There are many different wedding dress styles out there. I swear every time I go into the bridal shops I see another wedding dress style I didn't know existed.
On the one hand...
You are thinking, "This is great!" It means you have a greater chance at getting a wedding dress or style that few others have. This can be very important to a bride. As women, I am sure we all remember the time spent picking out prom dresses and knowing the only thing that could ruin your night was if you showed up at prom and another girl was wearing the same exact dress. The same goes for your wedding dress. Now I highly doubt anyone would show up at your wedding in a wedding dress, but you still get that same feeling if you know someone that got the same dress, or if you see four other brides in the bridal shop trying on YOUR wedding dress. So rest assured that the wonderful world of wedding dress designers are feverishly working to create new and edgy wedding dress trends every day.
On the other hand...
You may be looking at an even larger pile of wedding dresses. And let me tell you, wedding dress shopping can go from super exciting to a chore when you have tried on your 100th dress.
However, after awhile, a long while, I started realizing what types of wedding dress style looked good on me. When this happens it is a great feeling. Where once you were looking at a pile of 50 wedding dresses, you are now only looking at 25 because you know which type of wedding dress styles don't work for you. So in my case this was great, but now imagine they have come out with even more choices!
Here are a few of the newest wedding dress styles. Check out TheKnot for more!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
New Wedding Dress Styles
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Wedding Gown Selection Ideas
Selecting a wedding gown is one of the most exciting parts of getting married. Wedding gowns are fantasy dresses that every bride dreams of, startiing when she is a little girl. Whether it's a custom-made medieval wedding dress or an off-the-rack wedding gown you bought on the Internet, there are several tips you should follow to make sure you get the wedding gown of your dreams.
1. Set your price limit and stick to it.
Wedding gowns are expensive and if you are on a wedding budget, you don't want to spend $5,000 on a gown and have no money left for anything else.
2. Know your figure shape.
Models are super thin and anything looks good on them. Really look at yourself and determine exactly what you look like. Invite someone to go with you to be brutally honest as to how it looks. Here is a site that will help you make that determination.
3. Ask for help.
Talk to everyone you know who has gotten married; see where they got their gowns. Ask the bridal shop their opinion, and let them know your wedding budget considerations. Ask your mother, especially if she is paying for the wedding dress.
4. Don't shop on weekends.
Make your appointment with the bridal salon for during the week. If you can, take the afternoon off from work. Invite your mother and other advisers to lunch and then keep that appointment with the bridal shop. During a weekday, the salon personnel are not as busy and their attention can be focused towards your needs.
5. Lie about your wedding date.
This is especially true if your gown is not off the rack. Push the date up at least a month to ensure that you will receive the wedding dress in time. This also allows enough time for any alterations that need to be made - and they always need to be made.
6. Don't be coerced.
This is another good reason to bring someone with you as you try on wedding dresses. Over eager sales clerks may try to get you to purchase a more expensive gown when the less expensive one looks perfect on you. Another head is always good for those decisions.
7. Take your time.
Unless you've walked into a bridal warehouse and the wedding is next week, or you are part of the running of the brides, take your time in selecting a wedding dress. Try on quite a few, take some notes about the ones you really like, maybe even a photo of you in the gowns. Then go home. Go over the wedding dresses, review the prices, and narrow it down to your two or three favorite gowns. Return to the salon and try them on again. Don't let anyone, especially a sales clerk who sees a commission, pressure you in to choosing a wedding dress until you are ready.
8. Take your own tape measure.
A brand new vinyl one for your measurements should ensure that what is ordered is what you get, so you won't have to worry about too many alterations that can be very costly. Store tapes are older and stretched out, so you may get the wrong size wedding dress delivered.
Shopping for your wedding gown should be fun and exciting. Make sure you feel that way throughout the process. If you don't, you're in the wrong store or with the wrong people.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
All Dressed In White
It's really her fault. On February 10, 1840 the wedding of Queen Victoria of England and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha created a pattern for formal weddings that has come down over the 160+ years since. So what was it about her wedding gown that changed the way women dressed for their weddings?
Victoria wore all white - white wedding gown, white veil, white flowers (orange blossoms, no less.) This is not to say that brides did not wear white before Victoria, however, they were as likely to wear other colors as well. There was no dominant wedding color, but the young Queen changed that tradition. She wore a soft white lace veil over her orange blossom (and diamond) wreath that brushed her fingertips and a white satin gown with a deep neckline, full skirt and lace flounces that made the wedding dress look like something from a fairy tale. And since she was a Queen already, royal fashion followers took up the tradition and we have all been slavishly following it ever since. (Here is a photo, circa 1854 of the royal couple recreating their wedding attire)
One of the things that made Victoria's royal wedding so different from other royal weddings was its deceptive simplicity. Instead of being wrapped in brocade and jewels, she wore a "simple white gown” and that seemed within the reach of the common people. Prince Albert went against a tradition of magnificence in the groom's attire and wore a simple uniform, thereby setting the tradition of restraint for the groom's wedding clothes. This restraint allowed the bride to standout in contrast and enabled her to be the center of attention. (A fun article about modern royal weddings is located here.)
Queen Victoria had everything - wealth, power, the Crown Jewels - but she was no beauty in a time when beauty was the standard against which women were measured. Yet she had managed to find the love of her life and for that day, she set the standard for beauty for all young women and guaranteed that on her wedding day, any bride was beautiful.
Victoria’s wedding gown also changed the attitude of brides everywhere – where before it was acceptable to wear your best dress to your wedding and keep wearing the dress, there was now a new tradition that wearing a wedding dress was a one-time only event. The dress was to become a sentimental treasure all the more cherished because of its one time designated use. Victorians were nothing if not impractically sentimental – and brides have been following that tradition ever since!
So when you accept that wedding invitation and watch the bride come down the aisle, all dressed in white, looking beautiful and radiant, as her groom stands at the altar simply dressed, take a moment, and think about Queen Victoria and her part in creating our wedding tradition of white.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
All Dressed In ...
Remember when you were little, when you and your girlfriends would play dress-up with curtains as veils and be princesses or brides or even better, princess brides?
Wedding dreams are a staple of a young girl's fantasy life - and the main aspect of that fantasy is the dream wedding gown.
There are as many dresses out there - at stores, on the internet, bridal gown salons - as there are brides.
One of the best ways to settle these issues is to go on what I call a preemptive shopping expedition. Choose a day - preferably a Saturday, several months before the wedding - and make appointments at two or three wedding gown salons.
In order to have this be a fun day instead of a chore, invite your mother, prospective mother-in-law, maid of honor and even bridesmaids to a nice brunch and make this a festive way to get the wedding preparations started happily.
After the get-together, all of you go to the gown salons and start the process of finding the right dress for the occasion.
(Hint: this is a day to focus on the wedding gown, mothers and bridesmaids dresses should be done at another session)
Try on all the dresses you can - from slinky sheaths to the Princess Diana wedding dress type and everything in-between. This first trip should not be about price. (Besides, how often can you go into a shop and say I want to try on a $10,000 dress and be taken seriously. Enjoy the sensation while you can!)
As you try on each dress, have your mom or someone take a digital photo of you in the gown from several angles. Do this for every gown you try on, even if you don't care for it. You never know, you may look really awesome and not even know it.
Do not make any commitment to buying a dress until you have comparison shopped. Have all the photos printed. Post them on a wall or a bulletin board - somewhere you can see all the gowns on you in one place. Then you can determine what you want.
If your choice is too expensive, try to find a clone of the gown in a less expensive fabric, or with less hand-sewn bead work. Visit an wedding dress website and see what can be done. Even go to a designer site and see if they have the gown you like on sale (unlikely but worth a shot!).
Once you've made your choice as to style, fit it in your budget and go with it. Hopefully this is a once in a lifetime investment - you are buying a wedding gown - not just a dress!