Choosing your perfect wedding dress with expert advice
Are you searching for the one, your dream wedding dress? Over the past couple of weeks Audrey Vance, of Wedding Dress Ink, went to visit some gorgeous Wicklow based bridal shops and designers to find out just what Irish brides are buying and to glean some pearls of wisdom for all those brides-to-be wondering how to choose the perfect wedding dress!
According to Tanya of O’Brien’s Bridal Couture in Rathnew, “You can choose from every dress in shop when you allow 9 months before the wedding.” It also makes sense that you are more likely to enjoy the shopping experience when you are not limited by time constraints. She also suggests trying on a variety of styles and to keep an open mind, you can be surprised by what you’ll pick.
Bridal designer Anne Gregory suggests that when you have narrowed down your choice of dresses to just two or three favourites then you should consider getting a hair trial when choosing the one. “If you have time for the hair trial, it really helps you to visualise the wedding day and pick the right dress.” Anne, who has an intimate boutique in Newtownmountkennedy, also suggests bringing a shoe with the right heel height, pale underwear and no fake tan.
Irish designer and shop owner, Marie McElheron based in Arklow, suggests that the first fitting is a great time to start trying on accessories. Marie says “ Influenced by The Great Gatsby movie, side head pieces and combs are currently more popular than tiaras.” Along with the other shops, Marie stocks some lovely head pieces, jewellery and veils for the brides to try.
So who should you bring with you when bridal shopping? Gay DePaor based in Kilcoole suggests bringing only one person when gown shopping. “ You don’t need too many opinions when picking your dress, one trusted person is enough.” Known for her vintage styling, Gay tells me that brides have become very price conscious and all will have a budget that they tend to stick to. Interestingly Gay seemed to credit the bride’s mother with giving the girl the best advice about dress styles that suited her and 50% of the time she’ll pay for the gown as a wedding gift.
Celebrities certainly can influence brides and the names that cropped up were Meghan Markle, Nadia Forde, Rosanna Davison, Amy Huberman, Pippa O’Connor Ormond and Kate Middleton. With brides leaning towards vintage and boho, lace is certainly trending strongly and with so many lace types available it seems that we’ll see a lot of it in 2014.
Best of luck to all you engaged ladies out there, hope you enjoy the journey and find the perfect wedding dress.
Click here for more interviews with designers on How To Find The Perfect Wedding Dress.
Interview by Audrey Vance
Wedding Dress Ink
www.WeddingDressInk.com
January 18, 2017 @ 4:03 pm
That’s a great piece of advice you gave about how you’re more likely to enjoy the shopping experience when you’re not limited by time constraints. I’ve heard that the average brides allows herself 4 months to choose the perfect wedding dress. My daughter is awfully close to being engaged, so we may need to begin the search for the perfect dress soon!
October 17, 2017 @ 1:46 am
I like the advice about narrowing the bridal gowns down to three and having a hair trial so you can choose the final one. My sister is really stressed about finding the perfect dress for her big day next year. Maybe I’ll suggest we do this at a bridal store.
May 18, 2018 @ 9:45 pm
I appreciate your tip to only bring one person with you when you are shopping for a wedding dress. You don’t want to have too many opinions or people who have a different style than you. My sister is getting married next year and we are going to pick a wedding dress soon, so I will pass along all of your great tips and we will go together with no one else.
May 23, 2018 @ 1:04 am
I agree it’s a good idea to shop early for a wedding dress to avoid any time constraint and have more time to try a variety of styles. My sister recently engaged, and she mentioned that will get married before the end of the year. I’ll be sure to remind her about shopping early so she will no be pressured when choosing a wedding dress. And if it needs alterations, it would be more sensible to find a professional alteration service.