Wedding Dress Help

Hi!!
Has anyone gone to a local bridal shop to get a feel for what kind of style you like and then shopped online (like on Etsy) or done a custom dress? Or even a prom store? There’s a formalwear online store that I am looking at and I would like to know more about what looks good on me and not waste any money. As far as I know, there’s no try on option like some companies have available.

I have emailed a bridal shop and mentioned to them that I wanted to at least try different styles on to see whether or not I wanted to make my moms dress as my own. I made it clear that I wanted to just look and that I am keeping my options open as I would have to do a payment plan anyways.
For context, I am looking forward to the dress shopping experience with my family but I’m a little apprehensive of it because I don’t want it to be a reminder that my mom is in Heaven and not with me? I’m trying to get as much planning done early so that way when it sets in that I’m actually getting married, it’s not as difficult.