**Answer: Trust your gut.**

What is the meaning of life?

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

How will I know when I have found THE ONE?

These questions are as old as time itself, and luckily, I know the answer to the third question.

I’ve had countless brides, Mothers of the Bride, and other women ask me with panic in their eyes in the dressing room surrounded by gowns,

“How will I know if this is the one?”

The short answer is: trust your instincts. This doesn’t mean that your stomach will drop or tears will flow when you finally try on the gown you’re going to get married in—although, some brides-to-be do cry!

(Ladies, trust me, it’s OK if you don’t openly weep in the salon dressing room! We don’t live in a RomCom.) It just means that when you know, you will know. Sometimes that “knowing” will come days later, when you cannot get a specific dress out of your head. Or a week later when you keep scrolling back to that specific image of you in the dressing room in that gown you liked “a lot.” Or even a month later when you’re sending your best friend a pic of the same dress for the 7th time that week with all of the detective emojis.

Don’t feel like you should be under any pressure to decide on such as BIG question on the spot. Most women will not find their wedding gown on their first appointment at a salon. You’re spending a lot of money on a dress--$2,400 on average, to be exact—so we want to make sure you are confident in your decision-making.

Here are some tips to help you sort through your feelings:

If you are a stickler for budget, don’t put yourself through the pain of trying on dresses outside of your reach. Remember that quality alterations can begin at around $600.
Visualization can help. Can you see yourself walking down the aisle in the dress? Are you able to envision yourself dancing in this dress with your new husband? Can you see yourself in the dress in photos on your parent’s wall, 10 years from now? If you can’t say yes to those questions, you might want to put the dress aside.
Sleep on it. If you’re torn once you leave the salon, take 24 hours and then revisit your options. You might be surprised with how you feel a day later about some of your options!
Make a second or third appointment to try your final few contenders on. Do your hair and makeup a bit so you feel beautiful (not that you don’t look beautiful even with day 4 hair and no makeup!). Try them on and twirl!
By all means listen to what your mom, best friend, or bridesmaid says about your options, they may be able to give you some valuable insight here and there. But, remember that YOU are the one who will be wearing the dress so your opinion is the only one that matters at the end of the day. Plus, they’ll come around once they see how gorgeous you look in your final gown.