Mormon Wedding Dress Tips

Brides have been on my mind lately and not just because June is upon us. I have once again agreed to make a wedding dress for one of my nieces who will be getting married at the end of the summer.

This will be my seventh wedding dress. It may not seem like a lot to a professional seamstress, but a professional seamstress I am not. I love to design, but the reality is I would much rather pay someone else to do the sewing to see my designs come to fruition. But I don't have that kind of cash so I sew as a means to an end. These wedding dresses are gifts of pure love because out of all the things I sew, I think wedding dresses are my least favorite project. They are usually large and cumbersome to cut out and get under the sewing machine. And brides tend to have a very clear idea about what they want and unusually high expectations about how it should turn out. I don't blame them. It is their wedding - a once in a lifetime event (hopefully). But this takes pretty much all the fun out of the process for this designer making it just a stressful sewing project instead of a inspiring, creative journey (I will say though, that these last three projects have all been really fun to do).

Over the years though, I have come to enjoy being part wedding dress sewer and part wedding dress consultant. Here are some of the tips I like to share with the mormon brides-to-be. I realize our core readership is far from the newly engaged girl, but I figure with google and word of mouth, the info will get into the right hands (I think this post did). And girls, feel free to add your own wedding dress advice from your own experiences.

General advice

1. Think about wearing wearing a temple dress for the temple ceremony instead of your wedding dress. This is something I wished someone would have suggested to me. And here's why:

• No one really sees it anyway under the layers of temple clothing.

• Depending on the style of your wedding dress, it can be less cumbersome to deal with at the altar.

• You won't have to worry about wearing a "dickie" or sleeve extensions (which is not a huge deal, but something to consider).

• There are already a bunch of other guidelines you're trying to follow when you are a mormon bride, so freeing up the options of color and length is nice.

2. Don't be afraid to think outside the box to make sure the dress fits your own personal style and tastes:

• try a tea length dress
• go vintage
• add some color
• consider wedding separates

3. Consider the location, feel (and theme?) of your wedding reception when deciding on your dress.

• Is it formal? casual? beachy? fun? elegant? sophisticated? modern? traditional?

• Or, if you have your hear set on a specific style of dress, consider this style when planning the feel of your reception.

If you plan on getting a dress made:

• Go try on dresses anyway. See what necklines, sleeve length, and dress style looks best on your body type. Don't just consult magazines. Otherwise, you might try on your "dream dress" at the end of the process and realize your dream dress looks horrible on you. And then, it's too late.

• This "faux wedding dress shopping trip" is also a good time to see what kind of white looks better with your skin tone. Yes, there are many kinds of white. "Off-whites" come in blue tones, pink tones and yellow tones. And don't worry, the old connection of a pure white wedding dress to purity is a thing of the past. Even so, you will actually be getting married in pure white. You can think of the wedding dress as your party dress.

• Buy your wedding underwear before your first fitting. Not the wedding night underwear -- you can keep that to yourself. But pick out the bra you are going to wear on your special day and wear the same one to every fitting. It might even be a good time to get a real bra fitting if you haven't done it before. If you plan on wearing a slimming/smoothing underpinning, find it and wear it to every fitting as well. These things make a huge difference in how a dress will fit (and be fitted).

• The next thing you are going to need to get is your shoes. Having these before the dress is done (and even before it is cut) is vital in making sure the dress is the perfect length.

• If you plan on losing weight (or gaining weight before the wedding), do your dressmaker a favor and try to do it all before you start in the dressmaking process or be prepared to pay extra for more fittings (and for a grumpy sewer).

If you buy a dress:

• Don't buy a dress that is 4 sizes too big for you because it was such a "great deal" and then expect that a sewer will be able to alter it to fit you perfectly. We can do some amazing things, but we cannot perform miracles.

• Don't buy a strapless or sleeveless dress and figure someone will be able to just slap sleeves right onto it without it looking strange at all. It can be done in some instances with a flawless result, but not always. Please realize that you are taking a chance here at not being please at the final result. And don't be a bridezilla when it doesn't turn out exactly the way you think it should.

• If you are able to shop with a sewer, do it. They will be able to tell you what is possible and impossible when it comes to altering a dress.