Fashion’s gone wild (again). So it is with Prada’s flower-heeled Mary Jane leather sandals with 3?-inch heel and $750 price tag, below.

“They’re so weird, so bizarre, so utterly ugly that they qualify as spring’s must-have pair of shoes,” writes Jill Hudson Neal, in the Washington Post.

Adds Jennifer Gerson, associate editor at Jezebel.com, in the Post: “These are shoes that will scare most people. They make you look like an evil woodland nymph. They’re shoes you can’t walk in, you can’t afford and that’ll make your feet look ugly. It’s insane!”

So simple

Lands’ End calls it the “I didn’t

hear the alarm” outfit. The dress-in-a-minute

shirt dress is big news for spring, in sophisticated earth tones but brights and patterns, too.

How to wear it? With a braided leather belt and sandals, of course. Or, for something different, wear it unbuttoned over a tank and cropped pants.

This creates a look similar to a woman’s “duster” ― a light, loose coat that acts as a top layer to really finish off an outfit.

On the spot

Lands’ End also is playing up another trend for spring: giraffe prints. Brown and white is the color combo here, and the print shows up on swimwear, tunics and even beach towels.

Others show them, too. Banana Republic’s brown-and-white giraffe-print halter dress, for one, comes with a matching sun hat.

Here comes the flower girl

When it comes to flower girl dresses, sophisticated is the new cute, Newsday reports.

“ Poofy, tutu- like dresses bursting with tulle are out; simple silhouettes offering clean lines are in,” writes Sylvia E. King- Cohen.

White and ivory remain the most popular colors, but designers also are using splashes of color this season. Earth tones ― soft blush pinks, champagne, cocoas, light greens ― are popular. So are lace tops, as well as dresses with colored embroidery, colored sashes, beading or a little sparkle.

And finally …

“ Pants, worn with a heel ― it’s dead- on sexy.”

― Jasmine H. Chang, executive fashion editor at O, the Oprah Magazine, in Newsday

Prada photo by Washington Post

Wedding Dress Stain at the Wedding Reception:
First of all, try to calm down. Most of the pictures have already been taken, and everyone has already seen how beautiful you look. Quickly assess the situation – ask your bridesmaids how noticeable the stain is. Since emergency treatments may make a stain spread or become more noticeable, it may be better to leave it alone. If you must treat it, make sure you use the correct treatment for the type of stain:

Red Wine Stain
First, gently dab at the stain with a clean white cloth. Then poor water or club soda onto the cloth, and dab some more. Whatever you do, do not rub! Keep dabbing with clean parts of the cloth until it seems like most of the stain has come out. Use chalk or talcum powder to disguise anything that doesn’t come out.

Oily Food Stain
Sprinkle talcum powder liberally over the stain on your wedding dress. Wait about ten minutes, then shake the excess off.

Ink Stain
The solution to getting ink out is hair spray, believe it or not! Test the hair spray out on an discreet portion of your wedding dress – perhaps the inside of the hem – before using it on the stain, as hairspray may mark the fabric. Put a cloth behind the fabric, then spray the ink stain lightly. Wait five minutes, then dab gently with a damp cloth.

Lipstick Stain
The best solution is to try to cover the stain with baking soda or talcum powder. You can also try using a solvent such as dry cleaning fluid or cigarette lighter fluid, but be aware that such solvents frequently discolor fabric. Be sure to test it on an unseen portion of the wedding dress first.

Blood Stain
If the blood is still wet, moisten a cotton swab with your own saliva (or the saliva of the person whose blood it is), then gently rub it over the stain. It should come out. If it’s dry, or nearly dry, dab the blood stain gently with very cold water on a white washcloth. Hold the cloth on the spot and see if blood breaks down and comes out. If that doesn’t work, see if there is a first aid kit nearby with hydrogen peroxide, and dilute it (one part to nine parts water). Careful, hydrogen peroxide can bleach fabrics. Use the diluted solution to gently dab at the stain. When it starts to break down, go back to plain cold water. Use chalk or talcum powder to disguise anything that doesn’t come out.

Wedding Dress Stain Before the Wedding:
Immediately take it to a high-quality dry cleaner. If you can’t afford to take it to the cleaners, you can try one of the methods above, but it is highly recommended that you try to scrape together the cash and let the professionals handle it.

Bridal fashion offers many alternate bridal gown styles, whether traditional or off beat. This provides the bride with the opportunity to focus on her particular preferences without feeling her choices are limited. Some bridal fashion advice indicates that the gown must be appropriate for the chosen wedding style. Personally, I have seen many weddings work where traditional bridal etiquette has been completely brushed aside.

My favourites include the big fluffy bridal gowns at an informal beachside gathering, a luxurious beaded satin slip with a delicately sheer cathedral length veil for a very formal church ceremony, and a heavily adorned crystal wedding gowns for a simple afternoon cocktail affair. What allowed these brides to carry it off so well was their ability to select a gown that suited them.

When the bridal dress suits your features so completely, you will look stunning no matter where or how your wedding takes place, and, your guests will think you are perfectly exquisite.

The most priceless snippet of advice? Be realistic and be confident. Have the confidence to accept who you are and what god gave you. Highlight your positive assets and accentuate those features – draw attention away from your less positive features. When something really gets you down, fix it! Obtain a professional assessment from an exclusive hair stylist, go to the gym and lose weight, start having your nails manicured, have your teeth whitened or go and treat yourself to a weekly body spa and / or facial for the next six months.

As the bride you have two questions that you needs to ask yourself. What sort of gown am I going to wear, and where will I get bridal dresses? Select approximately two or three bridal boutiques that carry a differing variety of styles and schedule an appointment. Remember, a gown always looks very different on a model or on the hanger! While you may not like the look of a particular gown, you can truly be amazed to realise that it completely transforms your entire appearance when you try it on. At this particular point, it is more relevant that you figure out which styles work and what to avoid. That won’t happen if you are afraid to try something on.

By the time you get home you will be dazzled, dazed and bewildered! Gems, jewels, beads, lace and tulle will be twirling around in your head making you giddy. Sometimes, for some brides, it can take a few days or even a few weeks for it all to settle. Eventually the mind will automatically sift through the information and you will wake up one day and just know where to go from here.

When you find a gown in a boutique and you fall in love with it, there is no need to consider looking elsewhere. You may find, however, that you like the bodice on one style and the skirt of another. Some bridal boutiques actually allow you to combine one or two styles and create an entirely new gown. Simply advise of the styles that you like and ask whether you are able to do so.

Alternately, whilst many bridal boutiques simply sell gowns from a range of different designers, some boutiques actually own their styles and design all of their own gowns. This option is very helpful for the bride who just can not find anything they really adore. The professional bridal designer will sit and discuss what you like and what you are really after. They will offer you assistance with selecting colours, fabrics and so forth and it will allow you to piece together those little things that you have been looking for which just don’t seem to be available.

Some brides find the wedding dress of their dreams and just won’t settle for anything else, until they see the price tag! When you have your heart set on a particular style that you just can not afford, an experienced (bridal dress) dressmaker can create a similar style for almost half the price.

Finally, there is the occasional bride that loves anything that glistens and glimmers, and feels that most wedding dresses they have seen just don’t have the sparkle that they are after. You can actually visit a local bead supplier who offers a wonderful variety of Swarovski crystals in all sizes and colours. Because the crystals are stored in large jars and are priced per gram, you can purchase any given quantity at the most reasonable price. This is where bridal designers purchase their crystals and beads. You can provide your boutique or designer with a sample of your preferred crystals and they will create the effect you are after. Beading does tend to incur extra cost because they are sewn individually, by hand.

Forget sighting a humble swallow – these days, the first sign of a British summer must surely be the inaugural glimpse of a bright, feathered fascinator perched precariously atop the mother of the bride. And what a welcome vision it is.

Beware the rules of modern engagement
Every wedding dress tells a story
And the bride wore…
You can also forget the credit crunch, the mortgage quagmire and Labour’s hara-kiri by autobiography – there are hats to be bought, for heaven’s sake! And matching handbags!

Lumpen maids of honour (see above) must be shoehorned into unforgivably clingy satin, terrifying bridezillas now stalk House of Fraser, and you can scarcely negotiate Peter Jones without tripping over blissfully happy couples clutching gift lists and screaming dog’s abuse at one another over Wedgwood versus Royal Worcester.

Yes, we may have lost our manufacturing industry, the Scots may run the Government and the Poles the country, but nowhere does weddings quite like us; the pomp, the circumstance, the morning coats and petty snobberies, in this at least we can still claim supremacy.

This year promises to deliver a vintage season, kicking off this weekend with the nuptials of the Princess Royal’s son, Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly. Football royalty Wayne Rooney and Coleen McLoughlin follow in June.

Plus there’s Sienna Miller’s engagement to Rhys Ifans (after his third proposal), which will no doubt lead to the couple tying the knot somewhere achingly hip, in Marc Jacobs flipflops.

advertisementBrad and Angelina are planning to get hitched on a ?100 million luxury yacht, and even Sir Alan Sugar has been caught up in the outbreak of wedding fever and will tonight be charging his would-be apprentices with the task of wooing customers at a bridal show.

Organising a wedding is, of course, a social and logistical minefield. The conflicting demands of family and friends, budget and taste can easily lead to pre-matrimonial meltdown. So to help steer you through these perilous waters, The Daily Telegraph offers you a cut-out-and-keep guide to the Perfect Big Day.

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A is for Abroad

An estimated 10 per cent of British couples marry abroad, although opinion is divided as to whether this is wonderfully romantic, or just cheapskate and selfish. Either way, it’s a foolproof method of cutting back on the drinks bill and weeding out unwelcome guests.

Coleen McLoughlin and Wayne Rooney, both 22, judiciously plan to avoid a repeat of her 18th birthday party (when police were called after a brawl broke out between the Rooneys and McLoughlins) by holding their ceremony on the Italian Riviera.

The couple, who have a ?3 million budget, supplemented by a glossy magazine deal, will exchange vows in front of a modest group of 60 select guests in Portofino next month, and will later host a bigger party in Croxteth, Liverpool, where booze will be limited to reduce the chances of argy-bargy.

Hollywood A-listers Brad Pitt, 44, and Angelina Jolie, 32, are also planning a connubial getaway by marrying on a yacht owned by their close friend, Microsoft founder Paul Allen, as it cruises off the French Riviera. The 416ft yacht Octopus has twin helicopter pads, so guests can arrive in style. A no-fly zone enforced by the French authorities should also help deter wedding crashers.

B is for Bridesmaids

Cute is the rule of thumb here, so ideally, all bridesmaids should be under 3?ft tall; consider taking a height chart when visiting pushy relations whose offspring are angling for flower girl invitations.

Older bridesmaids are, inconveniently, never the same shape and size and either look absurd in matching flounces or upstage the bride by being prettier and thinner. Maids of honour tend to come across as tragic singletons, and are to be avoided at all costs.

C is for Canap��s

Keep ‘em bite-sized; we’re so over juggling a champagne flute, an Anya Hindmarch tote and the other half of a caramelised onion crostino.

D is for Downsizing

Don’t be embarrassed about cutting your wedding to fit your cloth. According to professional wedding planner and Wedding Bible author Sara Haywood, celebrity weddings have raised the bar so high that ordinary couples often plunge themselves into debt to compete.

“You should plan for your perfect wedding, not Posh Spice’s,” says Haywood. “If you’re a local girl who should be marrying in the church hall but feel obliged to hire a stately home, then not only will it not reflect who you are, you’ll end up hugely over budget.”

E is for Email

Shockingly few people are polite enough to RSVP to wedding invitations these days, so bow to the inevitable and allow them to do so by email, as, sadly, you’re far more likely to get a response.

F is for Friends

They may be keen to help, but use their artistic, photographic or musical skills at your peril. Imagine how you’ll feel – and how your friendship will suffer – if the soloist sings flat and heads are cut off in the group shot. Employ a professional photographer; they get paid to be bossy and to organise family and guests so they look their best.

G is for Gift lists

Some couples regard these as vulgar, others as a godsend and others still as an excuse to be greedy. “People are aware that if they are invited to a wedding they will need to buy a present, so they won’t think you common for having a gift list,” says Jo Bryant, editor of The Debrett’s Wedding Guide.

“It’s also now pretty standard practice to include a gift list card with the invitation, so although it might once have been thought of as rude in effect to ask for a present before you even know if someone’s attending, that’s no longer the case.

David Cameron’s wedding
“A well-established couple who already have a home together might ask for money rather than a gift, but not everyone feels comfortable about handing over cash which might get frittered away on Friday night at the pub. It’s much better to put the money towards something, such as the honeymoon, so guests know where their gift is going.”

H is for Hen Nights

Keep hen and stag parties low-key and tasteful. They don’t need to involve helicopters, although clearly if you are Prince William, you feel free to leap into an RAF Chinook to ferry yourself and brother Harry to a stag do on the Isle of White.

The stag bash was that of their cousin Peter Phillips, and their enthusiasm rather odd, given that Prince William will not be going to the wedding, as he will be away on holiday.

Stag and hen weekends to Tallin or Rzeszow are de trop, no matter how cheap the beer, and don’t even countenance printed group T-shirts bearing legends such as “Karen’s Last Night of Freedom” or “Men Behaving Badly”.

Beware too, of whom you invite. Coleen McLoughlin was recently upstaged at her hen weekend by her future mother-in-law, who had shed seven stone.

Weekends, moreover, are distinctly pass��. Dinner in a stylish restaurant is a far classier way to celebrate, especially if you’re getting married at the end of the summer, by which time your friends will be fast running out of holiday time, money and the will to live.

I is for Invitations

Just because you have a PC and printer, don’t assume you can knock out 300 invitations in an evening.

“Invitations set the tone for your event so if you are planning an informal marquee in your parents’ garden, then it’s fine for them to be personal, or you can design them yourself, but it’s very time-consuming if you do it properly,” says Maia Morris of Brides Magazine.

“But if your wedding is very traditional, then you need the invitations to be professionally printed.”

J is for Jugglers

Forget jugglers, casino tables, magicians and chocolate fountains.These smack of corporate functions and suggest that you don’t get out much.

K is for Keeping in Mind it’s Your Day

Don’t allow parents to dictate arrangements, even if they are footing some or all of the bill.

One sneaky tactic is to give your mother (in-law) a project to keep her busy, such as organising the flowers, so she won’t notice you haven’t invited the neighbours you haven’t seen since you were 12, or a raft of second cousins you’d be hard pushed to recognise in a police line-up.

L is for Love

Presumably this was the motivation behind getting married in the first place, so try to bear it in mind, as your stress levels soar in the run-up to the big day. To safeguard your sanity, have dinner with your fianc�� once a week – and ban all talk of sugared almonds and buttonholes.

M is for Magazine Deal

Vulgar, vulgar, vulgar. But lucrative. Although de rigueur for the likes of Wayne and Coleen, it did cause raised eyebrows when Peter Phillips and his fianc��e, the Canadian Autumn Kelly, sold coverage of their wedding to Hello! magazine for ?500,000. Both the Queen and Prince Phillip are said to be furious.

Whether Peter and Autumn’s marriage can survive the curse of Hello! is another thorny issue. Post-Hello! splits include Bill Wyman and Mandy Smith, Ulrika Jonnson (after gushing wedding coverage with two different husbands), the Duke and Duchess of York, Earl and Countess Spencer. Wish them well.

N is for Name Change

In these liberated days, it’s an act of downright rebellion for a bride to take her husband’s name when they marry. It usually happens eventually for convenience’ sake, when children come along, but declaring your intention up front will certainly be a talking point. Let relations discreetly know of your name change in advance, in case they are writing you a cheque.

O is for Organisation

Being organised is the key to a successful wedding. Keep all your paperwork together, including copies of emails, says Sara Haywood. “Get two large plastic boxes with lids from any hardware store. Label one ‘Ceremony’ and the other ‘Reception’, and put everything related to each in the appropriate box.”

P is for Pre-nup

Almost eight out of 10 matrimonial lawyers say demand for prenuptial agreements has risen sharply over the past year. One factor has been the divorce of Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills, which cost an estimated ?10 million in legal fees.

Q R is for Quality Relations

Sadly you can’t choose them, but you can decide not to invite the poor quality ones. “Our chatrooms (youandyourwedding.co.uk) are full of anguished brides wrestling with the issue of which family members to invite,” says Maia Morris. “You shouldn’t have to invite relatives you don’t like, but you have to balance that against the repercussions.”

S is for Speeches.

A good – or bad – best man’s speech can make or break a wedding, so choose your closest friend wisely.

When handsome man-about-town Tim Jeffries married model Malin Johansson last month, his best man proceeded to tell the assembled guests how many women the groom had slept with: “I think Tim has been out on 2,193 dinner dates which, by my calculation of a hit rate of 70 per cent, means he had to drop his trousers 1,535 times.” The bride’s reaction is not recorded.

Ulrika Jonsson marries Lance Gerrard-Wright
T is for Table Plan

The top table is straight-forward, but there are few things more hellish than agonising about where to seat the dull, the dreary and the downright dreadful. Should you spread them out, thus diluting their influence, or place them at the same table?

“Old university chums will want to sit with each other, and it makes sense to group people who know each other, but otherwise, it’s best to spread out guests who may be very quiet – or very noisy, as this reduces their impact,” says Morris.

U is for Ushers

Peter Phillips turned down the Queen’s offer of a dozen members of the Gentlemen at Arms as ushers – apparently he wanted to keep the ceremony low-key (other than the 350 guests and Hello! cameras).

But, deployed properly, ushers are crucial to the day’s success. “The primary purpose of ushers is crowd control, and keeping the day flowing,” says Jo Bryant. “They show people where to park, guide them to their places in the church and help elderly relatives to their seats. After the ceremony they assist in getting people to the reception venue.”

V is for Vows

This is what the whole day is about, regardless of what crabby old Salman “women only get married for the frock” Rushdie says – now that his fourth marriage has fallen apart.

As fewer women pledge to “obey” their husbands, they promise to “comfort” them instead.

“The vows in the Church of England’s Common Worship marriage service normally used by couples are ‘to love, comfort, honour and protect and forsaking all others, being faithful for as long as we both shall live,’ reflecting the Church’s understanding of mutuality and equality between the couple,” says Sue Burridge, the Church’s marriage and family policy officer.

W is for Wedding Rings

The cost of wedding and engagement rings is rocketing, thanks to record gold and platinum prices. One shop in London’s jewellery centre, Hatton Garden, recently reported the retail price of platinum rings had soared by 30 per cent in a single week.

Couples quoted a figure for a wedding band on Saturday are discovering the cost has risen by Monday, so carpe diem or pay the price.

X is for Exes

Should you invite former spouses and lovers? “Weddings aren’t the time and place for social experimentation,” says Jo Bryant. “Both the bride and groom must be agreed on whether an ex should be present.”

Y is for Young Children

Another hugely divisive issue, this one. If you don’t want children at your wedding, don’t bow to pressure, but do let guests know well in advance, or they may assume their offspring are invited automatically.

Z is for zzzzz

Surveys show that more than 40 per cent of couples don’t make love on their wedding nights, because they’re too tired, so feel free to save the racy Myla underwear for the honeymoon, and wear something comfortable under your wedding dress.

The truth is you will be a very unusual bride if your wedding gown doesn’t need some alterations. But how much can a bridal dress be realistically adjusted? And how much will it cost? Most bridal gowns need some adjustment, and unless your gown does not have a train, at the bare minimum it will need bustles sewn in the back. So be prepared for add a bit more onto your wedding gown costs than the price tag states. The average a bride spends between $75 and $250 on alterations.

If you know the specific alterations that your gown needs, feel free to call around and get some telephone bids. You do not necessarily have to use the alterations service from your bridal shop, but don’t cut corners that you might regret. A seamstress experienced with altering wedding gowns will probably do a better job than your average tailor at your local dry-cleaner.

Can Every bridal Dresses be Altered?
Not every dress can be altered to fit exactly the way you would like. Remember two rules of thumb:

It is easier to take something in than it is to let it out. If you are wearing your mother’s wedding gown it may be worth going to great lengths to get the gown to fit. But, if you are buying a new gown, get the correct size. Making a bridal gown larger is difficult, and you may not like the fit afterwards.

Don’t buy a gown more than one size larger than your own size. Larger gowns are cut proportionally larger all over the gown. The neckline, the bodice, and shoulders will all be over sized. This means the gown may not fit quite right if only the side seams are taken in. However, some wedding dresses are designed to fit several sizes, with a corset back that ties instead of zips. To get the best fit, stay as close as possible to your correct size.
Could I do the alterations myself?
If you (or a friend or family member) are a competent seamstress you could make many of your alterations easily and save quite a bit of money. For instance, a hem from a professional tailor might range from $55 for a very basic hem to $200 for multiple layers but might not be a difficult chore for someone who knows their way around a sewing room. It all depends on the construction of the gown. Hems can be very simple, but be aware that if your gown has lace at the hemline, it may require more extensive work.<

Some alterations are more difficult and should be reserved for someone who really knows what they are doing. But wedding gowns are designed to be altered and many are constructed in such a way as to make adjustments easier. Take a good look at the interior construction of your gown to determine how difficult it will be to make the necessary adjustments before you take it on.

Alterations Timeline
If possible, order your dress at least 12 weeks before your wedding to allow enough time for the necessary adjustments. Plan your last fitting several weeks before your wedding so you have time to make last minute adjustments if needed. Weddings can be stressful and you may find that you either lose a little weight or gain a little weight during your engagement.

Alterations Tips

Try your wedding gowns on without any make-up. You want to be as clean as possible to avoid soiling your gown. And wear your nicest under clothes as it is likely you may be only partially dressed during your fitting.

Be sure to wear the bra and shoes that you will be wearing for your wedding. Don’t try to find shoes with the right heels after your gown has been altered. Buy your shoes prior to having it hemmed.

Accessorize, Abridge and Add

Often, dresses of any kind only need a few well-placed wedding accessories to make them look new. This is also true with bridesmaid dresses, which can be transformed into cocktail dresses with elegant jewelry like pearl necklaces. Or you can wear a blazer or bolero over them to transform them from day wear to night wear! It’s just a matter of creating new styles out of old clothes, really.

Also, you can always shorten the hem, trim down the shape and cut off some parts to transform old bridesmaid dress into something new. For example, a few inches off the hem will turn an ankle-length dress to a cocktail dress. Or a puffy skirt can be trimmed down so as to make a new skirt suitable for the office.

If you want to keep the overall look, you can always add little touches here and there to the dresses. You can make them trendier by adding the colors of the season, adding well-placed funky touches, and adding your personal mark. Again, it’s all a matter of styling yourself.

Slit, Shorten and Sew

On the other hand, if you are into arts and crafts, you can always slit the bridesmaid gowns into workable materials, shorten the fabric according to your design and sew them into various household items. Of course, this presupposes that you have more than 27 ways to recycle them!

Just to give you ideas on how to recycle your dresses through using the sewing machine, you can make table runners, tablecloths, place mats, curtains, quilts, handkerchiefs, shower curtains, Ottoman slip cover, bed canopy, wall art, room divider, kitchen apron, lamp shade accents, coasters, chair slipcovers, and even as upholstery for your blah headboard. Just think of the fabric from your dresses as any other store-bought fabric and you should be able to come up with more ideas.

Re-Sell, Recycle and Return

If you don’t have the time to sew or you can’t think of more ways to add pizzazz to your bridesmaid gowns, reselling, recycling and returning them are good ideas. Besides, who wants to keep memories of one’s eternal bridesmaid role?

You can sell them on online auction sites, thrift stores and consignment shops that will allow for a small fraction of your expenses to be recouped. Now, if you don’t want to make a handsome profit out of a used dress, there are charitable organizations that will happily oblige disposing your dresses to less fortunate girls. Or if the store where you bought your bridesmaid gown accepts returns of dresses in good condition, run the store now!

When you have employed all these tactics to fend off an attack of the bridesmaid dresses, you will discover that always being the bridesmaid but never the bride isn’t so bad after all. At least, you don’t have to worry about the cost of divorce!

The Perfect Shape for the Perfect Wedding

Brides-to-be won’t settle for less, especially when it comes to the wedding gowns. Depending on the couple’s budget, the bridal gown may be the fourth largest expense following the reception, wedding cake, and honeymoon. Apart from the budget, brides start working on their dream gown by figuring out the perfect dress to flatter their figures.

The bridal gown should reflect the wedding theme; it could be a beaded outfit in silk and lace befitting a formal or traditional wedding, or a tea-length modest dress for a simple exchange of “I dos” before the parson.

But whatever the wedding theme, it is best to do some research on the perfect fitting wedding gowns or wedding dresses to match your figure and the wedding. There are several dress shapes to hide the flaws and flatter the figure. The following silhouettes are:

The sheath is form fitting and highlights every curve and accent of your figure.
The princess cut is an A-line cut preferred to show off a slim bodice and falls in soft folds in a full skirt.
The empire cut is form-fitting at the top and starts to fall under the bust line. This is the perfect cut for the bride who is expecting the stork early.
The low-waist gown is perfect for the fairy tale gown with fitting long sleeves.

With the shapes of the bridal gowns decided, it would be easy to decide the length of the dress – cathedral length with a train for traditional weddings, floor length to be embellished with beads for a formal feel, or tea length for outdoor weddings.

The sleeves should also be considered carefully – strapless, off-the-shoulder, long-sleeves, or cap sleeves. Whatever the sleeve type selected, the embellishments and the cut add to the formal or informal appeal of the wedding gown.

Body Types and Dress Silhouettes

If you’re deciding on a wedding gown, determine your body type before getting a bridal gown off the rack or having one customized for you. The female figure spans the following:

Hour glass figure – would do well with gowns that show off the waist. The ball gown and or a corseted dress present the figure in the best light.
Full waist – the drop waist and attractive neckline can draw attention away from the waistline.
Pear-shape – A-line cut will disguise wide hips.

Tall women will do well in ball gowns, A-line, and empire cuts, while the petite ladies should pick out light fabrics and simple cuts without much distraction so as not to overwhelm their stature.

Accessories and Hairstyles

It is a rule that when a dress is simple, accessorize. Jewelry, tiaras, gloves, and shoes should be selected with care to complement the dress; the hairstyle, too, should complete the perfect picture.

For your hairstyle and make-up, a professional’s advice should be sought before the wedding. Make it clear that you’d like to look as natural as you can with or without artificial lights for those perfect shots on video and digital camera. Indeed, your bridal gown happily dictates the shape of things to come.

About the Author:

Show the beauty that you are in your wedding dress. Plan ahead for your bridal gown and bridesmaid dresses. Visit BestForBride.com today for the perfect wedding outfits for you and your bridesmaids.