#275 - Online with Lyra Vega Bridal

We talk a lot about wedding gown shopping on the show. It's a process, which for many, is something really fun! Yet believe it or not, there are some brides who just don't look forward to the shopping process at all and would simply rather not do it. On today's show Michelle connects with Lillian Hung, owner of Lyra Vega Bridal; a direct to consumer online bridal line built to bring high quality yet affordable gowns to modern brides.

Michelle met Lillian on Clubhouse and instantly new bringing her on the show would offer listeners a cool new concept. Especially because Lyra Vega Bridal, is focused on empowering women to make smart choices with their big day, rather than blindly following tradition.

Big Takeaways

Planning

• Budget: Attire typically accounts for 5% of youroverall wedding budget. How you wish to spend your budget is up to you!

Timeline

• 15-10 months-do your research, set your budget, and start the searchf or your wedding gown
• 9 months-given the wide range in the time it takes for a gown to arrive (average4-8 months), you will want to finalize your decision around the 9 month mark.

Research

• Seek Within First: BEFORE you throw yourself into the sea of information that is the internet, take a look at your own closet or other gowns that you’ve worn in the past first (hello long forgotten prom dress!).
• This will help you get an idea of what styles and shapes make you feel the best,what’s worked and what hasn't.

Start Browsing

• Start with trends articles on reputable publications to get your brain started on some style ideas. This will give you more up to date and organized compilations than generically searching for “wedding dresses”.
• When you see some thing that catches, take a moment to understand what you like about it. Use those details as keywords to find others that you might like!

Action

• BookYourVenue
• Securing your venue before buying a dress wil lhelp you visualize your day and how you want to dress for it! Because your venue will be the backdrop to everything, you will want to pick a dress that doesn’t feel out of place.

Examine Your Research

• Look at everything you’ve collected and try to find the patterns of what you like. Are you a minimal bride that wants a simple sheath dress? Or are all your pins ball gowns encrusted in jewels?
• You should be able to narrow in on a handful of styles you might be interested in.

Decision

• When it comes to sizing, Lyra offers made to measure gowns, no sizes on the site. This helps make sure each dress fits each body and reduces the need for excessive tailoring.
• One thing to keep in mind when going a typical gown shopping route is that you are likely going to need to plan on spending an extra $300-500 on tailoring.

The Big Wedding Planning Podcast is...

Hosted and produced by Michelle Martinez.

• Edited by Veronica Gruba
• Music by Steph Altman of Mophonics
• On Instagram @thebigweddingplanningpodcast and be sure to use #planthatwedding when posting, so you can get our attention!
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