The time has come to start your wedding dress search, the moment you have always dreamed of. However, if you don’t know where to start, here are 5 tips to make sure that you find the most perfect gown to suit your every desire.
- According to your personality
- Choose a fabric
- Consider your skin tone
- Consider your body shape
- Extra advice
According to your personality
The first thing is to do is follow your personality and style rather than wedding trends – if the newest and most fashionable designs correspond to your personality, then it’s a bonus! You should look at blogs and wedding websites like Zankyou to see what trends and designs are out there – but what really matters is that you feel comfortable and yourself in the design you choose.
Classical: you’re a classic bride if you love all things traditional. These brides will always choose something elegant and sophisticated, regardless of upcoming fashion-forward trends. In this case, the chosen gown will usually be a boat neck or V-neck accompanied by a traditional veil and jewelry involving pearls or diamonds.
Romantic: these dresses are delicate and simple. Romantic brides often choose tulle or chiffon dresses with the most romantic embroidery and floral lace motifs.
Boho: brides who get married on the beach or in the open air usually choose a boho dress, to give a hippie style to their look, with light fabrics, and accessories like floral wreaths.
Vintage: You’re a vintage bride if you love vintage styles, lace and Victorian dresses. They look for the most spectacular fabric that gives that vintage touch to their look.
Modern: the modern bride wants to give an avant-garde touch to her look, she is daring and is committed to asymmetrical cuts in her dress, she will be open to the idea of short dresses or daring cut outs.
Andreia Cruz, owner of Atelier Andreia Cruz, believes that “the process of creating each dress is manual, [and begins] from the personalised design, from the research of the materials up to the embroideries and handmade finishing”. This is certainly how Andreia begins creating a garment for a soon-to-be bride. With unique styles, you can never feel uncomfortable or dissatisfied with your bridal look. Choosing your bridal look is a creative process, and it begins with you!
At Le Vie en Blanc, there’s a gorgeous gown for every bridal style. This upmarket bridal boutique in Rome (one of the fashion capitals of the world), knows exactly what’s dominating the international bridal trends, but more importantly they know the feminine physique comes in all shapes and styles – so they can offer expert advice as to what designs will make you dazzle with confidence. From boho and modern to classic and romantic, you’ll find it all here. Le Vie en Blanc should be your main point of call, especially if you’re getting married in Italy or Europe!
Maggie Sottano, an incredible designer who started her bridal dress designing adventure in Sydney, Australia, creates beautiful hand-made dresses, from petite to plus-sized, with options for customisation and accessories if the bride wishes. Many of her styles also feature variations in coverage, sleeve lengths, neckline styles, illusion details, shapewear lining, and more.
Choose a fabric
You should remember that feeling comfortable is paramount. If you wear a dress that is too tight, you won’t enjoy the food or the dancing, so choose one that allows you to enjoy yourself. Also, choose quality fabrics for the perfect fit. If you don’t know what fabric will be best, here’s the main ones explained:
Mikado: a thick natural silk fabric that is bright and elegant.
Brocade: a rich fabric with gold or silver reliefs. This embroidery is usually oriental-inspired vegetal or geometric motifs.
Lace: obtained from a mixture of silk, cotton and linen, lace is a fabric that is used to complement other fabrics, as an ornament. It is the favorite for dresses of a vintage style.
Chiffon: ideal for weddings on the beach. It is a light, soft fabric that weighs very little.
Tulle: very light and transparent fabric with a mesh look and a rough texture.
Organza: a thin yet strong sheer fabric traditionally made from silk.
Crepe: a fabric with an irregular appearance and granular touch. It’s the most suitable fabric for mermaid dresses and voluminous skirts. These dresses are usually accompanied by rhinestones and embroidery.
For lace, silk and everything in between, Maison Signore is one Italian bridal boutique you’ll most certainly want to visit. This luxury glistening hub of all the best bridal has to offer has a wide array of rich fabrics from all over the world. More importantly, many of the designs they feature involve a plethora of different fabrics – picture yourself in a dress that combines chantilly lace with soft silk, cascading down your figure. Here you’ll discover Haute Couture at it’s very best – precious Italian embroidery, silk and arabesque, pearl and gem. Every single dress is designed to highlight the silhouette, mixing up design, luxury and timeless grace.
Consider your skin tone
You should choose your wedding dress according to your skin tone so that it’s perfectly suited to you. Here’s a list of popular dress colors…
Pure white: a bright white. Perfect for dark-skinned brides or religious ceremonies.
White snow: a radiant white but without that such a bright hue, the color of snow. It’s the most similar to pure white, but not as popular.
Raw white: this is the tone of white that most brides use, in fact, almost 90% of them choose it. It’s the natural colour of silk before subjecting it to dyes. An off-white favors most skin tones.
Pearl: similar to raw but with a tone close to vanilla, it’s not very easy to find but it’s an elegant tone.
Ivory: closer to beige than pure white. It’s one of the most flattering white shades since it is the warmest. If you have a very white complexion, this shade is perfect.
Champagne: softly golden, like the drink that bears its name. This doesn’t suit all skin types, but it looks spectacular on dark skin.
Nude: is the colour of skin, not usually used as the main tone for the dress but for colour combinations or as a background for delicate lace embroidery, it suits lighter skin tones.
Powdered rose: widely used in vintage-style wedding dresses. It’s a pink shade with a mixture of beige and white – very soft. One of the best options for the pale brides.
Consider your body type
You may already have a particular wedding dress style in mind, but is it the cut that really suits your body shape? Beyond the love at first sight you feel when you see that gorgeous dress, you have to be aware that it may not fit the way you thought. Most brides always go to dress boutiques with a clear idea and, many of them, end up choosing a completely different model. So try and plan what will suit you best beforehand to save you time!
Rectangular body: avoid tight dresses or straight lines, fluid designs and short sleeves. You will feel great wearing a dress fitted in the upper area of the waist, always paying more attention to the body of the dress than the skirt. You can lengthen your figure with V necklines or bare shoulders. Avoid a square or round neckline.
Triangular body: in this case, create a balance by drawing attention to the top of the dress. To do this, choose a princess cut, a dress with curtains or a plunging neckline.
Round body: choose a dress with a high waist, such as an empire cut in which the skirt is fluid and falls along the body. As for necklines, a V-neck would be perfect. Less is more, so opt for something simple and elegant.
Hourglass: to have a balanced figure, you can opt for any type of dress but, undoubtedly, those that will best sit you will be the tube or mermaid cut. As for necklines, a boat style is ideal. Of course, don’t saturate your chest with jewelry or embroidery if you have a large bust, but you can afford to do so if you have a small breast area.
Inverted triangle: the essential thing is to give volume to your hips and not the shoulders. How? Try box necklines and skirts with volume.
According to your height: Short women should avoid dresses with very voluminous skirts, as they will make you look shorter due to the optical effect of the width-height ratio. Try to choose dresses without horizontal cuts and without excessive volume. On the other hand, if you’re very tall, choose a dress with a low waist.
If you’re really curvy or very thin: If you’re a girl with curves, bet on the princess cut to disguise the hips. If you’re very thin, choose models with volume in the sleeves or skirt, depending on the part of the body you want to highlight.
Extra advice
Experts recommend that when you think you’ve found the dress of your dreams, don’t stand by looking at it in the mirror. Walk, sit, jump, dance, raise your arms … If there’s something that you cannot do, then it’s not the perfect dress.
So there you have it, the complete guide to finding the right wedding dress according to the right fabric, your personality, complexion, and body shape. Check out our favorite designs which we update regularly, and choose the one that is both comfortable and also the one you’ve always dreamed of.
More tips on how to organise your wedding:
The Best Bridal Jewelry for 2019
Bridal Beauty For Wherever You Are in Mexico
5 Nutrition Tips to Be a Fit and Healthy Bride
And for even more advice, check out our Youtube video on the topic!
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