Perfect Wedding Dress

I thought being in the bridal business for over 5 years would make picking out my wedding dress a piece of cake (pardon the pun).  To my surprise it is everything but simple.  There is a lot riding on picking out the perfect wedding dress.  Your dress whether it is romantic, trendy, classic, simple or casual has to fit in with your wedding venue and theme not to mention your body type.  I have never tried on wedding dresses before so it was a shock to see an amazing couture dress on the mannequin and then to try it on and have it not look so amazing on.  My number one tip for all Brides-to-Be is to make sure you try on multiple dresses in all colors and styles.  For example, I tried on a dress in a color called “Cafe” similar to a  dark champagne color, not your typical color for a wedding dress but looked beautiful on with my skin tone which happens to be ultra white.   I thought I would love lots of beading and lace but once I tried it on, I wasn’t so thrilled. My experience was that trying on wedding dresses outside of your vision box will give you options that you never considered.

I went on my first wedding dress adventure today with my Mom and let me tell you I had no idea what I was in for.  First stop was Zola Keller on Las Olas in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  Zola  is known for her bridal gowns for the past two decades, she has dressed everyone from Miss Latina Florida to Miss America.  I knew I was in good hands with one of the top bridal dress experts here in South Florida for my first run at finding the perfect wedding dress.   I was plesently surprised at  the wide variety of bridal dresses from simple to couture, the large veil selection and the decorative hair pieces.  I had Zola herself working with me in the bridal suite pulling amazing dresses for me to try on and fitting each one to my figure.  We started out with the couture collection, lots of beading, lace, and full heavy trains, I felt very “Dancing with the Stars” or about to skate out on the ice for the winter Olympics.  After giving my feedback to Zola that my style was more classic and simple she pulled out a couple more options and then I found the perfect wedding dress {Enter angels singing in the background}.  I have heard it so many times in my studio “You just know when it’s the one” I am talking about dresses girls not men but it’s basically one in the same.  It’s the feeling that when you put on the dress from the second you step into it, the way it fits your body, when you can actually see yourself walking down the isle holding your bouquet; you know it’s THE ONE.  I put on a beautiful dupioni silk classic wedding dress and fell in love.

Another key tip from my adventure today is that it takes anywhere from 5-6 months from time you order your wedding dress to when it comes in, you then have multiple fittings, picking out the right veil with your dress and finding the right hair pieces and accessories, not always the easiest thing to find at last minute, so make sure you plan with enough time.  I have a couple more appointments scheduled this week before I make my final decision; in the meantime I wanted to feature my two top bridal designers Oscar de la Renta and Carolina Herrera below for inspiration on their Spring 2012 collection.

Oscar de la Renta Spring 2012

Carolina Herrera Spring 2012