12 Bride Accessories To Buy In This Exact Order With Real Prices

Bride accessories are the small details that turn a wedding dress into a finished bridal look, and search “bride accessories” and you’ll get hundreds of pretty photos of veils, earrings and clutches. What you won’t find is when to actually buy each piece or what it should honestly cost you. I’ve planned weddings on a $6,000 budget and weddings on a much bigger one, and the order you buy your bridal accessories in matters just as much as the dress itself. Buy the wrong thing at the wrong time and you’re reordering earrings two weeks before your wedding, trust me. So here is the exact order I tell every bride to shop in, plus the real prices.

1. Wedding Day Shapewear First

Buy your shapewear before your first dress fitting, not after, so your seamstress works with your actual shape under the gown. The Spanx Suit Your Fancy bodysuit, around $98, is the one most bridal shops keep on hand for a reason. Buy one size down from your everyday size since bridal shapewear runs generous, and order it at least six weeks before that first fitting appointment. I bought mine two weeks before my own fitting and my seamstress had to redo the entire bust seam because the smoothing changed my measurements that much more than either of us expected. Skip anything with boning if your dress already has built-in structure. You’re just paying twice for the same job.

2. Wedding Veil, Same Day As The Dress

Your veil should go home with you the same day you say yes to the dress. Most bridal salons let you try a few lengths right there in the fitting room mirror, which is the only real way to know what works with your gown. A cathedral length veil from David’s Bridal runs $150 to $250, while a custom drop veil from an Etsy shop like The Lace Bride can run $200 and climbing. My honest opinion here: go fingertip length if your reception is anywhere near grass or water. A long train is stunning in photos but it’s a genuine hazard the second you’re walking on uneven ground. Order the veil in the exact shade of your dress, ivory or champagne or diamond white, because dye lots almost never match between brands.

3. Bridal Earrings Before Your Hair Trial

Buy your earrings before, not after, your hair trial. Your stylist needs to see them to figure out how to work with or around your ears. Kendra Scott’s bridal line has simple pearl drops in the $65 to $110 range, and they photograph better under flash than crystal does, which is something you only learn by seeing the wedding photos afterward. If your dress has a high neckline or an illusion collar, size up to a statement earring since your neck and collarbone won’t be doing any of the visual work. If you’re going for a simple gown with a deep neckline, keep the earrings smaller so your necklace can be the star instead. Order two weeks before the trial so nothing gets held up at the post office.

4. Hair Accessories At The Trial, Not Before

This is the one item on this list I tell brides to buy at the trial, not before it. Bring two or three options and let your stylist tell you which one actually holds in your hair type. Twigs & Honey combs run $150 to $300 and are worth it if you have fine hair that needs real grip, while a USABride rhinestone comb at $25 to $40 works fine for most brides with medium to thick hair. Buy the higher end comb if you’re wearing your hair down for hours, since a cheap comb will slip by hour three of dancing. If you’re doing an updo, the cheaper option usually holds just fine because there’s more hair to anchor it into.

5. Necklace After Your Neckline Is Set

Wait until after your first fitting to buy your necklace, once your neckline and any alterations are locked in. A dress that gets taken in at the bust can shift how a pendant sits by a surprising amount. Kate Spade’s bridal necklaces run $78 to $150 and hold up well over time, which matters since most brides wear theirs again for anniversaries. V-neck and sweetheart necklines love a delicate pendant or lariat style. High necklines are better left bare at the throat with just the earrings doing the work. If your dress already has beading or lace detail at the neckline, skip the necklace entirely and save the money. The dress is already doing that job.

6. Bracelet, Bought With The Necklace

Buy your bracelet at the same time as your necklace so the metals actually match instead of arriving in two slightly different golds. A delicate tennis bracelet from Etsy shop Bridal Bijou runs $45 to $90 depending on stone size. If your dress has long sleeves or lace at the wrist, skip the bracelet completely, it will just get lost under fabric and you’ve spent money nobody will see. If you’re wearing a fitted long glove for part of the day, buy your bracelet to wear only after the ceremony when the gloves come off for photos and dancing. Silver and rhodium look best against a bright white gown, while gold and rose gold flatter ivory and champagne shades.

7. Wedding Belt Or Sash After Fitting One

Don’t buy a sash before your first fitting, your seamstress needs to see the dress on your body first to tell you if it even needs one. A rose gold leaf vine sash from Etsy shop IngenueB runs about $78 and works well for an outdoor or garden style wedding. A rhinestone belt from BHLDN runs $120 to $180 and reads more formal. If your dress already has a defined waist seam or belt built in, skip this one entirely, it’s the easiest accessory to cut from your list without anyone noticing. If your gown is a straight column or A-line with no waist definition, this is the one accessory I’d actually push you to add.

8. Garter, Whenever You Get To It

The garter is the lowest priority item on this whole list, order it whenever, there’s no fitting or trial it needs to line up with. The Garter Girl on Etsy makes a lace set with a keeper garter and a toss garter for $45 to $65, and it’s worth buying the two piece set so you’re not tossing the one you actually want to keep. If you think garters are outdated, I get it, but plenty of brides use theirs as their something blue instead of buying a separate item just for that tradition. If you’re skipping the garter toss at your reception entirely, buy a single keepsake garter for about $30 and call it done.

9. Ceremony Shoes Before The First Fitting

Buy your ceremony shoes before your first fitting, not after, because your seamstress needs the actual heel height to hem your dress correctly. Bella Belle heels run $250 to $350 and are worth it if you’re standing in them for photos for two or three hours before the reception even starts. Break them in at home on carpet for at least a week, walking on hardwood in brand new heels the morning of is how blisters happen by the first dance. If your wedding is on grass or sand, buy a pair with a block heel or a heel protector attachment, a stiletto will sink and you’ll spend your ceremony trying not to tip over.

10. Dancing Shoes Closer To The Date

Buy your second pair of shoes for the reception a few weeks before the wedding, not with your ceremony shoes, since these don’t affect the hem at all. Birdies flats run $145 and are genuinely comfortable for hours of dancing, or grab a plain white sneaker from Old Navy for about $30 if you want something more casual. At my own lakeside reception in Wisconsin I switched into flats the second cocktail hour ended and did not regret it once, my feet were the only part of me not exhausted by midnight. Buy these in a color close to your ceremony shoes so the switch isn’t jarring in photos taken later in the night.

11. Bridal Clutch Four To Six Weeks Out

This is one of the last things on the list, buy it four to six weeks before the wedding once you know exactly what you’re carrying in it. A crystal clasp clutch from BHLDN runs $60 to $90, or Mark and Graham has a monogrammed satin option around $45. You likely won’t carry it during the ceremony since your hands are full with your bouquet, so hand it off to your maid of honor to hold during photos and only take it back for the reception. Keep it stocked with blotting papers, a lipstick, mints and a couple of safety pins. That last one has saved more than one bustle on more than one wedding day I’ve helped plan.

12. Wrap Or Cover-Up Last, Once You Know The Weather

Buy this dead last, as close to your wedding date as your dress shop policy allows, because you’re buying it based on the actual forecast, not a guess made months earlier. A faux fur stole from Etsy shop Winter White Bridal runs $65 to $95 and is a lifesaver for an evening ceremony in fall or winter. A lightweight chiffon wrap from J.Crew runs about $58 for a spring or early summer wedding near water where the temperature drops once the sun goes down. I wore a wrap at my own lakeside wedding because the temperature dropped fast once the sun went behind the trees, and I was glad I hadn’t skipped it to save thirty dollars.

That’s the full order, from shapewear all the way to the wrap you grab on your way out the door. Buy in this sequence and you’ll avoid the two most common accessory mistakes I see: buying something too early that gets made wrong by a later fitting, or buying something too late and paying rush shipping fees for it. Save this one for later, you’ll want it again the week before your first fitting.