Bride's Attire

The Wedding Gown

There are many things to consider when determining what type of wedding gown will be appropriate for your wedding.  For example, the season will affect the types of fabric and colors used.  In addition, you may have religious guidelines to follow.  Also, the formality of your wedding can determine the length of your gown, train, and veil

Choose the dress that you like and feel comfortable in.

There are many other items that the bride must consider.  You must pick an appropriate headpiece and veil that matches your dress.  You must choose tasteful jewelry.  And you must find shoes that match and are comfortable.

Headpiece and Veil

Here are some tips to help you find the right veil for you:

1.  Your headpiece should match or compliment your gown.  Your headpiece should match your dress in color as well as style and decoration.  Your headpiece doesn't need to match exactly - it should blend.  Your veil length should coordinate with your gown as well.

2.  Your headpiece should flatter your face.  There are no set rules for what looks good on different face shapes.  Many bridal consultants recommend that if you have a round or full face, you should choose a tiara, or tall headpiece to add height.  Or, if your face is long and narrow, wear a wide poufy veil to add width.  You should get what you think looks good and don't buy some huge veil just to add width!

3.  You should consider your hairstyle when choosing your headpiece.

4.  You should make sure the headpiece fits properly.  If it is too tight, you might wind up with a headache on your wedding day.  If it is too loose, you may become worried that it may fall off during the ceremony - thus ruining your perfect day!  Try the headpiece on, wear it for a while - turn your head, bend over, walk around, dance, jump and down!  Make sure you can move easily and it doesn't feel like it will fall off.

5.  Choose a headpiece that has a removable veil.  Many brides don't want to take the headpiece off because it may mess up their hair.  If the veil is attached by snaps or velcro, you can remove the veil and continue to wear the headpiece.

Shoes, Jewelry, Gloves, Stockings

Bridal Shoes

There are many stores and designers that specialize in bridal shoes.  Keep in mind, when looking for shoes, that most bridal stores also sell shoes.  When shopping for bridal shoes, choose comfort over style.  Remember that they will probably be new shoes.  New shoes tend to be uncomfortable and cause blisters.  To avoid this - buy comfortable shoes.  They many not look as fancy as others, but the tradeoff for comfort is priceless.  As for shoe styles, a silk or satin pump that can be dyed to match your dress is probably the best bet for comfort and class.  As with everything else related to weddings, special bridal shoes can be expensive.  If you don't have that kind of money to spend, there are several ways to avoid this expense.

Wear some white shoes that you already own if they match your dress.  Borrow shoes from a friend who was a recent bride.  Check out some discount stores such as K-Mart, Wal-mart, Target, and Payless.  These stores will most likely be carrying some white shoes (and possibly even dyeables), especially in the summer.  Shop the department stores such as Mervyn's.  They often carry perfectly acceptable shoes at affordable prices.

Catch the bridal shoe stores during a sale.

Jewelry

As for jewelry, you should probably wear some pearl or diamond earrings, especially if you are wearing your hair up and your ears will be showing.  You might also want to wear a strand of pears or a single pendant depending on the neckline of your dress.  But, don't wear any type of bracelet or clunky watch - how distracting!!  Don't spend a lot of money on jewelry for this occasion.  You can borrow any and all of the jewelry that you will need!

Gloves

Gloves are optional depending on the degree of formality and the style of your wedding gown.  Basically you have two choices with gloves: long or short.  Long gloves should be worn in a formal wedding when the sleeves on your dress are short.  Short gloves should be worn with a less formal gown or a three-quarter length sleeve.  Make sure the glove is open for the ring finger.

Stockings

Your stockings should be a sheer pearl, ivory, white, beige or champagne, depending on the color of your shoes and dress.

Groom's Attire

Although it may not take as long to choose the groom's and the groomsmen's attire, it is just as important as the bride and bridesmaids' dresses.  Keep in mind that a lot of guys don't like weddings and they don't like to get dressed up.  Regardless, they need to be dressed in the same formality as the ladies and they need to be as comfortable as possible.

Usually tuxes are black, but a summer wedding may call for a white dinner jacket.  Recent trends have been to accessorize tuxedos with colors.  This can be tricky - make sure that the colors don't clash with the overall color scheme of the wedding. 

Other trends include single-breasted jackets with three or four button coats as well as tall vests with seven buttons or more.  In general, everyone looks good in the single-breasted jacket with one or two buttons.  Choose a two-button jacket if the men are taller and a one button jacket for shorter men.  Got a mix of sizes?  Go for the one-button jacket.

In addition, just about everyone looks good in the traditional morning coat, or the cutaway, and the peaked lapel.  Both the cutaway and the peaked lapel create a look of height on short men. 

As for vests, low vest generally look good on everyone.

For a short and stout groom, a double-breasted jacket can tastefully hide his belly!  For a very tall and slender man, choose a single breasted jacket with three or four buttons.  In addition, high vests look best on tall slender men.

Bridesmaids' Attire

Consider your bridesmaids when choosing their attire.  Think of all of their body types.  Consider the style of the dress.  Will it make someone look too busty?  Is it too form fitting for those women concerned about their weight?  Is it comfortable?

When choosing the color, consider the time of year.  Don't choose a color that will make anyone look washed out.  Black is always a good color to choose for a formal wedding.  Black can be worn in any season.  Black is generally slimming.  If the dress is fairly simple, it possibly be worn again to another formal wedding or party.

Also, please consider the price of the dress.  Unless all of your bridesmaids are rich, don't choose a dress that cost $500.  While you may be able to afford it, others may not.

Flower Girl Attire

The flower girl's dress may match the bridesmaids' in color and may be short or floor length.  Or you could have her dress match the bride's dress.  Some wedding dresses have matching flower girl dresses.  If you don't like wither of these options, she could wear a short lacy party dress.

She usually wears white or pastel ballet slippers.  For an added touch you could add a flowered wreath woven with colored ribbons to her hair.  No matter what, she will look darling!

Ring Bearer Attire

The ring bearer is usually a little boy.  He should be dressed the same as or similar to the groom and his attendants.  If he is not dressing identical to the others, at least dress him in the same color scheme.  Depending on the formality, and the size of the boy, he can wear a tuxedo, light or dark suit, or possibly even knickers with knee socks for a less formal garden wedding.

Mothers' Attire

The dresses of the bride and groom's mothers should be in harmony and within the overall look of the wedding in regard to style and color.  The dresses should compliment each other for the pictures.

The mothers' dresses should be somewhat conservative, and not longer or more formal than the bride's dress.  Usually the mothers wear a neutral color or a lighter shade of the bridesmaids' dresses.