Posted on 1 Comment

A guide to choosing two wedding dresses for the big day

via Best for Bride

The wedding dress you choose as a bride, plays a remarkable role in determining whether you look sexy and sophisticated or feminine and elegant. Choosing a different gown may change your look entirely.

It is in fact, not easy to determine a single look that will be perfect for your wedding day. In certain cases, it is better to consider two gowns instead of one. Let us look at few reasons why this is a better option than limiting yourself to just one dress.

Two looks for more impact

Your wedding day is the one occasion when you want all eyes to be on you. While you can amaze everyone with your wedding ensemble when you walk down the aisle, this interest may dwindle by the time of the reception. The best way to recreate this impact is by wearing another stunning dress for the reception and you can be certain that your guests will be amazed once again!

For practical purposes

Let us face it, layers of organza or tulle in a ball gown skirt with an elaborate and flowing train look fantastic at a traditional ceremony, but it may get in the way of dancing comfortably during the reception.

Stunning wedding dresses that look classic and elegant may not be practical for a fun and action-packed reception. A bustled train is still heavy, and can impede your chances to jiggle to the fun tunes at the ceremony. This is why more brides are opting for shorter and lighter dresses for the reception. This allows them to move freely and not feel restricted.

To match the ambiance of the venues

You may like to consider two different wedding dresses to match your appearance to the décor and ambiance of the venues where each function will be taking place. If you are getting married outdoors, on the beach or in a garden and then proceed to an indoor venue for the reception, the ambiance of each venue is entirely different. Hence, the light weight romantic wedding dress for the outdoor venue could give way to a more poufy or fashionable wedding dress for the ball room.

When you decide to go for the two-dress look, an obvious question is when do you change dresses? A good idea is to do so during the cocktail hour, or before you cut the cake. This way, you will have sufficient time to photograph for portraits in your ceremonial dress, and your guests won’t miss you as they mingle and meet each other.

If you are pressed for time or cannot afford two entirely different dresses, you can also consider a convertible gown such as the Mori Lee 5316, which incorporates two looks into a single dress.

via Best for Bride

With the tulle over-skirt, you obtain a classic A-line silhouette for the ceremony, and when you remove the over-skirt you are left with a stylish mermaid gown for the reception.

via Best for Bride

For more wedding tips and ideas, as well as to find the perfect wedding dresses for your big day, visit Best for bride.

Posted on 1 Comment

Online Wedding Dress Fraud


When browsing photographs of brides sharing their online wedding dress horror stories, I couldn’t help but repeatedly utter, “Oh, wow.” It seemed as though each bride’s nightmare was worse than the last. In these cases, what the bride saw on the pages of the online bridal shop was a stunning wedding dress at an unbelievably low price. What was delivered to the bride resembled a completely different dress. In some of the worst cases, bride’s received dresses that resembled cheap Halloween costumes with gaudy colors and plastic embellishments.

Several disappointed brides received dresses that were different than what was advertised. In all the cases that I have seen, the online wedding dress store offered wedding dresses that appeared to be high quality, stylish dresses. However, what the women actually received were cheaply made knockoffs of the pictured gown. The websites often offer cheap versions of designers gowns. The actual dresses that are delivered are unusable.

Garish colors are one of the many problems with the gowns. The photograph on the website shows a white dress, but an awful green one is delivered. Another woman ordered a pale dusty pink gown and received a bright bubble gum pink dress. Bright fuchsia has been substituted for peach.

How can brides avoid wedding dress fraud online? News reports of the scams pointed out that most of the companies that are delivering cheaply made dresses while showing gorgeous gowns on their websites are headquartered in China. Some of these websites avoid mentioning their locations, or they post a United States or London phone number.

One way brides can avoid wedding dress scams is to contact the company. If the contact information is missing or misleading, that’s a definite sign that something is wrong. Many of the top, trustworthy online bridal stores also have brick and mortar stores where brides can browse a selection of gowns and get a proper fitting.

If the price is too good to be true, it probably is. This is an old saying that is still relevant today. Quality dresses cost money. If you see a website that is offering gowns at extremely low prices, beware of the possible danger. Many brides order dresses through these bargain wedding dress websites and either don’t receive any dresses or receive a dress that is not what was ordered.

Brides who can’t afford to buy the dress of their dreams may want to consider renting a quality wedding dress. The bride will know that she will have that perfect dress on her wedding day for a fraction of the cost of buying it.

For more ways to make the most of your wedding budget without falling prey to scams, browse the Best for Bride blog. There you’ll find many great tips for planning a wedding on a budget.

Posted on 1 Comment

Say ‘Yes’ to the Dress: 4 Telltale Signs You’ve Found Your Dream Wedding Gown!

Princess-style ball gowns, stunning mermaid-inspired dresses, elegant A-line dresses—the options in wedding dresses are endless. Your wedding shopping is the experience of a lifetime, one where you buy the most important dress you’ll ever wear. While you may come across several fabulous dresses at your bridal boutique appointment, how do you know which is “the dress?”

Let us look at the signs that your dress is the right one!

  1. You forget all about the other dresses you tried on when you wear this one
via Best for Bride

When you find the dress of your dreams, all the confusion about whether the dress with the beautiful neckline is better than the one with the stunning back details suddenly disappears. You do not think of any other dress but this one. This is because this is “the dress!”

  1. You suddenly feel emotional, or someone accompanying you tears up seeing you in the dress.

The normal reaction for a bride who has found the perfect dress is to feel emotional suddenly. But, if you aren’t the person for tears, there is still a chance that someone who has accompanied you will be tearing up. The right dress will amaze everyone when they see you walk out in it. When you find everyone glassy-eyed and unable to take their eyes off you, you should know that this dress is perfect.

  1. You feel you’ve never looked this beautiful before
via Best for Bride

The magic of the perfect dress is that it makes you feel like a Goddess. You feel you look flawless from head to toe. Everything, or almost everything, about the dress, flatters you, and you cannot think of anything that you want to change in this dress. You do not want to take it off and are mesmerized by how well it suits you from every angle. If you feel your dress is the best you’ve worn all your life, don’t think anymore—buy it.

  1. You begin imagining your wedding day already.

When you find a dress that fits your expectations, the first picture that comes to mind is walking down the aisle and getting married. Images of your big day are formed in your mind, and you imagine the wedding ceremony. You may need to make a few changes and alter it to fit you perfectly, but you can’t wait to wear it and amaze everyone with how beautiful you look in it.

  1. All your previous ideas for your wedding dress seem insignificant when you try this dress.

You may have decided to settle for nothing but a ball gown skirt or be unable to imagine anything but a sweetheart bodice, but when you find the right dress, all these thoughts disappear from your mind. Even when the silhouette, neckline, sleeves and pattern are entirely different from what you had envisioned, you will not want to look at another dress. This is a sure sign that you have found your dream wedding gown.

To find the perfect dress for your wedding day and for more wedding tips and advice, visit our website at Best for Bride.

Posted on 2 Comments

Unlock Savings: Smart Tips to Cut Costs on Wedding Dress Alterations!

It is very unlikely that you will find a wedding dress that fits you perfectly. Any dress you buy off-the-rack will require minimum alterations, so it is just right for you. Hence, it is necessary that you set aside a part of your wedding dress budget to account for alteration costs.

The amount you will have to pay for altering your dress depends on the extent of work that has to be done. So, the less work your dress requires, the lesser you will have to pay to get it done.

Keep this factor in mind.

Let us now look at how you can minimize your wedding dress alteration costs, by first choosing your dress properly.

Choose a size that is closest to your actual measurements

via Best for Bride

When the dress size is accurately chosen, it will require minimum work to fit perfectly. When you choose a dress that is much bigger, remember that the measurements will be bigger not just for the sides, but for the neckline, the shoulders and the bust. So, just taking the sides in will not do. You should ideally choose one that is no more than one or two sizes bigger, so altering it won’t be too difficult.

Simpler gowns are easier to alter

The more embellishments the gown has, the more difficult it will be to replicate the look when it is altered. So, you will have to pay for the effort that goes in. A gown that has less detailing, or doesn’t need much work around the embellishments, can save you some money.

Also remember that the more fabric a gown involves, the more work it will correspond to. So, it is only logical that a ball gown skirt will cost more than an A-line skirt when being altered.

Customizing is costly

via Best for Bride

If you are certain that you want your wedding dress to sport a certain neckline or have sleeves, it is better to look at gowns that already have this feature, than choosing another and having it customized with this factor. Transforming a gown to look different is expensive, and it may sometimes end up losing its original charm in the process.

Look for versatile features

via Best for Bride

A gown with a corset-back usually requires little to no changes in the bodice to fit you, when chosen in the right size. Where the skirt is concerned, it will be easier to shorten a wedding gown that doesn’t have too many details at the hemline, as it can be cut to the right length without worrying about losing any details. If you choose a longer gown with an embellished hemline, it will have to be shortened by taking fabric out at the waist, and this takes more effort and time.

On a final note, remember that wedding dresses are complex garments, and not everyone may be able to work on it. In your attempt to save money, don’t make the mistake of entrusting the job to someone who isn’t familiar with wedding gowns. Keep the above points in mind when buying your wedding dress and have the alterations done by a professional seamstress, so your wedding gown will look just right for your big day.

For more wedding tips and advice, visit us on Best for Bride.