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 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 starting out on their journey.

Danielle Martin modelling for Wedding Dress Ink in Marie McElheron’s bridal Boutique in Arklow, Co. Wicklow

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.

Danielle Martin, modelling a dress from the Marie McElheron bridal boutique in Arklow for the Wedding Dress Ink photo shoot

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 Amy Huberman, Vogue Williams, Pippa O’Connor, Kate Moss 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.

Article resource: http://weddingdressink.com/choosing-your-perfect-wedding-dress-with-expert-advice/