First time occurrences in life are huge. Like the first time you recognised your mother (although you probably don’t remember it), your first day at school, that first somewhat clumsy kiss, the first time you stood up for yourself, your first salary – you get the idea. Big moments. Wonderful moments. Unforgettable stuff (refer back to that first kiss again). So the first time you ever put on your wedding dress is huge (yes, you’ll put it on again after your wedding day girl). Now it’s quite important that the moment you pull your dress over your head, or step into it, that it fits properly and that it makes you look astonishingly good.
Okay look I admit, I’m no wedding frock designer. But since I have spent an undue amount of time in the company of brides and their wedding dresses, I do feel a little qualified to voice my opinion on the subject. So for what it’s worth, here’s what I reckon you should keep in mind when shopping for that all important dress.
‘OOPS!’ Look at the dress you’d like to wear on your wedding day. Close your eyes. Now place yourself 25 years into the future (your hair will be shorter & greyer and yes, your bum will definitely look bigger in your dress – that I guarantee you). Now open your eyes and look at the wedding dress you’d like again. If you go: ‘oops, what am I thinking?’ it’s the wrong dress, so move on.
FAD IS BAD! Bellbottoms were the in thing in the ‘70’s. To the best of my knowledge they’ve never seen the light of day again. So if you see a somewhat engaging off-peach, bellbottom style frock, leave it alone. See ‘OOPS’ above.
STAY SAFE. Your wedding day is NOT the time to be experimenting with what suits you and what doesn’t. If a strapless dress doesn’t suit you at your fitting, it’s certainly not going to suit you on your wedding day. Ditto a low cut dress (front and/or back). So stay on the safe side of the river – wear what you know you will look good in. Conversely, if you do have a marvellous pair of boobs, and you can carry showing them off with style, then be my guest, because it does look amazing when done with pure, sizzling, unadulterated class. Yes, it’s important that you flatter your figure, so take along a girlfriend who is going to be completely honest with you. If your ‘lovehandles’ are protruding, you need to know!
THROW A PARTY. When photographing you, the following point is extremely important to me! Check that you can breath, walk, turn, sit, bendover, jump up and down and generally move pretty fluidly without breaking into a sweat or splitting the seams of your dress! I kid you not, some girls battle to walk 10 metres without having to stop and lift or readjust their dresses. Be practical. You’re also going to need to be a bit of a Lady Gaga on the dancefloor – so movement is critical.
PLAY THE FIELD. Try on, try on, try on. Spend the whole day trying on if you need to. Wear it, look at it and set your sites high. Choosing a wedding dress isn’t like walking into a retail store and picking something off the rails. If you don’t feel fantastically beautiful on your wedding day it’s going to be a problem. So be fussy – every superstar is. And listen to the advice of your dress designer. If on the other hand you’re hiring your dress and you happen to start irritating the sales assistant because of your ‘um-ing’ and ‘ah-ing,’ too bad – you’re paying a lot of money so you have every right to be 100% satisfied – end of story.
GIVE YOURSELF TIME AND SPACE. The moment you get engaged, hit the Internet, buy or lend magazines and start looking for your dress. 6 months, 9 if possible is what you may very well need. Book appointments with dress designers, visit reputable bridal gown stores. Let everything you’ve seen build up in your mind. Then go for a walk or enjoy a glass of champers – opening up your mind will unlock your creative juices and the dress you want will slowly begin to form in your mind.
SET A BUDGET. I don’t really need to tell you that wedding costs rise up quicker than the Zimbabwean inflation rate. Weddings are not a cheap exercise, so set a budget for your dress and then be disciplined. And box clever – keep an eye out for specials and sales so that you milk every last cent out of that budget for the finest dress your money can buy.
PLACE YOUR DEPOSIT, GET YOUR GUARANTEES. When all is said and done, make your deposit and ask for a complete breakdown of every last dress detail – what you will get and what’s excluded (if anything). And make sure your contract states that the deal is cancelled if your dress isn’t ready by a certain date. Happy shopping!
