Understanding the styles…
First if going for a church wedding, check with the church to see if their are any restrictions or requirements. They may not allow bare shoulders, sleeveless or backless gowns
Formal or Semi-Formal stay the same for day or night.
- Formal: Long gown, train, long veil. Gloves are optional.
- Semi-formal: Long gown, short or no train, short veil. Gloves optional.
Informal allows so much more freedom:
- Day: short, or tea-length, cocktail dress or suit.
- Night: long dinner dress, simple gown, short cocktail dress or evening suit.
Time of the year, weather, etc…
- Fall/Winter try: satin, heavy damasks, heavy taffetas, moiré, heavy lace, velvet, heavy beadwork
- Spring/Summer try: chiffon, tulle skirts, lightweight satins, dotted Swiss, lace
Understanding the Styles:
 |  |  | ||
| A-Line or Princess | Empire | Ball gown | ||
| Great on almost every figure. | Helps add height to petites. May also be combined with A-Line skirt. | Great on busty brides. Often combined with a Basque waist. | ||
 |  | |||
| Sheath | Mermaid or Trumpet | |||
| Often have a detachable train. | Similar to a sheath. Great for showing off your curves! |
Height
| Petite (under 5’4″) | Tall (over 5’9″) | Average Height & Weight (5’5″ to 5’8″) | ||
| Think long vertical lines. Go for a high neckline, empire waist (if you’re slim, try a full-length sheath) with short or no sleeves. No train. Add elbow length gloves and a veil no longer than floor length Try a pouf veil for more height. The long lines will add inches of visual height. | Unlike the petite bride, you’ll want to break up your natural vertical. Go horizontal. Look for a drop waist. Maybe a wide belt, ruffles or trim that wraps around your gown. Lower necklines and off-the-shoulder. Fuller sleeves also can help. Try a hat or fantastic veil, but don’t go for a pouf veil. | Most dress designers style the majority of their lines for you. Look to your Grooms height. You may want to follow the guidelines for Tall or Petite Brides to help balance your height to his. |
Figure Factor
| Slim | Heavy | Busty | Hippy | |||
| You have two options, play it up or visually fill-out. If you want to play it up follow the guidelines for petite or heavy brides. You can visually fill-out by going with a heavier fabric (velvet, damask,…), full skirt, slim waist and sleeves. You may consider a blouson bodice as well. | Generally, add height. Read the guidelines for the Petite Bride. Go for a high waist or A-Line. Avoid flouncy ruffles, clingy fabrics and big sleeves. | You probably have already learned that you don’t look your best in empire, A-Lines or cinched waists. They only add to your bust. Try a V- or high neck. You may even find an attractive keyhole neckline. You may also consider limiting the amount of beadwork on the bodice as it would draw attention to your bust. | The most dramatic way to solve this figure flaw is to go Elizabethan. Try a broad collar. Two other ways to solve this are balance or camouflage. To balance, try a hat or big, pouffy sleeves. To camouflage, go with a flared skirt, A-Line or a skirt which obviously requires a lot of petticoat. |
Little Shop of (Dress) Horrors:
Here is a little more insight into the horror that becomes the search of the dream wedding gown, which also is the highlight of most women’s whole wedding. The people at the bridal shops seems to often to be beneath the life forms who are car salespeople. They are with out a heart or care, and though this is very common, thankfully it is not the rule. The main thing to keep in mind is you do not have to buy from there! If you experience living heck upon entering a bridal Shoppe, then use it to your benefit. This goes with anything you buy cars, things for your home, bridal/wedding gear, etc.! Keep this in mind, if they are rude to you, use it, not at them, but against them. Be sweet as pie, make them work for what you just may not give them. Try on to your hearts content, make notes of what you like, sleeve, neckline, fabrics, lace, etc. Do not let them intimidate you! You are the consumer, they should be considerate to your wishes, not the other way around! Sure you should be kind and considerate, but what goes around comes around, so do show appreciation to those who are kind to you!
Now back to the rude sales person. If you can find out the make of the gown, and style number, do so, this is where it is key to be the better person, by being a kind person they usually will be pretty willing to offer this information without a battle. Now you can start the bids, yeah really, see who will give you the best price. You can do this by email, if the shop has an email address, or by phone, or perhaps you might have to go door to door, but this way you will get the best price. Take into consideration places that include alterations, did the dress fit well or will it actually need alterations, if you are of the few that it actually fits we are in awe by your presence! Now that you have the best deal take that deal to the shop you like the best, and see if they will give (the best price) to you! If all places were a nightmare, then hit the online zone! You know the make, model and size, you can now do the bid war online, and once again the service matters. See how each place responds to you, how quickly, were they personable, were they like a robot or were they acting like you were bothering them? Make a note of each place, the response and the price. See if the place that impressed you the most had the best price, if not ask if they will honor a competitors price. The thing is it really never hurts to ask. This follows with the maids wear, flower girls, tuxes and invitations. Another thing that is amazing is how each dealer of invites prices exactly the same thing completely different, check it out, it will blow you away. Again service counts too, so look at all the sides before making a decision, but also keep in mind to not take anything a rude salesperson says to heart, just use it to annoy them, I have done it and it sure can you feel much better.
You are Not a Size 4!
Hopefully things have changed over the years, but here is my recollection of bridal and formalwear… I call the sizing “make-believe”. I say make-believe since really that is what they are. I worked in a bridal shop for awhile when I was in my early twenties. The shop I worked in did carry allot, compared to any other bridal shops I had ever seen (we had sizes up to a 44, on the rack!), of “plus-size” gowns. The thing I am stressing when I speak of the sizes is anyone over a “normal” size 10, is a plus-size! Yep, it is true since all bridal & maid fashions for some sadistic reason is undersized by at least 3, 4 or more sizes! So you happily come into a bridal shop thinking of going to the size 10’s on the rack, and find you can not even get your arm into the waist of the gown, now you are pushed up to paying around $25 more for the same gown, because of the sadistic bridal industry!
I read some interesting articles about the lack of plus sizes out there. The one thing is I feel sorry for the person who said she does not need to worry about this issue because she is a size 12, she is going to walk into a rude awakening! Another woman said she could not find any tall sizes, she was a size 8. The tall sizes was something very common even over ten years ago when I worked in the industry, unfortunately it was an up-charge! Although all gowns are cut to a “model standard” which is for a woman 5’8″ and typically a size 8 or 6. So the majority of us find ourselves having to cut off length, instead of needing to add or having a perfect length gown! The benefit to this, was what I advised people who the gown was a little small for, take the extra material and add insets to the sides of the gown, instead of paying the extra for the larger size. This worked 95% of the time! This did turn out beautifully too. This was perfect solution when there was those extra several inches of fabric at the bottom of the gown that would have to be cut off anyhow, and the gown was only an inch or two too small. Just a thought for all those normal women out there.
Plus size dresses have definitely come along way. When I worked in bridal shops, plus size dresses, were nothing more than a bread-spread with sequins and perhaps lace. Very unflattering. Gown makers also seemed to think all plus size brides were royalty, since all the neck lines were Queen Anne or heart shaped, you might luck out and find a v-neck. Again thankfully it looks like the dress makers have ceased doing that, but now everything is strapless, which is extremely unflattering on a plus size woman.
The saddest thing I would witness was a bride coming in, and the gowns she wanted to try, we did not have a sample to fit her to give her an appropriate idea, she would have a friend model it for her. That was the saddest!
I wish all the brides out there luck, love and happiness. Just know if you are considered a “plus-size” you are in good company!