Find The Perfect Wedding Dress

Before starting InvisiBra, I worked with my mother in creating dresses that brides would wear to walk down the aisle, so I know a thing or two about the process of finding the perfect wedding dress and how to best approach it. As a bride, your dress may be the most important decision you have to make. You want to be the most beautiful version of yourself on your big day. Not just to impress guests, but more importantly, the groom himself. Just think how incredible it would be if you can move him to tears with how stunning you look. Check out these cute photos of grooms seeing their brides for the first time.

But picking a dress isn’t easy. Gone are the days when the natural choice was a strapless princess ball gown. There are so many designs, styles, shapes and colours to choose from these days. You may think it’s like searching for a needle in a hay stack, so we’ve come up with a guide to help you narrow it down to a manageable selection. Here’s our Dos and Don’ts:

Do start looking early but not before setting a date and venue

When you first get engaged, you’re excited and want to find your dress asap. But our advice would be to get a venue and date first. Why? Because the perfect wedding dress will depend on the season and the location of the wedding. If it’s a beach wedding, you would want something light and flowy to combat the heat. If it’s a winter castle wedding, you might want sleeves and a long train. Do start your dress research by looking at images online on wedding blogs and wedding magazines.  Then put together  a Pinterest board with dress ideas. If you want some inspiration, check out our Pinterest board here. Wedding dresses can take 6-9 months to make, so do bear that in mind when planning.

Don’t buy the first dress you try

Most first time brides have no idea what they like or don’t like. Wedding dress shopping can be fun, so don’t deny yourself the pleasure by picking the first dress you try on. Get your bridesmaids and your mom together and make a day out of it. A good place to start is to go to a multi brand store so you can try on lots of different designers. If you’ve got the budget, Brown’s Bridal in London is amazing. On your first visit, you should pick a few different shapes to see what works. Don’t be shy, if you’re drawn to that OTT Cinderella ball gown, try it on! You won’t know what works and what doesn’t until you’ve looked at yourself in the mirror. Try not to be dismissive and approach wedding dress shopping with an open mind. Chances are you won’t find the dress straight away, but you’ll come away with an idea of what you like.

Do focus on shapes that are flattering to your body shape

The biggest mistake brides make is picking a dress that does nothing for their body shape. Sadly, we can’t all be Gisele and Heidi who look good in everything. So pick a dress that celebrates your strengths and hides a few flaws. The strapless ballgown is a case in point. It’s popular with brides who want that fairytale wedding. But you should avoid it if you’re petite (the dress will drown you) or if you don’t like your arms. If you’re pear shaped, the mermaid is a no-no but the empire silhouette will work wonders. If you’re athletic, then a backless wedding dress would be perfect to showcase your toned body. After trying on a range of shapes, you’ll know what looks best on you.

The perfect wedding dress looks good on you now.

The most common goal amongst brides is weight loss. Everyone wants to tone up and loose a few pounds to look their best. But it’s one thing to aim to lose a dress size in the next 6 months and quite another to aim to lose 3 dress sizes or more. If you’re planning for dramatic weight loss, give yourself time to do it and a comprehensive plan. Losing weight through fad diets is harmful to your health and can affect your fertility. Let the boutique know that you are planning to lose weight when you’re picking the dress. They may suggest particular styles that are more flexible and forgiving with changing shapes. Dreses with lace backs may not need alteration, unless you’ve lost more than 2 dress sizes. You usually get 2-3 fittings with made to measure dresses, so you can tailor the dress to you at each fitting.

The perfect wedding dress is within your budget.

You need to look amazing, but you can look just as amazing in £1000 dress as you would in a £5000 dress. You just need to pick a dress that works for you (see above, picking a dress for your shape). Spending a disproportionate amount of your budget on the dress is silly. The dress is for one day and you’ll never wear the dress again. Also, it means you might need to compromise the quality of other elements of the wedding. It’s better to have a good set of wedding photos from a skilled photographer, than an expensive dress. Besides, there are so many choices out there these days, you don’t have to wear a Vera Wang. If you won’t compromise on getting a designer frock, keep your eyes and ears open for sample sales. Designers change season at least twice a year, so you’ll be able to pick up a dress at 70% off. Then just take it to the dry cleaners and have it altered by a seamstress. You can also visit wedding shows where you can get discounts for ordering the dress there.