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.

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.

Relaxed Summertime Wedding

Since we have just reached the halfway point in summer, let's talk about weddings that make the most of this season. You can create the kind of wedding that will be enjoyed and remembered pleasantly by all your guests as a beautiful summer day.

Think of this type of wedding as the best that summer has to offer - multi-blooming flowers, sunlit fabrics for linens and bridesmaids' dresses, and garden-like settings (even indoors) will encourage your guests to relax and enjoy the atmosphere of the day.

Your wedding invitations should be focused on a summer theme - not for the heavy winter white and formal embossed printing, but a more summery flowered invitation. This will convey your relaxed summer day.

For your wedding gown think light and airy. Even though other seasons are gaining in popularity, summer remains the biggest season for weddings. There are many different styles and types of summer wedding dresses on the market so I suggest that you find one that is in keeping with your relaxed summer theme. Over 75% of dresses that you'll find are sleeveless and/or strapless, making them perfect for the season. Look for light fabrics such as organdy, linen, chiffon, crepe, georgette, or light-weight silk, so as to not add too much bulk.

Bridesmaids' dresses should be light as well - perhaps tulle or organza or dotted swiss - to bring out the theme of relaxed summer style. Most importantly, don’t try to fight your hair in the summer: straight hair will get straighter and limper, and wavy hair will get wavier and frizzier. Hair swept up by a professional who will design a long-lasting style are one of your best bets; or just allow the bridesmaids to go with their natural styles and don't worry about it. Relax, it's summer!

You can't go wrong decorating your wedding venue with an abundance of flowers. There are so many varieties in season you may have a tough time narrowing your choices down! An airy summer look is achieved with mostly white and light colored flowers such as roses, stephanotis, white phlox, elegant white calla lilies, huge and fragrant casa blanca lilies, hydrangea, and Shasta daisies.

Provide pastel flower vases with a rose or other flower at each place setting as both evocative of summer and as a take-home wedding favor.

To carry out the summer abundance idea, attach your placecards to a pear or a peach - whichever reflects your color scheme best. This again evokes summer and provides a stable holder for the placecard - especially if your reception is outdoors!

A relaxed summer wedding can be elegant and fun - and without all the fuss you find in more formal affairs.

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!