Now that you’ve finalized your guest list, sent out your Save the Dates and picked out your Invitations, it’s now time to start searching for the attire for you, him and your wedding party.
The easiest decision to get out of the way first is the type of clothing your fiancé and his groomsmen want to wear. My guy doesn’t want to mess around with renting or buying tuxedos, so he and his best man will be wearing suits. Depending on the theme or mood of your special day, you may want to dress up or dress down. For a beach wedding, it would be nicer to wear something lighter and airy for you and your bridesmaids while the guys may want to don a nice pair of khaki shorts and button down shirts. For a more formal event, you may want a ball gown type of wedding dress with a cathedral veil and tiara and the guys can wear tuxedos with matching bowties and cummerbunds. For our wedding, we are more concerned with the people we want around us that day than being dressed to the nines.
You may also want to think about the venue of your reception and how that will affect your attire after the ceremony. If your reception is at a club or a social hall, your dress will be fine bustled up and out of the way of foot traffic. On the other hand, if you have an outdoor venue, you may want to pick up another dress that is more simple and practical; I will be buying a simple, shorter white dress due to the camp/outdoor venue of our reception and because I would be boiling and melting in my wedding dress at the end of July, one of the hottest months of the year in Northwestern Pennsylvania. I will also be ditching the high heels from the ceremony for ballet flats or even a dressier looking pair of sandals.
Now for the best part for the bride-to-be… finding your perfect dress. I began by looking through the dresses on David’s Bridal’s website. Using the Dress Finder option on their mobile website helps the vibe or motif for the day will be, what she wants her bridal style to be, and what details she must have included in her dress. After the bride takes this short quiz, the website will prompt her to name her new favorites list. Next, the website calculates her choices and provides the dresses they feel will suit her best. For each dress, she can either click yes or not for me. The bride can also just look through the website on her own, shopping for her dress by viewing dresses, by viewing the dresses by a specific designer and finishing by looking through all the accessories to completely her bridal look.
If the bride doesn’t want to do any research first, she can go to bridal stores and find her dream dress just by looking. I was very lucky in finding mine: it was on clearance and it was in my size. The only downfall with buying your gown in your actual size… making sure to either keep the weight off or work it off before the wedding day arrives. My advice is to buy your dress one size bigger than you wear just in case you do gain a little weight or if your weight fluctuates like mine does. The reason: a dress can always be taken in, but it can’t be taken out. I am taking the chance because it was a clearance dress and the next size up was not available.
When it comes to your bridal party, their attire can be put off until about 6 months before the big day. As I am getting married next July, my maid of honor and I will not be looking for her dress until after the beginning of the year, especially since she is a teenager and she is still growing rapidly.
Once you have found your dress, frost yourself with whatever accessories you would like. Veils come in all lengths, some have lacy details, while others may have Swarovski crystals sown into it for a bit of flash and sparkle. Tiaras are also a very popular edition. But before you start looking at any accessories, make sure you are completely happy with your dress, especially with the way it looks on you. Take some time to glance at yourself in the mirror at the store. Don’t be afraid to try on numerous dresses before you feel that you’ve found the right one. Even try it back on a few times if you aren’t sure. Bottom line: if you have any reservations about the dress or you aren’t sure if you love it, then it’s not the one for you and you need to keep looking. Don’t worry and don’t be scared. You will know it when you see it. You won’t be able to stop smiling and you may even cry a little. If you absolutely love it and the people you brought with you don’t, it doesn’t matter; if you love it, then do it. You will be wearing it, not the other people. This is your day. Be ready to become a princess.
