Selection: Start shopping as soon as you set your date. Most designer wedding dresses need to be special ordered. It could take 3 to 6 months for special order or designer wedding dresses to arrive. Order at least six months prior to your reception. This will allow time for fittings, alterations, and coordination. If you decide to have your gown custom made, allow about 6 months since selection of style, fabric and details along with fittings takes time.

Shopping: To make your day a pleasant and rewarding one, try not to visit too many bridal shops in the same day. When you are fresh, full of energy and enthusiasm, you will be able to make sound judgments. On the other hand, if you come to the store exhausted and unprepared, after trying a few styles you may be confused and find that all the gowns begin to look the same and you may come home toting one of the cheap wedding dresses simply because you were tired! Bring along pictures of wedding gowns you like and be open to discuss your plan and idea with a bridal consultant. It could happen that the gown you like in a picture doesn't look good on you. The bridal consultant will study your figure type and personality to help select the styles that flatter you and suit your budget. Try on all of the dresses the consultant shows you, even if it may not seem like "your style" of dress as most wedding dresses look much better, and different, on you than on the racks. You may want to bring a family member or friend along for a second opinion . Avoid taking more than one person since too many opinions can conflict and confuse. Wearing appropriate undergarments and a bit of makeup can also help to make the wedding dress look and fit better. Take a Polaroid camera along just in case you cannot decide. Take a picture of yourself wearing each wedding dress and bring them home to study.

Purchase - It seems there are now as many WAYS to purchase a bridal gown as there are bridal gowns! Full service salons, internet discounters, warehouses and more are all competing for your business. Regardless of where and how you order a gown, some things are the same. A sales contract will be required, you will need to select your size, and more. There are many horror stories from brides who were taken advantage of when they were not aware of how to protect themselves (and their money) through this process.

When placing a special order, the store usually requires 1/3 to 1/2 non-refundable deposit. Before ordering, make sure your decision is firm and final. Keep all receipts of your purchase for record .

Whether you are shopping at a full service bridal salon, warehouse, etc., the salesperson should make you aware of the various types of size choices. You should be measured by an experienced bridal seamstress. Does she know the difference between a body measurement and a garment measurement? If the store chooses the size, be certain they write that on the sales receipt. While most gowns need some alterations, if it is clearly too big or too small, the store should take responsibility for alterations if they select the size for you.

Ask if the merchandise is being specially ordered or will you be taking this sample from stock? This information should be written on your sales receipt, particularly if the gown you tried on was close to the size garment you need.

A reputable business should not try to conceal any information from you. Ask for the name of the manufacturer or designer and write the name on your receipt. If you don't receive the appropriate responses that should raise a warning flag. Under the law, sample wedding gowns must be properly labeled to include fiber content, country of origin, care instructions, and one of the following business distribution channels must be identified: Manufacturer's name or RN (Registered Number) or the retailer's name.

The sales contract you will sign to finalize the order is designed to protect both you and the retailer. It will of course include your name, address, phone number, and method of payment. Your wedding date and last acceptable date for delivery of the gown should also be included. Be sure to allow time for portraits and/or alterations in the last acceptable date. The sales contract should include the manufacturer’s name, style number of gown, size and color you are ordering, a description of the gown, and a picture reference, if available, for designer wedding dresses list the designer's name. A reputable retailer should not keep this information from you. It should not be acceptable to allow a store code in place of the actual manufacturer name and style number. At the bottom of the contract is the disclaimer or "fine print". Be sure to read this and ask questions if you have them.

Although retailers accept many methods of payment, it is highly recommended that you pay for your new gown with a credit card. This is a final line of defense. Federal Regulation C entitles consumers to receive a refund if the merchandise does not live up to what is promised. The law specifically states that if you have a problem with the quality of goods or services purchased with a credit card and you have tried in good faith to correct the problem with the merchant, you may not have to pay the bill. This means if your gown arrives damaged, in the wrong size, or not at all, you still have your money.

If your retailer refuses to complete information you request or answer any questions to your satisfaction - DO NOT SIGN THE CONTRACT! Many reputable retailers complete orders as stated above as their normal procedure. Don’t feel trapped into purchasing from a bridal shop with whom you do not have full confidence.

What Every Bride Should Know About Purchasing Wedding Dresses Unveiling The Truth About Wedding Dresses: from ConsumerAffairs.com The Federal Trade Commission is trying to make sure that brides-to-be get what they pay for when they buy a wedding dress - including all the information that federal law requires on wearing apparel.

The disclosures -- including the manufacturer or seller, the fabric, the country where the garment was made, and cleaning instructions -- must be included on every garment offered for sale, says the FTC. But they're particularly important on wedding dresses, arguably the most expensive and memorable purchases of a lifetime.

"There's no question that most brides-to-be look at the price tag on the outside of the dress before they look at the information on the inside label," said Jodie Bernstein, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "But brides are telling us that they want the 'inside' information and that it's missing from some garments."

Bernstein said the emergence of discount ordering services -- either through toll-free telephone numbers or the Internet -- has spurred some retailers to remove disclosure labels from their gowns. It is not against the law to remove manufacturers' labels and replace them with a store's own labels, she said, but it is illegal to sell or show a gown that doesn't have the required information at all.

The FTC has issued a new brochure, "Wedding Gown Labels: Unveiling the Requirements," to alert manufacturers and retailers about the following disclosures required by law on all clothing offered for sale, including wedding gowns:

the identity of the manufacturer, distributor or retailer, either by name or by registered identification number (RN). The FTC issues the RN, which consumers can use to identify a company should they have a complaint or a compliment to share. The FTC maintains an RN lookup service at its web site: http://www.ftc.gov/ the garment's fiber content. "This information is important to any shopper, and especially to brides," said Bernstein. "Who wants to pay the price of silk if the garment is polyester?" federal law requires that clothes carry a label that identifies the country or origin. all garments must carry permanently affixed care labels telling consumers how to clean and care for them. "We hope that bridal gown businesses will refer to our business education brochure to make sure they're complying with the law and providing brides-to-be with the information they deserve," Bernstein said.

Copies of the Facts for Business, "Wedding Gown Labels: Unveiling the Requirements" are available from the FTC's web site at http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580; 202-FTC-HELP (202-382-4357); TDD for the hearing impaired 202-326-2502.