There are so many wedding dress styles to choose from when you start talking about wedding dresses. That’s why you’ve made a wise choice in taking some time to do a little research.
The way that you look on your wedding day will have a huge impact on the way that you feel. Don’t make the mistake of choosing the first dress that you find. Reading this article means that you are headed in the right direction. You are probably ahead of a lot of other brides simply for being on our blog and planning your dress.
In the next few sections, I’ll go over the main choices for wedding dress styles you have to choose from. The idea behind this article is to give you some ideas of different styles you can choose from. In addition, giving you the top dress choices by brides that have been through this process before you. This is done through much research and digging on our part.
The best way to make a good decision is to get the thoughts of people that have already been there. Learning from there successes and avoiding their mistakes. Hopefully, we can apply that approach to finding your ideal wedding dress here today!
Here is list the top 6 wedding dress styles. Starting from #6 and working my way down to the #1 choice by brides like yourself. Furthermore, we’ll talk about how to identify your body type, and use that to select the best style to accommodate your silhouette.
#6 Ball Gown Wedding Dress Style
As you can see the ball gown style has a skirt that is full in length and volume. It hugs the waist and opens back up at the bust line. This is Ideal for helping to create the hourglass look. The ball gown style is most suitable for a smaller waist, it also does a great job of disguising the lower half.
#5 Trumpet Wedding Dress Style
The trumpet style wedding dress is one that’s often confused with the mermaid style. It’s similar in design due to the fact that it hugs the hips but the trumpet loses it’s fit shortly beyond your bottom. This flare beyond the hips creates a skirt that has less bulk than the ball gown yet still gives some volume to help create a more dramatic look.
#4 Mermaid Wedding Dress Style
The mermaid dress similar to the trumpet. It hugs the waist and hips but carries down to an area above the knee. It gives a stunning look but this dress is typically good for a more petite silhouette. You can see that this dress is very form-fitting and has the tendency to accent the entire figure. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t consider the mermaid style dress if you have a fuller figure. If you’re confident in your curves and feel good when they’re accented then this could be a great style for you.
#3 Sheath Wedding Dress Style
Similar to the mermaid style the sheath style hugs the hips on down to an area between under the bottom and above the knee. It’s also similar because it’s suits a more petite figure. Any wedding dress that hugs the body from top to bottom doesn’t leave much room to disguise any problem areas.
#2 Empire Wedding Dress Style
The empire style is usually a tight fit right under the bust line. It has the benefit of disguising the lower half while bringing attention to the chest. This could help for those that have a smaller bust. Also, because this gown is fitted under the chest and drapes down, it offers the feature of disguising for the midsection as well.
#1 A-Line Wedding Dress Style
The A-line style wedding dress is among the most popular styles because it has the ability to accent desired areas and mask undesired areas. Its simple look makes it a suitable style for almost any occasion or type of wedding.
Note: Make sure your dress goes well with your wedding veil. It either doesn’t go well together or make it too much that the dress will be swallowing you. You should be wearing the dress and not the other way around.
Finding a Style That Fits You Best
To start this journey off on the right foot we will consider that there are four main body types or silhouettes.
- Hourglass– A figure that has a larger bust with a smaller waist and a larger bottom.
- Pear– A figure that has a smaller bust with a smaller waist and a larger bottom.
- Apple– A figure that has a small to medium bust with a larger midsection and a small to medium bottom.
- Rectangle– A figure that has a proportioned bust, midsection, and bottom or little curve.
Before we go any farther, let me say that any of the quote on quote rules of what body types are best suited for certain dress types should be looked at as more suggestions than rules. Even though there are general looks to each of the 6 styles, there are many twists and variations. With all the variations that can be found by dressmakers, it would be wrong to say that style A only works for body type B.
Pairing a Dress Style With Your Body Type
- Ball Gown– Pairs nicely with Hourglass and Pear body types.
- Trumpet– Pairs nicely with Hourglass, Pear, and Rectangle body types.
- Mermaid– Pairs nicely with Hourglass and Pear body types.
- Sheath– Pairs nicely with Hourglass, Pear, and Rectangle body types.
- Empire– Pairs nicely with Hourglass, Pear, Rectangle, and Apple body types.
- A-Line– Pairs nicely with Hourglass, Pear, Rectangle, and Apple body types.
Wedding Dress Rental
Most brides choose to rent a wedding dress but this can have its own advantages and disadvantages. Make sure you weigh the pros and cons if you really want to go and just rent a dress rather than buying or go to a designer to make you a gown from scratch.
Pros
- Money: Renting a gown is cheaper than making one from scratch or buying a brand new one. If you’re a bride that is on a budget, renting a wedding gown is the most practical thing.
- Maintenance: You don’t have to worry about how to clean and preserve the dress since it will be returned after your wedding. The rental service handles all the cleaning.
- Storage: You don’t have to worry about where or how to store the dress after the wedding. It gives you more space to store more important things rather than keeping it in a closet for years.
Cons
- Size: Not all rental shops have all available sizes. Sometimes they only keep one size and it’s usually small. If a gown you pick does not fit well, you may have to find another one which is a bit disappointing.
- Selection: Wedding gown selections in rental shops tend to be old stocks. They may be last season’s trend or old designer gowns. You just have to spend a lot of time searching for that perfect one.
- Heirloom: The tradition of passing the dress down to a daughter or granddaughter will not happen since you don’t own the gown.
Top Wedding Dress Designers
There are also brides that will spend more on their wedding gown. Either they buy ready to wear designer gowns or they meet up with the designer themselves and have a custom gown made just for them. It really is up to the bride whether she wants to treat herself to the best. Here are the top 20 wedding dress designers that are known to be the best in their field.
- Vera Wang
- Oscar de la Renta
- Eve of Milady – Amalia Carrara
- Lazaro
- Pnina Tornai
- Monique Lhullier
- Carolina Herrera
- Maggie Sottero
- Anne Barge
- Peter Langner
- Naeem Khan
- Jenny Packham
- Reem Acra
- Galia Lahav
- Christina Wu
Conclusion
You will hopefully have many amazing days in your life. However, none of them will be quite like your wedding day. This will be a day that is genuinely all about you. As I said in the beginning, your wedding dress will have a great deal to do with how you feel on your wedding day. If you take the time to find the right dress that not only looks good but makes you feel good, you will remove any chance of regret in that area.
I would say that you’ll do great with this decision due to the fact that you’re doing research and still reading this article. That alone puts you far beyond many other brides that choose to wing it and hope for a good outcome. I wish you the best in your search to find a wedding dress style that makes you feel beautiful and amazing all at the same time!
Her Expertise Includes:
- Being a former bride
- Planning her own wedding
- Helping run her husband's wedding service USA DJ
As a former bride herself, she knows first hand what it takes to plan a successful wedding. She now offers her experience with wedding planning to other brides to be through smartestbrides.com.
Her mission is to help other brides wedding planning become as simple and stress-free as possible.
- Gift Ideas For Your Mother-In-Law To Be On The Wedding Day - August 28, 2019
- Gift Ideas For Bridesmaids On Your Wedding Day - August 12, 2019
- Honeymoon Ideas In Michigan That You Will Absolutely Love - July 9, 2019
