From Wedding Dresses to Wedding Gifts

All women dream of having the perfect wedding. What else makes a perfect wedding but a wedding dress that will make every bride look like a queen even for a day or night, depending on the time of the wedding ceremony?

A wedding dress is a piece of clothing worn by a bride during the wedding ceremony. The color, style, and over all look of the gown depends on the couple’s culture and religion.

In modern times, western culture wedding dresses normally come in white and various shades of white, namely eggshell, ivory, or ecru. The use of white for wedding gowns may have its origin in the 1840s during the marriage of Queen Victoria to Albert of Saxe-Coburg. The queen chose white as the color of her wedding dress and other women followed her lead.

During the Victorian era, women opted to get married wearing a gown in a color of their choice except black because that is related to mourning, and red that is associated with prostitutes. The white dress since became a symbol for purity of the heart and childhood innocence. Later, the color white became synonymous with virginity.

The term bridal gown came from the word al which means “party” combined with bride equals bridal party gown. In the Middle Ages, wedding parties were simply known as Brid-als. A bridal train is the word used for the part of the wedding dress that trails behind the bride. The term came from similar trains worn by kings and queens which are derived from peacocks that were known as royal birds.

Veils are clothing worn exclusively by women to cover some part of her head or face. A Western woman normally wears a veil on her wedding day if she chooses an all white wedding motif. Brides used to wear their hair long, flowing down their back during their wedding to symbolize virginity. Nowadays, the white veil is often used to represent virginity.

So the next time you look at the blushing bride as she walks down the aisle in her wedding dress, you know how this wedding dress evolved into what it looks today.

By Marcus Peterson

Undoubtedly, a wedding is one of the most precious and memorable moments in life. To make this occasion more remarkable, certain customs have been practiced, like the special wedding dress, the wedding cake, etc. The bride’s dress is given special importance and care is taken to make her look like an angel in her beautiful wedding gown. The phrase, “dressed up,” is perfectly suited for a wedding, where both the bride and the groom are in their best attire.

The wedding dress is the dress worn by the bride during the wedding ceremony. “Dress maketh a man.” Befittingly, the wedding dress or the bridal gown is usually gorgeous and graceful to reflect the most precious moment in life–marriage. The color, texture, design, etc. of the wedding gown is naturally the bride’s choice. White is a popular color for American wedding dresses, as white is associated with qualities like purity, peace and chastity. Nevertheless, the gown may also be in shades of white like ivory or eggshell.

The background of the wedding governs the nature of the wedding attire. In other words, the society, the culture, and the customs followed by the parties involved in the wedding are key factors in the making of the wedding dress.

In the earlier days, any color other than black or red was acceptable for the wedding gown. A face veil was also worn. The custom of wearing a white dress at a wedding was imitated from the royal weddings, wherein the queen wore a beautiful white wedding gown with a long train behind. This idea was gained from peacocks, which were honored as royal birds.

For the Chinese, the red dress is the most preferred one for weddings. The Chinese consider red to be a lucky color. The Indians also consider red as a color of good omen, so brides in India wear a red sari, which is bright and colorful too. But this color is avoided in Western countries.

Weddings provides detailed information on Weddings, Wedding Vows, Wedding Dresses, Wedding Cakes and more. Weddings is affiliated with Maui Wedding Planning.

By Thomas Morva

Every bride wants to look stunning on her wedding day, so naturally wants a wedding gown that fits perfectly. There are so many dresses to choose from that it can sometimes be overwhelming. Looking through the bridal magazines can give you some great ideas, but how many of us have the figure of the models in the magazine.

Finding a dress that compliments your unique body shape is important. Knowing where to start you search is very helpful. The cut, style and even the fabric of your gown can have a tremendous impact on how you appear on your wedding day. There are some simple guides that can help you get started in selecting the perfect dress that will accent your assets and disguise any flaws.

For the future bride that has an hourglass figure, an off-the-shoulder or strapless gown is perfect. Accentuate the curves with one-piece dresses. A two-piece gown will tend to chop the figure in two. Avoid heavy beading since this can make the bride look heavier.

For the girl with a figure that is pear shaped, a gown with puffy sleeves or shoulder pads is recommended. Avoid body hugging fabrics, full skirts or any cut that makes the top part of the body look smaller and the lower part of the body larger. The idea is to “even things out.”

For the petite or short bride there are many choices. Off the shoulder dresses or gowns with shoestring straps are the best choice. A petite bride looks beautiful in a Cinderella dress and evokes a bit of romance as well. Straight gowns do nothing for a short or petite woman. If you have your heart set on a straight gown, it will work with a full veil offsetting it.

The best gown for a woman with a square shape would be one that creates curves or the illusion of having curves. Some ways to add the illusion of curves is to select a beaded bodice, fuller skirts, and full sleeves. A bride with a square figure should not opt for sheath type dresses or anything clingy since there will be no way to create any type of illusions.

If the bride is full-figured woman, the best choice would be the A-line style. A gown that is cut in an A-line style will lengthen the entire body without bringing attention to the waistline. Another suitable choice would be a dress that has an empire waist since the empire is located just below the bust, which is often the narrowest point on the body. This will conceal the waist and hips. Full figured women are usually very curvy; scoop necks or deep V-necks will flatter the curves. Don’t be afraid to show some skin; revealing some skin at the neckline or on the arms can often make you appear slimmer.

For the large busted bride look for an off the shoulder gown, it will look stunning. It draws the attention upward to emphasize the shoulders while minimizing the chest. Stay away from full skirts. You don’t want to look large on both the top and the bottom. Stick with a narrow skirt.

No matter what shape your body is you can find a dress that will flatter your figure. Don’t become frustrated and settle for just any gown. This is your special day to shine. If you find a few dresses that have features that you like but you cannot find them all in one dress, consider having your gown custom made. Don’t stop your search until you are absolutely in love with your wedding dress.

Denise Sanger is the owner of My-Wedding-Jewelry which has a diverse catalog of Wedding Jewelry and WeddingDayAccessories which features extensive Wedding Planning information for the all important wedding day. We are located in Sunny North Florida.

By Denise Sanger

One way to get the designer dress you have always dreamed of is to make it yourself or have someone you know make it for you. Even if you hire out the sewing job, it will be cheaper than actually buying that designer gown that you saw some movie star wear on a magazine cover.

You would choose a wedding dress pattern in the same way you would choose a wedding dress from a boutique. Choose a style that you love and that is good for your body type. One way you can do this if you are not sure if it will suit your body type is to go to a boutique, find a similar style, and try it on.

The best way to find the best patterns is to visit several pattern maker’s Internet websites or call and ask for a catalog of wedding dress patterns. When you get the catalogs you can start looking for the dream gown that you want. You can also look at the bridal salons to get an idea of what you want and then look for the pattern. You will be using a bridal salon to order the bridesmaids dresses anyway so it causes no harm.

Since you have decided to sew your own dress or have one made for you, you may be wondering how much it will cost to have it made. There are a few considerations that will help to determine that such as the type of fabric you will be using to make your dress. Fabrics can be pricey, and wedding gowns have many different types of fabrics in them as a rule. For example most dresses are made of satin and lace with tulle underneath.

Do your research and watch for fabric sales at fabric stores and online. Fabric can run from about $4.00 per yard and up. You can even find wedding gowns that are being sold very inexpensively that you might be able to use several things off of on your own gown.

The second consideration is whether you will be making the gown or hiring the sewing job out to someone else. If you will be doing the sewing yourself, the cost will be just materials. If you hire a seamstress, you will have to look around for one that has rates that you can afford. It will run you two to five hundred dollars depending on the complexity of the design, and the detail that will need to go into it.

There will be many fittings, and design aspects of the dress that you will have to decide on. Do you want a long train and if so you will need a bustle. You also need to make a veil which is not hard to do, and you can match it perfectly to your gown by using some accents on it that are used on your gown. You can also purchase a veil.

Be sure to go over every small detail of your dress to make sure that is exactly the way you want it. It will look like that designer gown you saw on the cover of that magazine and no doubt you will look just as beautiful in it.

In her free wedding planning newsletter, Bev Post draws on her own experiences and shows brides-to-be how to save up to 80% on your wedding dress, your veil, your wedding cake - even the alcohol at the reception! Go to FreeWeddingPlanningCourse.com to sign up totally free and you’ll soon find out the common tricks bridal shops use to squeeze every last dollar out of you, how to avoid ‘Bridezilla-itis’, and much, much more!

By Beverley Post