Last night I attended an awards banquet and party for a local industry organization. The theme was My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding and we were all encouraged to dress the part. I’m not going to go into the specifics of why, but I actually own a big pink tulle wedding dress, so this was my natural choice and I wore it complete with tiara and hot pink poufy veil.

From the time I put the dress on to the time I took it off measured 7 hours and I can tell you that it really brought me back to when I was wearing my own wedding dress for my wedding. But that’s been several years and I may have forgotten, just a tensy bit, what it was like to wear that dress. But man do I remember now! It occurred to me, as I was complaining to my husband about how I couldn’t wait to take this damn thing off, that all of my new brides have never had this experience and I should probably take a moment and give some tips on “what to expect when you’re expecting to wear a wedding dress”.

Tip 1 – It’s Hot! Damn Hot! Remember, it’s not just the dress you’re wearing. It’s all the layers under it that kill you! By the time you put on the corset bra, spanx (if you wear these), the petticoat (the thing that makes the dress poufy at the bottom), hair extensions (yeah, these are hot too – and itchy, very itchy), and veil, you are going to start feeling a little warm. And by the time you add the dress on top of it all you’re going to wish you’d brought your own personal fan! And that’s what I recommend. If you have a little oscillating fan at home, throw it in the car to take to the venue that you’re planning to get dressed at. You can point that thing right up under that dress if you feel a need!

Tip 2 – Choose your shoes wisely! I remembered this from my own wedding and it’s a tip I share frequently with my brides. Wear low heels or even flats. Yes, I know, tall heels make your butt look fab. Trust me – most dresses don’t show off your butt anyway so why put yourself through the pain. You are going to be in those heels for hours and hours. And be expected to behave gracefully through hours of dancing in them as well. You may be surprised (or not) to know that a majority of my brides don’t take this advice and are barefoot by the end of the night. Your barefoot feet and the broken glass from the drink your drunk bridesmaid dropped on the dance floor do not mix. If you insist on super high heels, I beg of you to at least bring along some super cute wedding flats for when you can’t take those heels anymore.

Tip 3 – Dress length is super important! I suggest that you have your seamstress hem your dress to no longer than lower ankle length for low shoes and no lower than allowing the shoe to show if you’re wearing higher shoes. I know that a lot of you want your dresses to touch the floor, but have you ever worn a dress that was so long that it touched the floor? How about that cute summer dress that’s long and practically drags the ground? Do you remember how many times you’ve tripped on that dress? How about the times your fiance stepped on it and almost tripped you both? Well the same thing is going to happen with this dress – except worse – because it’s bigger and heavier. And don’t forget about the petticoat. If you’re wearing one under your dress this needs to be hemmed as well. You don’t want to be tripping over yourself all day and night.

Tip 4 – Try to dress at your venue! If you get dressed at home, you will need to be driven to the church/venue/reception site and you need to consider how you’re going to do this. What car are you riding in? Is there enough room for you AND your dress? Trust me when I tell you that most dresses take up the vehicle space of at least two people. Is there enough room in the vehicle for a driver and your maid of honor? And don’t even consider driving yourself in this dress! You don’t want to wrinkle your beautiful gown, or worse, shut part of it in the door and ruin it!

Tip 5 – Choose your Maid of Honor wisely! You may be wondering what in the world this has to do with your wedding dress so I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Your Maid of Honor is going to have to take you to the potty at some time during the night. And wedding dresses are usually not potty friendly! So, you (and your Maid of Honor) are at some point going to be wrestling a multilayer petticoat and wedding gown up into the air in the handicap stall of your venue and she’s going to have to hold it all up while you pee. Fun times! So, If you can’t pee in front of your Maid of Honor you may want to ask yourself if you’ve chosen correctly.

I have more tips so maybe I’ll write a Part 2 someday soon. We’ll see. Either way, this feels like enough for now. Have fun with those dresses ladies!

Cheryl Bailey
Owner, Yellow Umbrella Events
Yellow Umbrella Events…the cure for the common event!