A bridal designer says brides should always sit in their wedding dress before they commit to buying

• Everyone wants their wedding dress to have the perfect look, but they also need to be comfortable.
• A dress might feel good in a salon, but that doesn't mean it will be comfortable for hours on your wedding day.
• Galia Lahav's lead designer said brides should sit in a dress before they buy it.

When many people imagine their wedding gown, they likely picture themselves walking down the aisle or sharing a first dance with their life partner. 

But in reality, a wedding dress needs to be built for a marathon event, not a sprint.

Between the ceremony, reception, and photo calls before and after the event, most brides are in their gowns for upwards of eight hours, even if you have a separate ceremony and reception dress.

That's why Sharon Sever, Galia Lahav's lead designer, told Insider brides shouldn't sacrifice comfort for aesthetics on their wedding days. 

"If a dress is uncomfortable, I don't think a bride will tend to pick that particular one," Sever said. "Unlike things that happen on the red carpet, you have to wear that dress at least half of the night."

It can be challenging to see how comfortable a dress will be for the duration of your wedding if you only try it on briefly at a bridal salon, as you'll likely just stand in the gown in front of a mirror.

Sever recommends brides sit down in every dress they try on in addition to looking at it in a mirror, as it will give them a better idea of how the dress may feel throughout the night.

"I always ask a bride to sit in a dress and see if she can feel at ease," Sever told Insider, because brides sit often on their wedding days, including for dinner, toasts, or portraits. 

And when you're looking for your dress, Sever said it's important to listen to what you want, rather than those around you. He said listening to what others want can be one of the "biggest mistakes" a bride makes. 

"Every woman knows how she wants to look," he said. "And when you're facing the mirror, you should be more attentive to your feelings and to your desires. When you start listening to everyone else around you, that's when mistakes happen."