Wedding Plan Secrets » Wedding Dresses

How To Care For Your Wedding Dress After The Big Day

Jane Martin — Tue, 25 May 2010 13:51:35 +0000

After your wedding, you need to tidy up your home and start sending out thank you notes, but don’t forget to take care of your wedding dress. A wedding dress can serve as an amazing memento of an important day in your life and if you want to make sure that it stays in good shape, there are several things that you should keep in mind. Preserving your wedding dress can be a fairly straightforward process, and making sure that you are careful can ensure that you will enjoy your wedding dress for years.

First, make sure that you have the dress professionally cleaned. Find a dry cleaning service that specializes in bridal clothing. They will ensure that your wedding dress, which might be delicate or have fragile accoutrements or accents, will get the careful handling that they need. Verify that the dry cleaner that you use dry-cleans the garments by hand and that they do all their work onsite. Rough transport can be as rough on your dress as rough cleaning. Before you put a wedding dress into storage, let it hang for a few days to dissipate any cleaning chemicals.

Inspect your dress for any repairs that need to be made. If the dress has become torn or damaged after the wedding, make sure that it gets fixed by a clothing repair service that has experience with bridal dresses. These dresses are frequently very delicate and care should be taken when they are being mended. After the dress has been cleaned and mended, it is ready to be hung up and stored.

Storing your wedding dress appropriately is an important part of making sure that it stays in good condition. Wrap the wedding dress in undyed muslin fabric or in acid free tissue paper. Then it should be loosely folded and placed in a museum-quality, acid free box. These boxes can be ordered online or bought at wedding dress stores. Keep the box itself in a location that is cool and dry, and where the temperature and the humidity do not fluctuate too much. Attics and basements are poor choices for this, as the wedding dress can pick up mildew or heat damage in either location.

It is far better to store the wedding dress in a box instead of on a hanger. Over time, the wedding dress on the hanger will place more and more pressure on the shoulder seams, which will create unattractive sagging throughout the dress and which can deform it. A box or even a chest designed to hold wedding dresses is a far better choice.

Whether you want your children to wear your wedding dress or you are more interested in saving it as a memento for yourself, take some time and consider how you are going to be able to keep it looking great. Preserving a wedding dress for the future is something that can be taken care of very easily, so make sure that you pay attention to all of the little details.

Finding The Perfect Vintage Wedding Dress To Suit Your Day

Jane Martin — Tue, 11 May 2010 14:02:55 +0000

The purpose of this article is to give some essential tips for your vintage wedding day and how to find the perfect vintage wedding dress. Whatever your reasons are for going vintage, you won’t be alone this year as many others are looking to give their wedding day a unique feel. Vintage trends are coming back with a vengeance – but thankfully, this time round they are slipping through the hands of top designers to become more accessible and affordable.

Vintage doesn’t just belong in the past – a trend that is held dear to our hearts should be used with gusto for our big wedding day! Vintage wedding dresses are easier to find than you might have thought possible – in second hand stores or charity shops, they are not hiding – but rather in the places you would expect from a vintage dress!

If you are planning a vintage wedding day, then a good start is by choosing the perfect vintage wedding dress – to set the trend and the mood! Dresses from yesteryear are not only glamorous and inspiring, but they can also come at a much more favorable price than the more modern styles of today. If you are really lucky, you might have a relative who has held on to their dress since the swinging sixties or perhaps your family have a vintage wedding dress that has been passed down from over the decades – as far back as the twenties, forties or fifties! If you don’t have any classic wedding dresses in the family, then you can look for second hand ones on the internet or in specialist clothing stores.

Besides, where there is demand there is supply – and this is so true of vintage wedding dresses. You might not be overly enthusiastic on a complete vintage wedding. You might be a lady who likes the idea of mixing modern with classic. Your wedding gown might be the only vintage element of your wedding – but one thing is for sure – you will look the princess on your big day!

Finding a vintage wedding dress can be so much more fun than browsing the stores or internet for modern dresses. The term vintage can include fashions from an armful of decades, each with their distinctive styles. Once you have your dress, you will probably feel so happy in your recreation of the past, that you will want to extend vintage to your accessories too – shoes, jewellery and headdresses.

Lets take a closer look at the typical styles of wedding dresses from the past:

•    1920´s – The wedding dresses of the 20’s were clean-cut and elegant. Daintybeading or chic lace were common décor on the wedding dresses of those days, reminiscent of the Art Deco movement. Top the look by adding a feather or two in the hair or a jewelled headdress. For bittersweet romance, wear the hair with full bodied curls.

•    1930’s – Dresses made from silk or satin are a good choice for the 30’s vintage dress. This was the time when Hollywood glamour was a major influence on everything! Look for a gathered bust and fitted body, flaring out from the knee down.

•    1950’s – Moving onto the fifties vintage wedding dress and a high waist and fuller skirt. This was the age of the true princess gown and was delicate yet still with a hint of glamour. Alternatively, you could still carry something from the Hollywood glamour of the thirties and fine tune it to match the style of Marilyn Monroe.

•    1960’s – The 1960’s were moving towards free love and the hippie lifestyle, wedding dresses were more experimental and more flirtatious – even mini skirts were commonplace! Lace was also common of the 60’s dress.

If the costs of a vintage wedding dress are still too high, you might want to consider renting one. If cost is not the issue and you have a bad feeling for wearing someone else’s wedding dress from times gone by, then take things one step further and have your very own vintage wedding dress designed and made from scratch!

How To Preserve Special Memories Of Your Wedding Day

Jane Martin — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 20:18:08 +0000

You have just spent a huge amount of time and money planning every detail of your wedding celebration. You will want to recall every memory of this occasion. Knowing how to preserve special memories of your wedding day will keep this day fresh forever, allowing you to revisit it with family and friends.

If you have chosen a popular time to have the wedding like Valentine’s Day or in June, you will need to hire a photographer months in advance. Start interviewing early, because this person will follow you around all day, recording your preparations, wedding, and reception, and it won’t be a good experience for you if you don’t like and trust him.

Inform him of everything you want done; who is in what group shot, whether you want a video of the ceremony, if you want candid shots throughout, and what kind of packages you expect to purchase. Ask questions! You need to know detailed costs of what is included.

You might want a DVD, a slide presentation, a collage of candid shots, your formal sitting album and a separate album of the unposed shots. How many hours is he willing to spend? Will he be working alone or have more than one camera covering the event? Can he do a photo montage that follows the history of your relationship? Learn the price of every single extra.

To cut costs you might want to follow the trendy method of placing disposable cameras on every table and collect your candid shots compliments of the guests! If you hate the idea of those cameras marring the beauty of your table setting, set your bridesmaids to making little paper covers to slip them into!

If you are saving the wedding gown, it should be dry cleaned professionally as soon as possible after the wedding, so that any stains can be safely removed. Vacuum sealing the dress in plastic has been found to harm delicate fabrics. It is better to fold it loosely, wrap it in acid free tissue paper, and then pack it away in an archival box. The veil can be stored in the same box, but wrap it separately.

Several methods can be used on the bridal bouquet, depending on how long you wish to preserve it, how you want to store it, and how much effort and money you want to invest in the process. Easiest for you is to have a service coat the flower arrangement in its original form and then store it in an air-tight shadowbox. This must be done within a day of the wedding before it wilts.

You can dry the bouquet by hanging it upside down in a dark place. This will not last forever. Sometimes it is enough to simply press a few flowers from your bouquet between wax paper and a couple of large books. Then they can be arranged in a scrapbook…another good thing to keep to preserve special memories of your wedding day. Keep all those important reminders of your day in a scrap book – order of service, the invitation, perhaps a copy of the speeches or a piece of material from the bridesmaids dress.

By taking a little time to preserve these moments, you’ll ensure that memories of your special day will last a lifetime.

Why Is A Wedding Dress White?

Jane Martin — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 16:23:15 +0000

We tend to assume that what we are used to is how it has always been, unless we encounter proof to the contrary. Wedding gowns have always been white, except for the time before that was true.

In 1840, Queen Victoria was married in a white gown. Prior to this, the normal policy was to wear a good, new dress, which could be used for formal occasions afterwards. While not street clothes, they were certainly intended for occasional wear. Nobility would wear very expensive clothes, often with gold thread, and the length of the train symbolized the degree of influence on the Royals. Yet the popularity of Queen Victoria was such that by the end of the decade, marriage handbooks said, “from the earliest ages, that white is the most fitting hue.” Even two or three generations after in the US, it was normal to purchase a good dress for use as a wedding dress, rather than a special gown that is never used again.

Wedding gowns grew more and more elaborate in Britain until the arrival of the First World War. Styles became simpler, and the changing role of women led to the abandonment of the corset and shorter skirts. In the US, as late as the Great Depression it was normal to marry in a white gown, and then dye it blue or some other color for normal wear. Typically, the collar and cuffs would be left white to show the original use of the dress. During World War Two it was normal for brides to give up the fancy wedding, not least because so many marriages had very short engagements without time for planning. It was even normal for women in the service to marry in her uniform. Women not in the service would again pick a good, preferably new, dress to wear for the wedding.

After the war, prosperity allowed special gowns that need serve no other purpose than the wedding ceremony. Much as the wedding of Queen Victoria, the wedding of Princess Grace of Monaco set the standard for many women in the contemporary era, showing them and those who came after them the standard for the perfect wedding.

In theory, the white wedding dresses of the Victoria era symbolized the innocence of the childhood the bride was leaving behind. Somewhere along the way, this became tied to virginity in the common belief.

In the current era, the pendulum has again swung. Now the individuality of the bride and wedding are the most important factor and choosing some color other than white is simply a convenient way to do so. A more subtle factor allowing that is the ability to afford a wedding coordinator for women who are not wealthy, since this allows the luxury of coordinating the color scheme of the wedding, with gowns, tuxedos, flowers, decorations and other accoutrements all creating a harmonious and seamless whole. Despite this, there remain traditionalists who wouldn’t dream of a color other than white for a wedding gown.

Shall I Rent A Wedding Dress?

Jane Martin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:30:24 +0000

You’ve ordered the cake, hired the photographers, rented your cars and decided on the church. With your budget already stretched to the limit, how are you going to afford the dress of your dreams?

Solution: rent you wedding dress

Chances are your fiancé has already suggested that you rent your wedding dress, but you’ve probably resisted in favor of buying your long-imagined wedding dress. But give him credit. Renting a wedding dress is not such a silly idea!

Reasons not to rent your dress

Common arguments against renting a wedding dress include the fact that it’s not yours; someone else has already spent their special day in it. While that is true, what about the groom and his groomsmen? Most of the male participants in a wedding will rent their suits rather than buy them. If it’s good for the boys, it must be good for the girls as well! Like a rented suit, your rented wedding dress will have been thoroughly dry-cleaned and will be in good condition – there is nothing to be afraid of in terms of cleanliness. Other brides take a sentimental argument – the dress will be a special reminder of your wedding day and you may one day be able to pass it to your daughter. The likely scenario is that fashions will have moved on by the time your daughter gets married, and she may not want to wear your dress. As for memories, what about that expensive photographer you’ve got booked?

Renting will save you money

The difference in cost between renting a wedding dress and buying your own (or having one made for you) can be staggering. Conservatively, a designer wedding dress could set you back $2500, while renting a wedding dress may cost you less than $250. The difference can be used to put towards a more extravagant honeymoon, or even towards a house deposit.

Things to consider before you rent

If you are willing to rent a wedding dress, there are several things to be aware of. First, you need to shop around to find a dress that fits you well. More often than not, all but the most basic alterations are not possible on rental garments. Bear in mind that many brides gain or lose weight due to stress prior to their wedding. The money you have saved will be cold comfort if you spend your wedding day waiting for your dress to fall down!

Renting: the fine print

Once you have chosen a dress to rent, speak to the shop owner about reserving it for you. This will usually require a half deposit, or in some cases the full wedding dress rental fee. If you are completely in love with the dress, it is best to make a deposit straight away, to save the heartache of returning to the store later to discover it is no longer available. While you are in the store, it is a good idea to confirm the exact nature of your obligations under the rental agreement. Find out when you need to return the dress and whether you need to dry clean it before you do. It may also be worthwhile to speak to the rental company about accessories: veils, tiaras and wedding purses can be costly to buy and, like your dress, are items that you may not use again.

For the non-sentimental bride, wedding dress rental is an option that can save you hundreds and maybe thousands of dollars. With rental, you can have the dress of your dreams and your wedding cake too!

With everything a bride has to choose for her wedding, often times, the color is the most exciting and the easiest to pick. Since the color generally sets the entire tone and feel of the wedding, it is important to pick a color that represents both the bride and groom’s personality. So when picking a color for your upcoming wedding, be sure to consider how the color will play out in the overall wedding. Once you have chosen your color, you can then move on to other aspects of the wedding.

Colour Your Wedding to Reflect Your Personality

Jane Martin — Sun, 14 May 2006 18:44:41 +0000

This isn’t your Aunt Mabel’s wedding! You’ve got attitude and it’s your day to say it! colour your wedding! Vibrant, exciting? You don’t dress in pale colour and you don’t have to dress your wedding that way either!

Here’s a list of colours and their meanings in our society:

WHITE: Brides have been dressing in white since 1840, when Queen Victoria married in a white, opulent gown. Before that, brides wore any colour but black. White symbolizes purity, the innocence of childhood. In the Christian liturgy, it symbolizes the brightness of the day.

GOLD: In Christian liturgy, gold, like white, symbolizes the brightness of the day. In our culture, it often symbolizes riches. As a trim or accessory to earth tones (brown, green, orange) it may give vibrancy and glow. It also works well with bright and full colours such as burgundy, deep green.

BLACK: The traditional colour of mourning, but recently it has become the colour of sophistication. For a svelte wedding, it is perfectly acceptable to dress your bridesmaids in black, perhaps with white accessories and trim. It also can make a maturing accent with a bright or light main colour.

PURPLE/VIOLET: Way back to early Egypt, purple has represented royalty. During the Renaissance, purple, deep red and black were royal colours and, at time, ordinary people could be arrested for using those special colours. But you can use them! Purple, in Christian liturgy, symbolizes the sovereignty of Christ and repentance of sin. In China, though, purple is the colour of mourning.

RED: Usually a symbol of blood and fire, it is a conflicted colour: One side expresses war and violence, but the other side expresses love, warmth and compassion. Our brides don’t usually wear red, but in China it is the traditional colour for a wedding dress and symbolizes good luck. It is traditional in India, also. Consider using red, if you love it, at your wedding.

GREEN: Symbol of growth. Combines the spiritual aspect of blue and the emotional vibrancy of yellow. It combines beautifully with other earth tones as well as gold tones. In China is represents the Yin, the passive and receptive principle.

BLUE: colour of the sky, this colour is associated with spirituality, feminity (although it is true that boy babies often wear it,) fidelity, cleanness and freshness. There is very little negative aspect associated with this colour!

PINK: This is a "new" colour, invented in the 17th Century to describe the colour of the flowers called pinks. We think of it as a feminine, sweet colour, but in Japan, adult movies are called "pink" movies. In Catholicism is symbolizes joy and happiness.

YELLOW: Shine, light, knowledge, happiness, and joy. On the other side, it suggests deceit and cowardice. In Egypt it is traditionally associated with mourning, in Japan, courage. The Chinese connect it to the Yang principle of Yin-Yang–the active, creative male side.

ORANGE: It is reported that people who love life like orange. It is stimulating but warm. It adds verve to earth tones and, when used with white, reminds people of those childhood treats, vanilla ice-cream wrapped in orange Popsicle.

BROWN: Could be dull, but it is considered natural, down-to-earth, friendly, dependable. A neutral you can mix with many other colours to warm your celebration.

So consider your wedding image: Vibrant? Responsible? Warm? Gentle? Compassionate? A forever, steady relationship? Think about what your colours are saying!

About the Author: Sue Redman, Costumer/Owner of Costumes Galore at http://www.costumesgalore.com

Technorati Tags: wedding colours, wedding themes

Wedding Colour Resources

Shopping For The Perfect Wedding Dress

Jane Martin — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 03:30:20 +0000

By Hege Crowton

What is it that one thing most women have been dreaming of ever since she was a little girl? If you are about to get married in the near future you know what that is, it is your wedding day. It is the one day in your life when you are the princess you have been dreaming about for so long and when everything is supposed to be perfect, especially your wedding dress.

Most of you probably already have a picture of how everything is going to be, everything from your flowers to the food but as you all know nothing comes close to the importance of the wedding dress. The wedding dress is what you have been picturing yourself in for all these years and finally the time has come for you to go out and find the right one.

Shopping for a wedding dress is, despite what you think, not an easy task. You may actually find that this will be one of the most difficult thing you have encountered so far. The reason for this can be because of the image you already have in your head of how it should look. Well, this is supposed to be your day and your day only so why should you settle for anything less?

When it comes to finding a wedding dress you may experience a lot of input from your mother especially but remember that from the day you told her about your upcoming wedding she has most likely got her own picture of you in her head as far as how she would want you to look, after all you are her daughter. This situation can be a little uncomfortable but let her know in a loving way what you want for a wedding dress.

Having resolved that situation it is now time to go shopping for that eight wonder of the world, your wedding dress. For this you better put on some good walking shoes and prepare for hours of visiting different stores. Regardless of what you think, it will take forever to find the right wedding dress and you will without a doubt find yourself running between stores because you can not make up your mind which wedding dress to pick.

This is where your mother and perhaps your best friend can come in handy. Bring them along when you go to try on the wedding dresses you have picked out. Nobody will be more honest with you than them when it comes to what they think of the wedding dresses you have chosen and that may be just what you need in order to make up your mind. After having picked out the most beautiful wedding dress you could find, you are all set for your big day.

In order to eliminate some of the stress of all the running around trying to find a wedding dress there are places on the internet you can go in order to look at different styles of dresses. This may make it a little easier for you when you go looking in the stores. Hopefully your wedding day will be everything you have ever dreamt of and you are sure to be at least one persons princess as you walk down the aisle in that beautiful wedding dress.

About the author: Hege Crowton is an established expert copywriter. She is known for doing in-depth research before writing her articles. http://www.WeddingDressCrow.com

Technorati Tags: wedding, wedding dress, wedding gown

Victorian Wedding Gowns

Jane Martin — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 21:11:23 +0000

Wedding Gowns

Old Fashioned is the Now Fashion!! Now when I say old fashioned I don’t mean those 80’s style dresses with more frills and puffy bits than you thought could possibly be stitched onto one wedding dress, no what I am talking about is the elegance of the 1920’s through to the 1960’s and just forget that those 80’s dresses ever happened!!. The dresses I am talking about are timeless. Your Grandmother or even great grandmother may well have been married in the 1920’s, and when you look at her wedding pictures you don’t giggle and say "Oh, well it was the fashion then!!" and I know when my Mother married in the late 1950’s she wore a dress that she designed herself and made in Gold silk. Even now I look at the pictures and think "wow" what a simple but beautiful and elegant dress. Did you know that Queen Victoria was the first fashionata to be married in white. She married Albert in a new white specially designed dress. Before then it was custom for ladies to marry in their "best" clothes rather than having a special one off wedding dress for the day.

Wedding etiquette of the time stated "The most approved bridal costume for young brides is of white silk, high corsage and a wide veil of white tulle, reaching to the feet, and a wreath of maiden-blush roses with orange blossoms. The roses she can continue to wear, but the orange blossoms are suitable only for the ceremony". The Victorians often gave Almonds as favours but they also gave items such as spiced teas and rose soap. To get an idea of how a full length veil will look try this link, although I don’t recommend buying from abroad, just use the site for ideas. Original Vintage wedding dresses and Victorian wedding dresses can be purchased and if you find the right one, it can look amazing, but you need to be careful and it is not that easy to find an original. OK originals are easy to find but they do not come in all sizes for you to be able to choose the right size for you, and often altering a vintage gown can change the look of the original design. You may also find that the cost of repairing and /or cleaning a vintage gown can be more expensive than the gown itself. So do have a shop around, maybe even visit a vintage clothes fair, but if you can’t find one that makes you feel all tingly and that is in the right size for you, then give it up, try another route. The 1920’s and 30’s were a time of prohibition in America and abandon in the ladies. They wore bold makeup, dared to show their knees and began enjoying fashion and music. These gowns tended to be drop waisted, in silk and lace and usually the front of the dress was shorter than the back. If you go for 20’s then go the whole hog with seamed stockings and beaded hemlines, go on be daring!! Try wedding past and present to give you some ideas.

The new vintage.

If you like the idea of an age old style such as Elizabethan or Victorian then you would do well to talk to Navin the designer at ITFITS. His designs include some of the most fabulous corsets you will ever see, and although having your own corset made may seem extravagant, I personally have been known to wear mine with jeans and it looks stunning (so I have been told!!) Navin at ITFITS will ensure you get the dress you really want. He is an amazing designer with loads of ideas, but he also listens allot too, so that he can ensure the design he produces is the same or better than the one in your head.

So what about the accessories?

Mad About Jewellery Bracelet £19.99

1930’s monochrome

This 1930’s style bracelet is simple and elegant. It is available from Mad About Jewellery. The bracelet is £19.99 other items are available. Chandelier Drop Mikey Necklace Crystal 1920’s chic – Chandelier style necklace from £40.00 Vintage 1920’s chic This fabulous chandelier style necklace is by Mikey and retails from about £40.00 with matching items available. They have stores through out the UK and are a really good place to buy good value, good quality reproduction jewellery from. They have some amazing styles and designs in some fabulous colours. I would be very surprised if you can’t find what you want from them. Find Stores Vintage 1930’s cream leather gloves from £24.10

Gloves & Bags

A good place to start looking for retro items such as bags and gloves is Steptoe Antiques . You could also try ebay and charity shops for your accessories too. As always remember that inclusion in this document does not constitute a recommendation to buy. Please check out companies especially with online purchases before you decide to buy.

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How to Save on a Wedding Dress

Jane Martin — Sun, 07 May 2006 20:16:20 +0000

Overview

It’s a bride’s dream – the perfect dress that makes her groom mouth "wow" as he turns to look at her for the first time. Going for the designer look that dominates the bridal magazines is one path to the dream dress. However it comes at a price. With an investment of your time, you can really save a lot of money. It is very important to have a budget for your dress as part of a bigger budget plan. Investing all your funds on a dress may lead to the bride wearing her ideal dress but the rest of the day being poor in comparison.

The first steps

The best way to decide on who, where and how the dress will be made is to gather all available contacts who could help. These include

finding close friends who know how to make one
checking out shops that offer large discounts on old designs and stocks
for people who are really working on a tight budget, borrow or rent a wedding gown for them to use.
Evening gown hire shops who might have a vintage dress or other ideas than may save money but still look stunning.

Ask around other recent brides for their contacts and talk to people like local hair dressers and florist for other ideas. You might find someone who doesn’t spend a fortune on advertising and likewise does not charge a fortune. Most importantly as you work through this list of suppliers and start looking a dream dresses … try not to show you have fallen in love with a dress. At least not to the supplier, if you do this they have the advantage in negotiating price.

Negotiate

Try to narrow the list of dresses and supplier down but if you can keep your options open. You need to have a plan B and be able to walk away from a negotiation if it going badly. If you can’t do this you need to be a good actor and be able to pretend to walk away. Being able to walk away and playing one supplier against the other is a key tactic. The supplier needs your money if they act like they don’t then they are either pretending or don’t need your money. If you meet the later you might wonder if you should go somewhere else. Do negotiate, don’t just accept the price on display. Make sure you are talking to the manager when negotiating price. If you can’t get the manager to begin with then press for what you can with the salesperson, get it in writing and then come back later and ask for the manager late. A good way to get started is to ask "how flexible are you on price?". This gives you a big clue. If they appear inflexible you need to appear as inflexible based on your budget. Point out that you have a budget which makes the price an issue. Ask for discounts for paying in advance. If they will be providing bridesmaids dresses ask for a discount on the whole package. Don’t disclose your real budget. If need be have pretend budget slightly lower than your real budget and let the supplier "win" by breaking your "pretend" budget. Don’t give in on this too easily, pick the right time. Another useful tactic is to leave with the offer in writing to consider it. Don’t forget your future husband has to agree to any breaking of the budget this is good excuse to leave. Leaving is very useful to allow you to think clearly and consider thing less emotionally. Leaving also gives you a chance to try negotiating with your plan B supplier. If you feel up to it have a plan C dress which you still love and practice the negotiating with this supplier first. Getting the dress you want is worth the effort, it will feel even better if you managed to negotiate a reasonable price. Just remember the more you save the more you can spend on other areas of your special day.

Technorati Tags: Wedding dress, Wedding Savings