Wedding Dress shopping - Who should I bring?

For what its worth, no animosity between the mom and step-mom, it's been 20+ years since the divorce. I'm also not sure sure if having his mom and step-mom there affects my mom's experience. I'm planning on talking to my mom before (if) I ask them, but figured I'd get a general round of opions on the pros and cons.

You could ask your mom her thoughts, she might tell you that she wants it to be you, grandma, mom and sister, and then you don't have to worry about inviting them. You can try to include them in other things. Cake tastings are fun for people, checking out the venue etc.

There are ways to include them and keep this special for you - however, if you really think you wont find one (you might surprise yourself, I had no intention of buying, but found the dress the first day trying on dresses) you can tell your mom that you and she will go out for the "real" purchase, then invite them all.

When I went dress shopping, it was with just my mom and my sister (MOH). After I chose the dress, I took FMIL back to see it. Personally, my thoughts are you should bring a minimum number of people with you (you get less different opinions that way) and that you should only bring people who know your personal style and who will be honest with you, but also be supportive of your opinion on what you want/don't want.

I think it might be a LOT of people... especially if you're not super close to them, and they haven't expressed an interest in coming along!

If it were me, I would just stick with mom/grandmother/sister, unless there's a good reason to invite more people along. It gets crowded and confusing with too many people.

I said the same thing, my first time.....that I wasn't planning to buy,but I did! I took

only the people closest to me, My mom, my bestfriend (MOH), my daughter, and my friend..who both (daughter & friend) were my BM's. I felt that having of a bunch people would make it distracting. When I go for my fittings I plan to invite his mom, sister, and sister in law.

I took my parents with me & that was it. For the fittings, I took more people The less people you take, the less opinions you have to deal with!

So a follow up question would be has anyone had FMILs that were upset they weren't invited to go dress shopping?

Keep in mind that the more people you take with you, the more opinions you'll have and that could be very confusing to you. As far bringing everyone else, I would first ask your mom her opinions so she doesn't feel like anyone's taking her thunder.

Throughout my entire dress shopping experience, I never took anyone with me but FH, his opinions is the only one that matters to me, after all I'm wearing the dress for him, couldn't imagine making that decision without having his input.

So I'm a peacekeeper and I love to entertain, my problem is two-fold, my mom and gram are spending the weekend at my house, and FH mom is in town that weekend. I'd like to have her over for dinner b/c mom and FMIL have only met a handful of times since my mom was living in the midwest and my FMIL was living in FL. Will it be weird to have her over for dinner that weekend if she's not going dress shopping? Neither women ( the in-laws) have asked about dress shopping so its very possible that I'm completely over thinking it and they are completely indifferent about my dress =).

@Patricia J. I'm going to have a hard time not showing FH then dress, but he really wants to be surprised.

I was also thinking 5 people sounded like a lot to tell me if they like the dress or not...

Yeah I wouldn't have been able to keep it a secret from him even if I wanted, he was excited to go with me from day one and actually picked out the dress.

My FMIL is hardly involve in the planning, she's a very quiet woman and she never even ask us how we doing with things ever since we told them we were engaged so I doubt she'll be upset... I don't think it's weird at all to invite them over for dinner, if you feel like it might be an issue try not to bring dress shopping in the conversation.

5 is definitely a lot of opinions but you know them better so if you can handle it, go for it.

I know I would have loved to have had my FMIL there but my mom got all weird about it. (My mom is also schizo, so she may not have come if I'd invited my FMIL after she expressed her opinion of not wanting my FMIL there.) Anyway, I think it A) depends on what you want and B) whether you think they'd appreciate being there. I know my FH is an only child, so I'm sure his mom would have loved being there... but we are also really close and I am like a daughter to her. How well do you know them? Do you want them there because you already love and respect them and their opinions and would love to share that experience with them? Do you want to use it to get to know them better? I think it depends what you want them day to be about and whether your mom is okay with it. I personally think it would be sweet of you to invite them, but it's really up to you! Have fun!

I didn't even think of it this way. Honest, supportive people only.