7 Tips in Selecting a Wedding Dress for an Intimate Ceremony

A wedding dress for an intimate ceremony may be more understated than one for a big bash, but that doesn't mean that the selection process is any less stressful. Use these 7 helpful tips to select the perfect wedding dress that will complement the scope of your ceremony without sacrificing beauty, elegance, or romance.

Think To The Future

If you're trying on wedding gowns in June for a wedding in December, it can be easy to miss the mark. The sun is shining outside the shop, and you get caught up in the vast multitude of dresses and end up choosing a gown that is more suited for a summer soiree than the quaint and intimate winter wedding you are actually planning. When you go wedding gown shopping, keep the future event securely in your mind. If you have created a mood board for your wedding with images of the venue, decoration ideas, or flowers, bring this along so that you can perfectly encapsulate the vision in your mind when trying on wedding gowns.

Don't Get Caught Up on Fit

One mistake that many brides-to-be make when shopping for a wedding gown is getting caught up on how the dress fits, rather than evaluating what the dress can be. The fit is always going to need to be adjusted, and that's where alterations come into play. Instead of worrying about how a dress fits, focus on how it suits the vision you have for your wedding. If you're planning an intimate, smaller ceremony, you'll want something that complements the venue, the decor, the flowers, and the general tone of your ceremony. If you focus on fit, you risk saying "no" to the perfect dress simply because it didn't feel right across the hips. Try to envision a dress potential, and remind yourself that simple issues in fit can be easily corrected.

Schedule an Appointment

Most bridal gown shops, including this one offering Salt Lake City wedding dresses, require that you make an appointment, but many brides don't know that the time of their appointment can make a big difference. When in doubt, choose the earliest option available. Not only will you be more likely to have the place to yourself, as many brides begin their gown shopping excursions with brunch, but you'll also have attendants who are just starting their day, so they won't be fatigued or try to rush you.

Start with the Silhouette

Beading, lace, trim, fabric selection: there are so many considerations when choosing a wedding dress that it can be impossible to decide where to start. Here's a tip: pick the silhouette first. The silhouette is the basic foundation of your gown, and it's akin to picking out the style of a newly constructed home before focusing on building materials or floor plans. If you're planning an intimate wedding, you might want a silhouette that is simpler or more understated than a gown you would choose for a large-scale wedding. Pick the silhouette first, and all else will fall into place.

To Trend or Not To Trend

It's tempting to go with the latest trends when selecting a wedding gown, but some trendy dresses may simply not work for the intimate ceremony that you have in mind. If you're getting married in a small space, for example, a dramatic train may end up being an annoyance. Don't be afraid to think outside the box: a short wedding dress, for example, can add a quaint and charming air to the entire wedding ceremony. Additionally, the main problem with trends is that they quickly become un-trendy. Resist jumping on the wedding gown bandwagon and focus on picking something that makes you feel lovely and complements the ceremony you have in mind. Leave all other considerations at the door.

Don't Judge a Dress by Its Hanger

A common mistake that many brides make is judging a dress based on how it looks on the hanger. This is an exercise in futility. Chalk it up to the mystery of how dresses work on different bodies or some other kind of wedding black magic, but many brides report hating the sight of a gown on a hanger only to try it on and fall instantly, head-over-heels in love. If you find you can't overcome your tendency to jump to conclusions, ask the associate to bring you dresses in your desired silhouette off the hanger.

Dress to Assess

Here is one of the biggest tips that many brides-to-be never consider: you should wear undergarments and shoes that enhance the beauty of the dress when you embark on a gown-shopping journey. So much of the dress decision-making process is based on how you feel when wearing a dress, rather than just how the garment looks, and wearing inappropriate undergarments or footwear can cloud your judgment.

A properly-fitted bra will transform the way you look in any wedding gown, so make sure to treat yourself to a professional undergarment fitting at a high-end lingerie store a few days before your bridal gown appointment. You'll feel beautiful when trying on dresses, and you won't be disoriented by a tired old bra strap peeking out from beneath a gorgeous gown. Also, it may sound silly, but you will feel more attractive if you don a pair of simple slippers when trying on wedding gowns. Many brides simply skip the shoes when trying on gowns because they aren't seen, so they shouldn't matter, right? Remember, though, half of this decision is about how you feel in the gown, and shoes can make a big difference.

There's no way around it: selecting the perfect wedding gown is often the most stressful and gut-wrenching part of planning a wedding. With these 7 tips in mind and a highly recommended Byron Bay HoneyWed wedding dress boutique, you can eliminate some of this stress and find the dress of your dreams: a dress that is well suited for the intimate wedding you've worked so hard to plan.