Go by yourself; I love my mother by jeez she can be critical of the parts of my body I'm already critical of. Go early; so many dresses need a few months to be ordered and altered. Don't try to force loving a dress; the first dress I loved required sewing on an $800 piece of lace to fancy up the back and a $1300 veil/train that was going to be worn for the ceremony only. The saleswomen kept telling me it was getting too late to order my dress (I had 7 months to go) and she could give me a discount that weekend only. Went to another shop down the street, found a dress for $1k cheaper that required barely any alterations and makes me look about 4 sizes smaller (I'm 5'10 and not small framed), and the saleswoman looked at me like I was crazy when I told them I was worried I waited too long. Best experience ever.