I tried on your wedding dress (Wedding Dresses)

Member Name: kellylouj

Product:	Wedding Dresses
Date:	07/03/08 (260 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Know what style suits you and what you can afford

Disadvantages: Get confused by the number of styles out there

Choosing a wedding dress can be either really exciting or really daunting and for me...well as soon as I got engaged I was dreaming of a vast princess style wedding dress and set about looking for my dream dress on the internet when I soon realised I had no idea about the different styles, materials or even the designers and the things to consider before you hand over your budget for the dress such as :-

Where you will be getting married
What colour dress you will want
How comfortable the dress is
The budget that you have
The style of dress that you want

When we booked our wedding venue I knew I could start looking for my wedding dress and I started trawling through hundreds of designers on the internet as well as bridal stores in the UK and the US before settling on a few that I felt brave enough to try on and I thought that this review may come in handy for those needing a little guidance just like I could have done with.

*~*Visiting the Shop*~*

I would always recommend going to a bridal shop even if you don't intend on purchasing from there as it will allow you to try on a variety of styles which after all you should try as many as you possibly can before you part with your cash as once you put down your deposit, sometimes as much as 50% of the total cost then you are fully committed.

If you have read any of my reviews before you will know that I fell in love with many designs by Kate Sherford and set about visiting bridal stores that stocked her range of dresses and my first visit was to Virgin Brides as the offered a wide range of dresses from popular designers such as Alan Hannah, Hollywood Dreams and Kate Sherford.
Many of the bridal stores will insist that you make an appointment so that you can try on the dresses and guide you as best they can.
Although I liked a certain designer I still decided to try on a range of other dresses to ensure that I was not overlooking a dress that would be perfect and if you only take one thing away from this review it has to be that you have fun searching for your wedding dress in shops rather than on the internet as I think if I had done that I would have come across many more styles that I normally would have overlooked and could have ended up with a completely different dress to the one I ended up purchasing even though I love my dress completely!

Take someone with you who will be honest. I took my mum as I knew she would tell me if I looked awful in something and my chief bridesmaid Sarah who again would be brutally honest with her opinion.

I did however suffer the embarrassment in the shop of wearing completely the wrong underwear so to avoid a similar situation for yourself follow my foolproof tip of:-

Wearing a pale coloured strapless bra and a pair of nice crisp white knickers (not a g-string like I did!!)

*~*Style of the Dress*~*

Deciding on the shape of your skirt is important as it will influence the whole look of your outfit. I was clueless before I started visiting different shops as to the styles out there and the materials used for wedding dresses so this section is to help you understand what style of dress is meant by the name it has been given.

A traditional ball gown shape is very full and looks great teamed with a fitted bodice, ideal if you have larger hips you want to hide but not great if you are a larger bride as it will just make you look bigger and for petite brides it can drown you in fabric.
I chose a ball gown style dress for me so that I could have a fitted bodice and a skirt to hide my least favourite parts which are my legs.

An Empire line dress is very glamorous and in my opinion will never go out of fashion. Empire line is where the skirt will flow straight from under the bust and would therefore suit slim, smaller busted brides. Needless to say this option was not suitable for me!

Column Dresses have a sleek moden line that is ideal if you want to show off your figure and is ideal for slimmer, taller brides as it will show off your best features.

A Mermaid or Fishtail dress is similar to a column dress but emphasises your curves. If you have a figure similar to Beyonce then this will be the dress for you as it will hug your figure up to the knee and then flare out.
A fishtail is flatter at the front and flares at the back and the sides.
If you are curvy then hourglass style dresses will certainly suit drawing attention to the bust and hips and make the waistline look smaller.

The neckline is just as important as the style of skirt and when I decided on a fuller skirt I wanted something a little softer to the top and opted for a Sweetheart neckline which is a heart shaped line at the bust and is great for showing a little cleavage.

Halterneck wedding dresses also look gorgeous but are best suited if the bride has toned shoulders as it can look unbalanced on a woman with a large bust.

A V-Neck wedding dress draws attention away from a large bust so is great for bigger busted brides.

A low round or scooped neckline will suit most brides so if you are unsure this option will suit.

Probably the most popular are the strapless dresses which are straight across the bust or have a sweetheart shape like my dress does and again they should suit most brides but if you are uncomfortable displaying your arms, chest or shoulders avoid this option at all cost or purchase a shrug to cover the bits you are most self conscious with.

Ok so you have decided on the skirt style and also on the neckline of your dress surely there cannot be much more to it??
Wrong we are only halfway there the next thing to decide is the train.

The train is the material at the back of your dress which extends out and at the end of the night you are so frustrated with after people of stood on it numerous times!

A sweep or a duster train does not extend more than 50cm from the hem of the dress and is easy to manage, my dress has a sweep train which is ideal as I plan on doing a lot of dancing at the end of the night!

A puddle train is round in shape and begins at the side of the skirt to make it appear that the bride is standing in a puddle of material, usually found on fishtail dresses or column dresses.

A chapel length train is around a metre in length and a catherdral length is at least 2 metres or more and can be quite difficult to manage throughout the day and you should bear in mind that the length and weight of the material could get tiresome throughout the day.

A detachable train offers a bit more flexibility as you can use it for photographs and the ceremony but when it is time to let your hair down it can be removed.

A bustle loop is probably more common with today's brides as it allows you to hook up the train to make it shorter at the back or if the bride prefers a hook can be added so that the train can be looped around her wrist but again this could be heavy throughout the day and should be a factor to take into consideration.

Deciding on the material for your dress may be decided for you by the designer only offering it in certain materials however you should try on as many different types of materials as you try on different styles.

Silk dresses can weigh very heavy and can drain the bride throughout the day coping with the weight and it can also be very warm as well so in the summer the last thing that you want is to be sweating because your dress is so warm.

Taffetta is a lighter option and less likely to crease and is now becoming more and more popular and is available in a variety of colours.

Chiffon and organza are lighter fabrics and are ideal for summer weddings so remember if you are planning on ordering your dress in the summer and you wed in the winter remember the weather will be a whole lot cooler and vice versa.

*~*Ordering the dress*~*

Once you have found the dress that you like the next step is to order it, many stores only have 1 sample dress in stock and will be about a size 14 so it will only be used to give you an idea of what the dress looks like on.
You will be measured and a dress will be ordered to fit your size but remember that alterations will still need to be done and these are generally not included in the cost of the dress so get a price before you sign anything and hand over any money.

Most bridal stores will ask for a minimum of 50% to order your dress and this is also similar with bridesmaid dresses so make sure that you don't make the mistake of ordering a dress that you are not completely sure on.
One of my friends that is getting married 2 weeks before me bought a dress from a wedding fayre and changed her mind a few months later and now has a dress on order in a shop so the dress has cost 3 times the original amount now.
If you have plenty of time before the wedding then shop around and take a note of the designer and style so that you can come back and try it on after having a good look around and that way you are not committed.

Many bridal stores will not allow you to take a photograph of you in the dress as there are people that will copy the style and get a dressmaker to make it at a fraction of the price.

Once you have decided on the dress if you can, pay with a credit card as you will at least have some kind of insurance if the shop goes bust or you don't receive your item once it has been paid for.

I made the mistake of ordering a dress a size smaller than I actually am, but when I tried it on I was only a few inches away from it being a perfect fit so here I am 3 months before the wedding trying to slim to lose half a stone for the perfect fit and also to look stunning on the day but if you are planning on losing weight and you have a bigger goal I would suggest getting the dress that fits you when you order it and getting it taken in when you lose weight that way you are under less stress to fit in the dress and it is easier to take it in than it is to take it out.

Many bridal shops can take between 6-8 months to order in your dress so bear that in mind when you book your wedding date.

I also looked at purchasing a dress from the states as the dresses were a lot cheaper but after I added on taxes and delivery it did not seem all that much of a bargain anymore, so again get the full costs before you order and exchange any cash.

My most important tip is to budget as there are thousands of dresses out there it is so easy to fall for one that is out of your budget but if you must have a designer dress look out for designer days where you get a percentage of the price or sample sales where you can pick up a sample dress that belongs to a wedding store for a fraction of the price.
My dress was a shop sample and I saved over half price so I do recommend checking out this option to get your dream dress on a budget but check it over carefully for any damage as they cannot usually be returned once purchased.

Above all have fun shopping for your wedding dress, there are thousands of styles to choose from all in various price ranges and end of season sales can grab you some real bargains, I loved shopping for my wedding dress but I love the fact that I can take a peek at it any time I visit my parents house where it waits for me to wear it for my wedding.

Summary: Good luck all future brides!