You’ve set the date, chosen the reception and ceremony locations and now you’re ready for the next challenge: choosing the perfect wedding gown. Brides want to look extra special on this important occasion, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the variety of choice. How do you go about narrowing the field? Consider: # Is the wedding formal or informal? # Day or evening? # Indoor church wedding followed by large reception? # Garden/outdoor ceremony with a barbeque picnic afterwards? Answering the above questions will help you to determine the perfect style of gown for your wedding. A good way to start “shopping” is to cruise the Internet. There are several very good (and very large) wedding sites devoted to gowns. Just type in “wedding gowns” in the search box and away you’ll go. Let your imagination soar when looking through the gowns. After all, you aren’t concerned with price at this point. That will come later, after you’ve narrowed your focus and decided on the general silhouette, fabric and style. Gowns fall into one of the following categories: # Classic/traditional gowns have clean, simple lines with re-embroidered lace and beading on the bodice, full skirts with a chapel, cathedral or sweep train. Fabrics used for the classic gown include peau de soie, re-embroidered lace, heavy bridal satin, duchesse satin, silk satin, and taffeta. # Victorian gowns have yards and yards of lace, ruffles and pintucks. They usually have a high collar or a deep V-neckline, tea length or floor length skirt and frequently have an underskirt of silk or satin. Fabrics for Victorian gowns include challis, sheers and lightweight silks like charmeuse, and beaded lace trims. # Contemporary gowns (which is mostly what you see today) have soft, refined fabric textures in a sheath or fitted silhouette, no defined waist treatment, and short or no train. Dramatic contemporary gowns can have asymmetric hemlines and design lines within the garment and/or deep plunging backs. Fabrics can be silk charmeuse, cotton eyelet, crepe, lightweight satins and the trims can be beaded and metallic. # Country Western gowns are reminiscent of the prairie dress with a shaped neckline, long sleeves, fitted waistline and a tea-length, yoked skirt. Leather, fringe, beaded lace, silk satin and all-over lace are typical of the country western look. # Garden/country dresses have simplified styling in crisp fabrics, dainty tucks and trim detail, with a fitted bodice. They can be sleeveless to long-sleeved and may or may not have a train. Typical fabrics are batiste, broadcloth, cotton laces, embroidered fabrics and polished cotton. While the gowns described above are the typical “categories”, today’s gowns are anything but typical! Designers are combining fabrics, styles, silhouettes and trims in most unusual ways. Consider your figure and choose lines that you know are flattering to you. Now is not the time to try something radically different or out of character! The gowns you find on the Internet will have descriptions of the silhouette, some of the more common of which are: The A-line typically fits snugly at the bodice and flares out beginning at the waist and is a universally flattering shape. The A-line can be narrow, just slightly flaring, or full at the hemline. The princess silhouette has princess seams that flow over the bustline and down into the skirt. The sheath is a narrow, fitted silhouette that hugs the body. The mermaid or fit-and-flare style hugs the body to just past the hips, where it flares out into a very full hemline. Mermaid styles can be princess-seamed or a sheath with a separate flounce attached, forming the “tail”. Fishtail skirts present a narrow or slim skirt silhouette from the front, but have an inset piece of fabric in the back of the skirt, giving the back of the skirt fullness. Ballgowns are fitted at the bodice, have either a natural or dropped waistline, and the skirt is very full starting at the waist. The skirt is either pleated or gathered into the bodice seam. Ballgowns generally require a petticoat to be worn under them. Once you’ve decided on the location and formality or informality of your wedding, the choice of dress becomes easier. A formal wedding calls for a ballgown with a long train made in a brocade, duchesse satin or other formal fabric. On the other hand, a formal gown with a long train would look out of place at garden wedding with a barbeque reception. If you are getting married on-site at your reception location, your decision about having a train on your gown may be determined by whether you have stairs to walk up or down and whether the ceremony is indoors or outdoors. You want to be comfortable and not worrying about tripping over your dress at some point! Consider the time of year, too. Most of today’s gowns are strapless and in my experience, this is not a terrifically practical style. I have made more wraps, shrugs and matching bolero jackets for strapless dresses because the bride’s wedding is in October and it gets cold in September in the northeast! Also consider the shape or tone of your arms when deciding on strapless or sleeveless gowns. Some churches require your shoulders to be covered during the wedding ceremony. So many things to think about! I’ll give you one more nugget. Ready-to-wear gowns abound today, to the point of overwhelming you with choices. Consider having your gown custom made instead. While the same number of choices exists (and even to some extent, more choice since you are designing the gown from the ground up) your dressmaker can help guide you through the maze. She is skilled in the art of fitting the body so that the silhouette is flattering, she can help you choose the perfect fabric, and she will make a gown that will fit you like no other article of clothing you’ve ever worn. Unless you are the “perfect” size (that is, your measurements match the manufacturer’s size chart exactly), having a ready-to-wear gown altered to “fit” you not only adds many hundreds of dollars to the price of your gown, there is only so much you can do to change the fit of any garment. And, a custom made gown, even if it is a faithful rendering of your favorite designer gown, will be 100% unique and unlike any other bride’s wedding gown. And, after all, aren’t you 100% unique, too?