How to Choose Your Wedding Gown: The Perfect Dress for You...

The Big Day:

Looking beautiful on your wedding day is the aspiration of every bride to be. To sashay down the isle, all eyes looking at you with admiration! The most important eyes of all, the groom's, to sparkle with love and desire when he sees you for the first time in your wonderful wedding dress.

Choosing the right dress for your big day will enhance your own natural beauty and compliment your figure. It is a good idea to look for your dress in plenty of time before your wedding. Allowing yourself time will keep you relaxed, focused and stress free.

Panic is not a good state for any bride to be. The last thing you need is the biscuit tin, spots or God forbid stressing out your betrothed.

Where To Look And Get Ideas For Your Wedding Gown:

• Research wedding magazines.
• Visit bridal stores.
• Surf the web.
• Pick the brains of your girlfriends, (especially ones that are already married) they may have some really good advice on do's and don'ts.
• Browse second hand stores (many brides sell their dress, and only wore it once)
• Check out rental possibilities.
• Visit dress makers.
• Study catalogues.
• Go to wedding fares.
• Attend bridal fashion shows.

Important Rules To Remember When Shopping For Your Wedding Gown:

• Take your time.
• Don't look at too many dresses in the same day.
• Don't try on too many dresses in the same day. You will end up confused and fed up.
• Choose a day to specifically concentrate on shopping for your wedding dress.
• Bring along a confident that you completely trust when it comes to being honest.
• If you really like a particular dress, ask the shop assistant to take a note of that dress; that way on your return it won't take all day to find it again among hundreds of other dresses.
• Most of all, don't get too serious; have some fun.

Important Things To Consider When Choosing Your Wedding Gown:

• Your Budget:

Wedding dresses can range from a couple of hundred euros to thousands of euros. Know your limits and stay between them.

• Dress Options:

Borrow: Do you have the option of borrowing a dress?

Rent: Is it more practical to rent a dress?

Make: Do you know a good dressmaker; in the family perhaps?

Buy: Is your only option to buy a dress?

• Is Your Wedding A Grand Formal Affair?

Your dress will need to follow suit. Traditionally a formal wedding calls for a full skirted dress with intricate decoration. However, if your big day is on a Caribbean island; a very simple dress will look gorgeous.

• The Time Of Year:

A very important fact. Wedding dresses come in many different fabrics. A breeze of chiffon covering your shoulders is not a good look (you'll be blue) if it's a winter wedding. A summer wedding will require a lighter fabric and perhaps expose a little more flesh.

• Is This Your First Marriage:

Perhaps this is your second or third time down the isle. There are no hard and fast rules. The most important thing is to make sure whatever you choose is comfortable and suits your figure.

• Traditional White:

The colour white for a wedding dress is more traditional in the western world. White was the chosen colour worn by Queen Victoria for her marriage to Prince Albert in 1840. These days it is very acceptable to chose an off white colour; ivory, cream, gold, pale colours of yellow or pink.

Indeed Indian and Chinese wedding dresses are rich in red colors. If you're leaving tradition on the shelf, choose a colour that compliments your complexion and you will look radiant.

• Silhouette:

The crucial thing when choosing your dress, is the style. The silhouette must enhance your figure in all the right places. You must choose the silhouette that loves your shape. There is no exceptions to this rule.

Choosing Your Silhouette:

There is a lot of jargon surrounding the wedding dress. I would suggest you familiarize yourself a little regarding the cut and style of the dress. It will make communicating your desires and expectations a little more easier.

The reason the style is so important is very simple. We all have different shapes and different sizes. What looks good on a tall girl will not necessary look good on a full figured girl.

Know your shape and what suits it. Are you a pear or an hourglass? Full busted or petite? The right silhouette will fit you to perfection.

I have chosen a few popular examples...

• A Ball Gown:

Is a full skirt with an underskirt or hoop. Suiting tall girls. This style tends to swamp more petite girls and can make larger girls look even bigger.

• A-line:

A fitted bodice with a flared skirt. Flatters most figures. A good choice for the larger girl. An A-line dress flares from the bodice. This dress is great for hiding those bits we don't want to show off. Skimming the torso beautifully. A slimming look.

• Sleek Modern or Sheath Style:

Suits slim figured girls and petite figures.

• Empire Waist:

A high waisted style silhouette. The skirt falls from the high waist. Suiting smaller girls.

• The Fish Tail:

A sleek dress that hugs curves and fares out just below the knee. Made for the hourglass figure.

Important Tips:

• Knowing your exact shape will help you chose the right style.
• Don't eliminate a dress you like, without trying it on. That way you'll have no regrets.
• Take care choosing a dress with lots of frills and flounce. While this dress suits some figures; they are far and few between.
• Delicate lace, embroidery, a little sparkly or dainty buttons can look very pretty. But, not altogether.
• A coloured sash the same colour as your bridesmaids dress is a lovely touch; however sashes don't work with every shape.

• Sleeves:

If you don't like you arms, you might decide to wear sleeves. There are numerous choices; long, short, elbow length, floaty, see through, open, buttoned etc etc. The second most important thing to consider is comfort. You must be comfortable. The first and most important thing to consider is how you look. You must look like a million dollars.

• Neckline:

Sweetheart necklines are very popular showing a little cleavage for the modest girl. While low scooped or square lines will suit most. The V-neck is a good choice for the amble bosom; while halter necks and strapless dresses draw attention to shoulders.

• Accessories:

Decide on your accessories at the same time as your dress. If your dress is an elegant slimline dress you won't want a mile long frilly train. Should your dress be very simple your accessories must be simple. It is crucial not to overshadow the dress.

Coordinate with your wedding bouquet; style and colours.

Know how you are wearing your hair; style, colour, decor (clips, jewels, flowers) and veil if wearing one.

Organize what jewelry you are wearing; especially earrings way in advance of your big day.

Shoes: always try your wedding dress with your wedding shoes. If for some reason that's not possible use shoes of the exact same height heel as your wedding shoes. Absolutely crucial.

The original idea behind the brides veil dates back to arranged marriages in bygone years. The bride wore the veil through the ceremony only revealing her face once the marriage was complete (wonder why?). The veils of these times were made from heavy dark material. It is only through the years the veil has graduated to a thin see through material.

The Roman Empire handed down the word matrimony, meaning marriage.

Tribes in Africa perform their wedding celebrations over days. The bride wears the colour of her villages tribe. Often many couples marry at the same time.

Greek brides often carry a lump of sugar on their wedding day to ensure a sweet married life.

The groomsman originally ensured the groom got away with his bride, before any vagrant might steel her. Technically, the bride would have already been stolen once, that vagrant being the groom. Thank God for the modern world.

To ensure fertility the Irish would tie a chicken about to lay an egg (God knows how they knew that) to the wedding bed. I am not sure about this one, but it made me laugh, so I decided to add it.

Copyright© 2010 by Gabriel Wilson: All rights reserved