Be your own bride!
New trends in wedding gowns let you show your individuality
The biggest trend in weddings this season has got to be the uniqueness of the wedding dress. Every bride wants to shine on her big day, and what better way to do that than with the gown? Most bridal shops in the city, including Mimi, Wedding Belles and With This Ring Bridal, offer distinctive dresses. Vera Wang and Monique Lhuillier are two desaigners known for creating special dresses that become an expression of the women wearing them.
Embellishments
Whether they be pearl, crystal, sequins or even diamonds, subtle embellishments are an excellent way of adding a little bling without going completely Elizabeth Taylor. Beading or lacework added by a seamstress can easily jazz up a plain gown. Many brides are opting to bring a little family tradition to their gown by taking antique lace or fabric from their mother’s or grandmother’s dress and adding it to their own. If you don’t want to customize your dress, you can purchase gowns that already have intricate beadwork or hand-sewn lace on the bodice. With This Ring Bridal offers a variety of beautifully embellished gowns with any cut or neckline you desire.
Colored Gowns
The Today show recently featured a segment on the newfound popularity of the colored gown, leaving the traditional ivory-white dress behind as a thing of the past. The traditional white gown has always represented the virginal bride, but if you choose a pale or pastel shade you love, you don’t have to ditch that traditional thought with the white gown. Sea foam, lavender, mellow yellow or a blushing pink for a blushing bride are all great options. Designers have caught onto this trend and are even getting a little bolder with bright red or deep violet gowns. Gwen Stefani walked down the aisle with her hot-pink dress, so why can’t you? If this is your second wedding or you have children and don’t think white is for you, then a colored gown is a fun alternative. It’s like Miranda said on Sex and the City when she didn’t want a white gown: “I have a child … the jig is up!”
Colored Saashes
Colored sashes are a great way to add a splash of color to an ivory or diamond-white gown. Vera Wang and Reem Acra have both used colored sashes in their recent bridal collections. An elegant lavender or teal-green satin sash around the waist or under the bustline is a great way to make a traditional gown more modern and fun. Many gowns come with this feature, but it’s easy to add a sash to a gown you’ve already purchased. For a more elegant, put-together look, make the sash match your bridesmaids’ dresses or your bouquet. The color will really pop!
Penadants
If bling isn’t your thing, consider pinning an antique pendant to the waist of a gathered gown, to the sash on an empire waistline or even at the end of a V-neck. It’s a superb way to add a little sparkle without overdoing it. Mimi on Magazine Street offers a variety of Vera Wang gowns featuring the pendant look, one of the designer’s newest trends for 2006.
Tiered Skirts
If a ball gown has always been your dream dress, the new tiered, cinched or bustled skirt is a more modern, flirty way of getting the ball-gown look without turning you into Cinderella. The tiered dress provides a full skirt, but not one so big that you can’t dance in it. A traditional ball gown can be plain and unforgiving to brides with fuller hips. A cinched or tiered skirt is more elegant, especially if the gathered points of the fabric are accented with embellishments such as pearls or Swarovski crystals.