Tips on Making Sure Your Wedding Dress Looks Great on You

You spot the most beautiful dress in the bridal magazine, find it and try it on in the store. Since most bridal samples are one size, you might have to guess what it looks like on you, either with the addition or removal of fabric. Try to find out if they remove fabric, will the dress lose the detailing I want? If they have to make an alteration that shortens the dress, what happens to the hemline? What about the treatment of the sleeves? Find out specifically if you will lose your favorite detailing in the alteration process. Bear in mind, the dress in the brides magazine was likely taken on a very tall model, make sure the amount of detailing is not excessive for your height and size.

It is imperative that your dress fits well through the bodice, especially if it is strapless. It is fairly awkward for a bride to have to hoist her dress up all day, so remember that the typical wedding dress is lots of heavy fabric: the bodice needs to fit well enough to stay put. You likely will not have your wedding dress on all that long to decide, so make a point to remind yourself to gauge if the dress is very heavy, and if you feel you will be comfortable all day long, walking, dancing, eating, standing for photos, and similar wedding activities in a dress with that much weight. The combination of a dress not fitting well in the bodice and lots of heavy fabric is a dress that will just pull you down visually and will not flatter your figure.

Showing some Skin

It is likely you will be displaying more bare skin on your back and shoulders than normal in your wedding dress. So if you have a sheer sleeve, a backless dress, a strapless or sleeveless dress, you will want to work on your posture and exercise the upper arms to reduce "chicken flab" arms and give you a taller, leaner look. Focus on shoulder rolls, arm curls with a small weight, and stretching for lithe arms and shoulders on your wedding day. Consider these even if you have a sheer sleeve on your dress - your arms will be on display so they should look their best.

Bare in mind that when you walk down the aisle, your bouquet will likely hide much of the detail of the front of your dress, so consider how your exposed shoulders and chest look above the flowers, your neck and face, hair and veil will be what most of the photos of you will be showing. Also add into your regimen sunscreen for your chest and neck to minimize sun damage and wrinkles in these delicate areas, and find a good moisturizer. Some people are prone to breakouts on the shoulders (especially if you have long hair) so a visit to a dermatologist is in order to clear up any skin breakouts in advance. In your dress, measure in inches from your shoulder how far down you will be exposed for any facials, tanning or skin treatments you get so that your treatments appear even (i.e. no strap marks, etc) for all the skin that shows.

If the detailing on the front of your dress is really the best feature, consider how big you want your bridal bouquet to be since it will block much of your dress depending on how you hold it. You will want to keep a good proportion to your generally height, hair length, veil, etc for no one feature to seem excessive. A petite woman with a huge bouquet visually cuts her in half. When trying on your dress in the store, hold your arms like you would when walking down the aisle, holding a bouquet and as if you are holding your arm as if being escorted. Note how this makes the dress fall - does the sleeve appear funny, does it make the shoulder line lay funny and stick up? Is the length of the hem too short when you move? If possible, attempt to emulate basic motions such as bending slightly forward to hug someone, moving to walk, etc., and see if the dress fits well for these various photo opportunities. Most of us while trying on a dress stand at what is best advantage and in a still pose, when actually, you will be holding your arms in one position or another, moving, dancing, hugging, walking, and leaning forward - which may make the dress look different and may highlight the need for selecting your undergarments differently.

Wedding Day Lingerie choices

Consider your undergarments carefully. It is easy to gravitate to flimsy, pretty skimpy lingerie for your wedding day, but that does nothing for support or making your dress fit better. Consider a brand like Spanx. They make great smoothing undergarments that get rid of those bulges and bumps that even thin people have when they do not stand up straight. In a nutshell, these sort of bras and camisoles give your the look you THINK you look like when you stand up by removing the funny pudge your stomach gets when you dance or slouch or bend or generally move around. It is a worthwhile investment to make your dress fit smoothly. It easily shaves of the appearance of ten to fifteen extra pounds. It is not sexy like pretty bridal lingerie, but think about what people will see - how your dress fits, not what bra you are wearing underneath. Spanx comes in a camisole, a bra, a strapless tube top type top, and a girdle like garment that goes from bra, over the stomach and hips and goes down to below the knee. This one will slim the most if needed, and is useful on as an everyday slimming undergarment under pants and dresses.

Double-sided tape is used by celebrities to keep their gowns in place (think J Lo's infamous green dress that cut down past her belly button.) this kind of tape is available at drugstore.com and will adhere to your dress and to you to keep it put. If the dress is very heavy, it will stick to your skin, but pull forward. Consider having boning added by a seamstress if you are concerned about your dress moving too much.

The most important thing about selecting a dress is that it has to feel like a reflection of yourself. Any of the details above should not make you try a style that is not "you", but should just help you better reflect your own style.