Essense of Australia Wedding Dress Preview Show in Fort Wayne

Imagine being one of the first brides in the country to try on an Essense of Australia wedding dress that hasn’t even been released yet.

Pretty exciting, right?!

That’s exactly what makes an Essense of Australia Designer Preview Show so special. At One Fine Day Bridal in Fort Wayne, Indiana, we’re invited to host a collection of unreleased Essense of Australia wedding dresses before they officially make their way into bridal shops.

For our October 30th & 31st Preview Show, we’ll have approximately 30 brand-new designs in the boutique that aren’t part of the final collection yet. That means you get a chance to see what’s coming next in bridal fashion, try on gowns almost no other bride has seen, and even have a say in which designs make it into the final collection.

And yes, if you fall in love with one, you can make it yours!

What Is an Essense of Australia Designer Preview Show?

An Essense of Australia Designer Preview Show is a special opportunity for brides to shop wedding dresses before they’re officially released.

Essense sends a selection of approximately 30 unreleased wedding dresses to our Fort Wayne bridal boutique for the weekend. These gowns are still being evaluated and developed, which means they’re not yet available in bridal shops around the country.

In fact, the dresses we see during the Preview Show won’t begin arriving in stores until the following year.

So if you’re a bride who loves being ahead of the trends, this is a pretty amazing opportunity.

You’re essentially getting a first look at what’s next for Essense of Australia.

 

Why Shop an Essense of Australia Wedding Dress During the Preview Show?

There are a few reasons this event is so much fun—and one of them is that the dress you fall in love with might be completely unique.

Because these aren’t part of the final collection yet, Essense is still making decisions about the designs.

A gown you love could ultimately make it into the collection exactly as you saw it. Or the design could be changed.

Or—and this is the really fun part—it could be cut from the final collection altogether.

If that happens, the gown you purchased during the Preview Show could essentially become a one-of-a-kind wedding dress.

How cool is that?!

We’ve actually seen this happen several times! It even happened to our own bridal stylist!

So there’s something really special about knowing your dress may be a little different from anything else that’s eventually released.

You’ll Also Help Shape the New Essense of Australia Collection

This isn’t just a chance to try on unreleased wedding dresses.

You’re also helping Essense of Australia decide what brides will see in the final collection.

During the Preview Show, brides are encouraged to share their thoughts and feedback on the gowns. What do you love? What would you change? Which designs do you think should make the final collection? Your feedback helps the designers understand what today’s brides are actually looking for.

So while you’re shopping for your wedding dress, you’re also getting a tiny peek behind the curtain of how bridal collections come together.

What Wedding Dresses Will Be at the Preview Show?

Essense sends approximately 30 unreleased wedding dresses for the event, and the collection can include a variety of silhouettes, fabrics, necklines and bridal styles.

The best part? We don’t know exactly which gowns are going to be the favorites until you get here and start trying them on!

If you’ve been looking for an Essense of Australia wedding dress and want to be among the first brides to see what’s coming next, this is the event for you. And don’t worry if you’re not sure exactly what style you want yet. That’s part of our job! We’ll help you try on different silhouettes and details, talk through what you’re loving (and what you’re not), and narrow things down from there.

How Much Do the Essense of Australia Preview Dresses Cost?

The Preview Show gowns are priced similarly to our permanent Essense of Australia collection.

For this event, dresses range from approximately $1,800–$3,000.

A 50% deposit is required to order your gown during the Preview Show.

One thing to keep in mind is that these dresses have a slightly longer production timeline than our normal stock. You should plan on approximately six months for your Preview Show gown to arrive.

If you’re shopping during a Preview Show, we’ll talk through your wedding date and timeline with you to make sure the dress you’re choosing works for your plans.

What Sizes Are Available at the Preview Show?

The Preview Show gowns are sent to us in bridal size 10 samples, which is approximately equivalent to a 6/8 in street clothing.

But here’s something important: The Preview Show is not the only thing happening in our boutique that weekend!

Our entire One Fine Day Bridal collection will still be available for you to shop and try on. We will also have a handful of plus size dresses here that aren’t part of our normal collection!

So if you’re coming in for the Essense Preview Show and you discover that you love a different gown from our regular collection, you can absolutely explore that option too.

Our goal is always to help you find the wedding dress that feels like your dress—not simply the newest dress in the room.

Do I Need an Appointment for the Essense of Australia Preview Show?

Yes!

Preview Shows are popular events, and appointments can fill quickly.

For the October 30th & 31st event, appointments are required so that our bridal consultants can give you and your guests the time and attention you deserve. We’ll spend time getting to know what you’re looking for, pulling gowns that fit your vision, and helping you navigate all of those beautiful choices.

And if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for yet? That’s completely okay. You don’t need to walk into your appointment knowing your silhouette, neckline, fabric, or even your exact bridal style. That’s what we’re here for! If this will be your first time shopping, our blog post here can help you get started!

Who Can Shop the Essense Preview Show?

There are a couple of important guidelines for the Preview Show.

For this particular event:

• Your wedding date must be after April 30th, 2027.
• Preview Show gowns cannot be photographed during the event.

The no-photo rule comes directly from Essense of Australia. Because these are unreleased designs, the designers want to protect the new collection before it’s officially introduced.

If you purchase a Preview Show gown, you’re welcome to take a photo of your own dress after you’ve said yes so you can remember it!

What If I Don’t Find My Dress at the Preview Show?

Then we keep shopping!

Seriously.

There is absolutely no pressure to buy a Preview Show gown simply because you came for the event.

Our entire boutique will be open, so you can explore our regular collection of Essense of Australia wedding dresses and our other designer collections, too.

We believe your wedding dress shopping experience should be about you, your style and your love story—not about making a decision because you feel like you should.

Sometimes your dress is one of the brand-new gowns you’ve never seen before. Sometimes it’s a gown that’s been hanging on our rack for months.

And sometimes the dress you never expected to love ends up being the one.

That’s the fun of bridal!

Shop Essense of Australia Wedding Dresses at One Fine Day Bridal

If you’re searching for Essense of Australia wedding dresses in Fort Wayne, Indiana, we’d love to have you in our boutique.

One Fine Day Bridal is locally owned and has been helping brides from Fort Wayne, Northeast Indiana and Northwest Ohio find their wedding dresses since 2011.

Our job isn’t to pressure you into a dress. It’s to listen to what you’re looking for, help you explore your options, answer your questions, hype you up when you need it, and give you the confidence to recognize the dress that feels right for you.

Because your wedding dress appointment should be more than just trying on pretty dresses. It should be a memory.

There should be laughter, happy tears, opinions from the people you love, a little bit of chaos, and hopefully a whole lot of excitement.

And if you happen to discover an unreleased Essense of Australia gown along the way?

Even better!

Ready to Find Your Wedding Dress?

Whether you have your heart set on an Essense of Australia wedding dress or you’re still figuring out what your bridal style looks like, we’re here to help. Come ready to have fun, try on beautiful dresses and celebrate this really exciting season of your life.

Find the dress of your dreams at One Fine Day Bridal and book your appointment today! 🤍

How Far in Advance Should You Buy Your Wedding Dress?

The short answer: 8 months before your wedding day. But when should you buy your wedding dress has a lot more nuance and it’s not a cookie cutter answer for most brides! BUT, knowing 8 months is the general time frame between when you say yes to your dress and get it ordered to walking down the aisle. Another thing to keep in mind is 8 months before your wedding is when you should buy your wedding dress – not when you should start shopping for your wedding dress!

When Should You Start Shopping For Your Wedding Dress?

This is where every bride is different and there is no right or wrong answer. We have brides where we are their 5 shop and the say yes to their dress and we have brides where we are their 1st shop and they find their dress. Wedding dress shopping is such a singular and unique experience and you do want to leave yourself time to experience it without stress or concern.

We ALWAYS recommend to research the bridal shops in your area before making your appointment. Doing research ahead of time gives you the feeling of the boutique, what style of dresses they have, if their stylists are going to vibe with you, if their price point fits with where you want to be, etc. Doing a little bit of internet sleuthing will really make your shopping experience that much more enjoyable.

You don’t need a Pinterest board full of wedding dresses before you book your appointment. In fact, one of the best parts of working with one of our bridal consultants is discovering what you love once you start trying dresses on.

 

So, when should you actually BUY your wedding dress?

When you get engaged
Start researching boutiques

8-10 months out
Shop for your wedding dress!

8 months out
Order your wedding dress!

6 months out
If you haven’t ordered your dress, you’ll be looking at rush options or off the rack options.

Less than 3 months out
Off the rack bridal gowns are probably going to be your safest bet but we do have access to dresses from our designers that ship out within a month so there are still options!

The most important thing to note is regardless of when your wedding date is, your consultant knows that ahead of your appointment and we’re only going to show you dresses that we can get in time without any stress or pressure. We’ll talk you through all your options so you’re also clear on what to expect! Transparency all around

If you want a much more detailed blog post of ship times, rush options, in stock delivery or off the rack dress, visit our blog post all about this!

Why do you need to buy your wedding dress so far in advance?

The overall timeline looks a little something like this:
Finding the dress → ordering the dress → dress is constructed → dress arrives → alterations are completed → wedding day

Wedding dresses are considered special order garments. That means they are specially made once an order has been placed. They are unlike typical retail stores where you walk in, try a shirt on, buy it and walk out with that same shirt. Because wedding dresses are a much more complicated construction process with many more layers, interior construction, beading, lace placement, etc it takes time for them to be constructed.

Want to know when to order your dress?

Use our calculator below! This is based off our standard 8 month time frame between buying your dress and walking down the aisle. This calculator doesn’t take into consideration any time you may need to actually find your wedding dress so keep that in mind!

What if I don’t find my dress right away?

Some brides find their dress on their visit and some brides need some time to think about it and potentially look at another store. Every bride’s journey is different and it’s our honor to be able to help guide you through this process – we’re basically your hype squad who truly want you to say yes to the dress that feels like you!

With that thought, we always recommend giving yourself the time if you have it. If you’re not getting married for 2 years but want to find your wedding dress now? Do it! We store our bride’s wedding dresses here (for free) so we can take that stress off your plate. If you’re 14 months out from your wedding but are ready to start shopping now? Do it! Just because the standard timeline is 8 months doesn’t mean you have to follow it. It’s more of a guideline than a hard and fast rule.

What if I’m getting married sooner than 8 months?

We love a bride with a shorter timeline! There are still so many options: rush options, in stock options and off the rack options. We’ve had several brides say yes to their dress for their wedding that was happening in 2 weeks. There’s not much we can’t make happen 🙂

We have a blog post going into much more detail about the rush, in stock and off the rack options here

It all keeps coming back to: every bride’s wedding dress shopping experience is individual to them and there, truly, is no right or wrong answer to how you buy your wedding dress.

 

Does the wedding dress shopping timeline change for different types of dresses?

The only time the timeline changes is if you are doing a gown with customizations. This includes both customizations done with the designer and customizations done with a seamstress. Customizations include things like changing the neckline, lengthening or shortening the train, and custom hems.

When doing custom work you want to add about another month onto the timeline. So instead of 8 months, plan on 9-10 months!

 

You don’t have to know everything. You don’t have to know your silhouette. You don’t have to have your whole bridal look figured out. And you don’t have to panic if your timeline isn’t perfect. We are here to help!

Here are some other helpful articles to look at before wedding dress shopping:
Wedding Dress Ship Times
Fabrics for the Bride Seeking Comfort
What to Expect Wedding Dress Shopping in Fort Wayne

Wedding dress shopping can seem like some sort of secret society that doesn’t become more clear the minute you become engaged. It is always our intention that you feel confident and comfortable throughout this entire process! We get the same general questions often and I want to dive deeper into the answers to those! If you want the basics, our FAQ page will get you great information in bite sized pieces!

How long do wedding dresses take to come in?

We’re starting with our most asked question and, honestly, it’s an important and good one! The timeline can vary between designers, but for the designers we carry in our store 4-6 months is how long it takes for a wedding dress to come in. We most often see 4- 5 months with a 6 month timeline reserved for custom dresses or some of our higher end dresses.

What if I get married in less than 6 months?

Because our designers are the best in the industry, they have different rush options. This is an additional cost that will add an average of $100-$300 onto your dress but that allows your dress to ship out in 10 or 12 weeks. The extra cost is worth it to ensure there’s no stress with shipping times and being sure you have enough time for alterations!

Our designers also have an in-stock program which are dresses that are currently in production and can ship out within 1 to 2 months. There is an additional cost with this ($85-$125) but we love to utilize it for our quicker wedding dates! The only downside to the in-stock program is not every dress in every size and color is available. There’s generally a really wide selection but we do have to pay attention to which styles are available (one of the many reasons we’re here for you 🙂 )

What if I get married in less than 3 months?

When our bride’s wedding date is less than 3 months away, we recommend looking at the dresses we have available off the rack! Our off the rack dress (also called sample dresses) are the dresses you see on our racks that brides try on during their appointments. They may have some minor wear and tear but they can be purchased and taken with you the same day and are generally 30%-65% off the original price!

What about alterations? How long do they take?

Every seamstress is a little different and we always recommend reaching out to them to determine what they suggest but as a general rule of thumb, the majority of seamstresses are going to take 2 months to alter your wedding dress. You will have 2-3 fittings on average. With that said, there is a seamstress we know who prefers to complete her fittings within a 2-3 week period and other seamstresses will provide rush alterations.

Wrap Up

The bridal industry really has become so flexible. With several different shipping options to allow for quick wedding dates, the option to purchase a dress directly off the rack, and seamstress providing rush alterations, you really can get your dream dress regardless of your wedding date!

To help give you some general guidelines, we’ve put together handy, saveable images to help direct you on order timing! If you’re ready to make your bridal appointment with us, visit our contact page and if we can help answer any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us!

One of my favorite parts of working with a bride to find her perfect wedding dress is trying on different fabrics. And I know, that may sound a bit weird, but hear me out…the fabric in which a dress is made can make a huge difference when it comes to the overall feel of the dress.

Are you looking for a bridal gown that’s very grand and classic? Chiffon is not going to give you the grandness you seek. Do you want a wedding dress that’s lightweight and romantic? A heavy satin mermaid won’t be lightweight and will lean more formal.

That’s one of the (many) reason we love to pull wedding dresses for our brides! Each fabric has its own characteristics that affect the overall feel of the gown. In my experience working with brides for over 14 years, the type of fabric a dress is made from narrows her favorites in more quickly than the neckline or strap option on the dress.

So, let’s take a look at the different feelings of wedding dresses you may be looking for and let me recommend some fabrics that will help you achieve that feeling!

(As I always say, in bridal, there is no “right” answer. We’ve had brides wear big tulle ballgowns for a mountain elopement and lightweight crepe dresses for a very large, formal wedding. It’s about what YOU feel the most beautiful, confident and bridal in. This is meant to be helpful and used as a guide for my brides who are looking for a starting point.)

The Comfort Bride

Many times, my brides will mention comfort being important during our initial conversation. Sometimes, brides start trying on dresses and realize they’re willing to give up some comfort to get the look they love and, sometimes, my brides realize that comfort has become their #1 factor when looking for their perfect wedding dress. Wedding dresses are made from several layers of fabric (sometimes 6+ layers) which can be heavy and hot and many have lace or beading on them, which, can irritate sensitive skin. So, when comfort becomes your priority, the fabric of your wedding dress also becomes a priority!

If you’re a bride with sensitive skin and you remember your under arms getting scratched from your prom dress then you may not want a repeat of that. Many times, when I’m working with a bride where comfort is one of her top priorities, I find we start to gravitate towards fabrics like organza, satin chiffon, crinkle chiffon and some lighter weight satins.

Side Cut Outs

If you’re a comfort bride and don’t want to give up the sparkle, gowns that have cut outs under the arms will protect your arms from getting irritated and, as a bonus, these cut outs help with air flow! These are some wedding dresses from our collection that feature those under arm cut outs:

Strap Options

We tend to start to avoid ballgowns with lots of crinoline under their skirts (crinoline is that stiff tulle you’ll find under some wedding dresses that help create the shape in a skirt). We also tend avoid spaghetti straps as they can dig into the shoulders and some lace straps where the lace is sewn on to tulle with invisible thread which can be irritating to some.

Instead of spaghetti straps, my comfort brides gravitate towards off the shoulder straps, thicker straps and even, most commonly, strapless! Here are some gowns in our collection we’d pull:

Comfortable Fitted Bridal Gowns

Historically, I’ve found my comfort brides tend to gravitate toward the soft ballgown and aline shape. However, if you’re a comfort bride who loves a fitted look, crepe can be a really great fabric option! We call it bridal yoga pant fabric for a reason! The only thing to watch for with crepe is it can become a warm fabric depending on the type of crepe and construction of the gown. But again, this is why we love that our brides trust us to pull wedding dresses to try on because we know the small details about dresses like this!

Here are some lightweight, cooler crepe dresses in our collection:

Jacquard & Chantilly

Lastly, two other great fabric options for my brides who prioritize comfort is jacquard and Chantilly lace (although this one can be tricky because there are many stiff chantilly laces out there). This is a great option for brides who also love a classic, romantic look and want some detail to their dress that isn’t sparkle detail (not that Jacquard and Chantilly can’t be sparkly, but it will be more comfortable if it’s not). Here are some of my favorite options:

The Wrap Up

At the end of the day, there are no hard and fast rules in bridal. It truly is about what dress makes you feel the most beautiful and most like a bride. If you ever overhear a sit down with my brides, you’ll hear me say, “you’re going to try on a lot of pretty dresses and if you find yourself thinking how will you choose? Then I’m doing my job showing you beautiful wedding dresses! BUT, your wedding dress is going to be *this* much more beautiful and you are going to feel *this* much more like a bride in it. And when you experience that feeling, you’re going to know exactly what I’m talking about”!

Hopefully this will give my brides seeking a bit of comfort a jumping off point in their wedding dress search! We’d love to help you find your perfect wedding dress, so visit our appointment page to schedule your time with us!