your D’s journey over the years on the MT Forum. I am not doing any of either of my girls’ wedding plans. Both are doing it all on their own with their respective fiancees. They are having very different types of weddings from one another. I gave both a set amount of money to do with as they like. In D2’s case, the groom’s parents are also contributing an amount to the wedding. And they are also paying for the rehearsal dinner. My D doesn’t want any flowers and feels that is a waste of the budget money. In terms of entertainment, like your D, she is in the performing arts. She is renting a piano for the venue and for a small part of the reception, various friends will be performing (the majority of her friends are in the performing arts/music), and for the rest of the event, she will also have a DJ.
I haven’t even begun to think about MOB dresses and I have two daughters’ weddings. Maybe I should get on that soon.
Wow, I love the BHLDN website! Lots of dresses for ladies who don’t want a cookie cutter dress.
I had never heard of BHLDN before. Lots of really lovely dresses.
@snowball, I’m a big fan of tea length linen and silk. The vast majority of the dresses marketed as MOB/MOG gowns, with their lace and embellishment and un-natural fabrics really don’t appeal to me. I’d urge you to take a look at nice dresses and pieces not marketed for wedding attire.
But I am in a distinct minority here. 