Bridal Gown Guide

1. Styles
Wedding dresses come in many styles, and knowing which kind to pick can be difficult. The wedding gown style that you pick is usually based on body type, theme, as well as the time of day in which the wedding is being held. There are fabrics that look better with a particular style or cut of dress, and there are also various wedding gown styles to compliment different body types. So, while it may look nice on paper, you definitely have to try it on to see if it is really your dream wedding dress.

Short and Sweet
For someone with a short figure and curves, your best bet is going to be a princess (single cut that is fitted to the waist line with a single seam) or A-line (narrower at the top and flaring slightly at the bottom) style of wedding gown. This will make you look taller, especially if you avoid knit fabrics and go with chiffon for your dress. For someone with a short and slim figure, a natural or shirtwaist style (both of which are separate pieces) of wedding dress with a layered skirt will make you look taller and more fleshed out. Try heavier fabrics like velvet, and delicate ones like chiffon and lace. If you re tall and curvy, check out the same dresses as someone short and curvy, and if you re tall and thin, aside from being lucky, you can try flounces or anything very full to make you seem more filled out.

Theme Dresses
For a wedding gown to match your wedding theme, you should first decide if it's casual or formal, and then whether you have a theme or not. If your theme is pink roses, you can find all kinds of gowns with pink accents, even some with pink rose embroidery. If your wedding has a fairy tale theme to it, try something that reflects the idea that you are the princess, such as a corset gown, or a ball gown style of dress.

A more casual wedding can include a tea length gown (just below the knees) instead of a traditional floor length wedding gown, or even a business suit. A casual wedding can also include a wedding dress that isn t the traditional white or ivory.

Time of Day
A formal daytime wedding requires a floor length wedding gown with a long train, while a formal night time wedding requires the same, but with a longer veil. A semi-formal wedding held at any time during the day or night requires a floor length wedding gown, but your accessories can vary as compared to a formal wedding. For a casual wedding, you don t need to have a wedding gown at all if you don t want. Those who do choose something that ends at the ankles, or even a tea length gown, and no veil or train at all.

2. Accessories
Most brides plan to spend five-percent of their wedding budget on the wedding gown and accessories. Bridal accessories can include not only the veil, but jewelry, gloves, shoes, garters, and even tiaras or jeweled headbands. The first thing you should take into consideration is the theme of your wedding. If your wedding is formal, you don t want to get a short veil, or a pair of strappy, toe showing sandals. Similarly, if your wedding is casual, you won t want a floor length veil with all kinds of layers, or gloves.

Jewelry
Jewelry for a wedding gown should always match the theme of the gown. If the gown is beaded with pearls, then the jewelry should have pearls on it, or no gemstones at all. Your jewelry should compliment your wedding gown, or you won t look as put together and elegant on your special day as you d like.

Veil
The shortest length is the bird cage or net pouf, which was made popular in the 60's and falls above the shoulders. The next length is the blusher or flyaway, and is shoulder length. Elbow length is exactly as it sounds, and fingertip veils are veils that are long enough that if your hands are down, the veil reaches your fingertips. A waltz veil falls anywhere from your knee to your ankle, while a chapel veil falls two feet beyond the hem of the gown. A cathedral length veil is the longest, extending at least three feet past the hem of the wedding gown, and is often made of two layers, paired with a blusher veil worn over the face.

Gloves
The shortest gloves are wrist gloves, which just come over the wrist joint and are good for any type of wedding gown. Below or plain elbow gloves come just up to the elbows, giving no elbow coverage at all. Above the elbow gloves rise about one to three inches above the elbow; and the longest gloves are opera length, and these reach the middle of the upper arm.

There are also unique kinds of gloves, such as the fingerless gloves, which have just holes for the fingers, gauntlets which end in a V shape over the hand with a loop for just the middle finger, and special wedding gloves, where just the ring finger part opens so the wedding ring can be slipped on and then the glove put back in place.

3. Getting fitted
Wedding gowns should be ordered and purchased four to six months before the date. The fitting process can take a very long time. Wedding gowns are not made the same as normal clothing that you buy in department stores, Usually an attendant in a bridal boutique will usually take your wedding gown measurements first.

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