Photo: Kristen Weaver Photography

Some may argue until they are red in the face, that finding the wedding dress of your dreams is harder than finding the man of your dreams. It often requires a handful of trips to bridal stores and stepping in and out of dresses that often seem to look better on the hanger than they do on you. But when you finally find it, you want to do everything you can to make it look and fit perfectly for your wedding day. So after it's gone through one, two, even three rounds of alterations and is packed up nice and tight in a garment bag, here are four things you'll want to do before you get ready to show it off to your entire wedding party on the big day.

1. Give it a little love.

Whether that means having it steamed one more time before putting it on, or getting the edges fluffed by your team of bridesmaids, make sure to have your dress looking as magically perfect as it did the day you fell in love with it at the bridal store.

2. Spend some quality time with it.

Today may be the only day you wear the gorgeous dress, so before you show it off to the world, twirl around it in and snap a few photos of it on and off of you.

3. Do a stain check.

Give a once over look to make sure that excess make-up or cream cheese from the bridal party bagel brunch didn't latch on to any part of the dress. If you do find a stain, there are a lot of tips and tricks to lift those stains ASAP. YouTube and Google will be your last-minute life-changer when it comes to how to easily and quickly remove stains.

4. Make a bathroom trip.

It may sound weird, but it's important to practice going to the bathroom in your dress before your wedding day. It can be quite the process that often requires you to recruit a couple of extra hands to help out. This will save you a lot of time and stress on your wedding day when you suddenly need to tinkle right before it's time to walk down the aisle.

This article was written by Jen Glantz for Brides.com.