Ah, the wedding dress. The queen of all gowns. But how do you choose? Here’s a step-by-step to finding the perfect one.
1. Make a “look book”: Tear out pictures from magazines, compile photos from friends’ weddings, and round up fabric swatches and anything else that may help you communicate your taste to the bridal salon staff.
2. Determine your budget: Experts say that attire should comprise ten percent of the wedding budget. Keep in mind, that this is for all attire, not just the dress!
3. Think about the wedding location: If you’re getting hitched at city hall, you may want to skip an elaborate, formal gown. Also consider the religious affiliation, if any, of the location and its rules with regard to modesty.
4. Consider the temperature: If you’re having a beach ceremony, you’ll want a fabric such as cotton eyelet that won’t wilt in the humidity. Winter weddings call for heftier materials, like satin or silk shantung.
5. Buy your gown about eight months before the wedding:
You need to allow time for fittings.
6. Buy undergarments: If your gown doesn’t have a built-in corset, ask the bridal consultant what type of underpinning you need. Make sure to try on everything with your gown at your final fitting.
Pro tips for the Big Day:
Shoes are an important consideration. If you’ve decided against all common sense to wear heels, at least bring something flat to wear while you dance the night away at the reception.
Toss a small sewing kit, extra buttons, Hollywood tape, white chalk, stain-remover wipes, a lint brush, a compact steamer, andwhite gaffer’s tape into an emergency kit, just in case. ♥
It was once a practice to dress bridesmaids in elaborate gowns to rival the bride’s in order to confuse any evil spirits in the area about who the bride was. These traditions evolved into the custom of making the bridesmaids’ dresses appear distinctly different from the bride’s.
Styles shown available at Meant to Be Bridal & Tuxedo Shoppe.
