How to Accessorize Your Wedding Dress for the Big Day
When it comes to planning your wedding, some of the most fun is after you’re engaged, and you start planning for the big day. Picking the flowers, the venue, and even what season you’ll be hosting your wedding is all a part of planning fun! However, one of the most daunting choices for most brides is choosing your wedding dress.
The season of the year, location or destination, your comfort, style, and even your family play many roles in choosing your dress. When you start to go dress shopping, you should have your season, location, and theme picked out so you can envision what you want to look like in your gown.
Having this vision in mind when dress shopping will help you to decide on an actual gown because it’s not just about picking the one dress; it’s about styling the dress to your vision. What jewelry are you wearing? Will your style choices look good with your dress? Do you want to wear heels, and how will that affect you walking down the aisle?
All these thoughts come to mind when deciding how to accessorize your wedding dress. There are many things to think of, but it’s your job to enjoy your wedding planning and fulfill your vision so that you love your wedding dress, from your veil to your shoes.
Determine Your Wedding Theme
After deciding on a location and the season, you should determine your wedding’s theme next. Your wedding’s theme can significantly impact the selection of your wedding dress. So how exactly do you choose your wedding theme? You could start by designing your wedding around the season you want to have it in.
A Fall wedding would consist of caramel browns and deep, rich burgundies with a higher neckline dress. A Winter wedding could have twinkling Christmas lights with a full-sleeve wedding dress. A Summer wedding fits beautiful, bright colored flowers with a strapless dress. You can choose your theme by destination or location.
A theme for your wedding changes your dress because you might want sleeves on your gown if you are in colder weather or a beautifully soft silk material for a spring tea wedding.
The theme of your wedding will guide your choice of a wedding dress. That’s why it should be first on your list to find your dream dress.
2. Consider Your Dress Pattern and Color
One of the best ways to accessorize your wedding dress is to choose a gown that is already visually interesting. The material and patterns on the dress can give it texture and intrigue without adding extra accessories that may take away from you or the dress of your dreams.
But dress patterns can also clash with other bridal elements, which is why it’s important to select your dress before other accessories. For example, let’s say you chose a floral wedding dress you fell in love with immediately. But, you planned on purchasing a veil with snowflakes on it. Or you selected some unique shoes with a bold pattern that clash with the pattern of your dress.
These elements together don’t work well, so it’s important to make sure every bridal accessory is harmonious.
Another example to consider is color clash. If you chose a non-traditional dress color, such as peach or navy, you must consider how that color fits with all your accessories. Will you look for a white veil and shoes? Will you choose a coordinating color to go along with your non-traditional dress color?
Blush pink mermaid wedding dress with rose skirt by LamnhiBridals
3. Choose a Veil & Hair Piece
The most significant statement piece in your accessories is your veil. Veils are one of the most iconic bridal accessories, and although they are one of the most historic pieces of your bridal vision, they are now seen more as a statement piece.
Veils are usually chosen by length and how well they coordinate with the dress, but you should pick one that fits your bridal vision.
Veils can be the star of your wedding photos when appropriately chosen. Some families have a veil passed down through the generations, and you might want to center your dress choice around the veil. Some brides opt to skip the veil entirely and just go with a glamorous hairpiece or even a floral crown.
Hairpieces won’t let you down if your ceremony happens to get a little windy but can give your style that little extra something that you’re looking for. Or have you ever considered a wedding cape? It gives you all of the sweeping glamour of a veil without having to put anything on your head.
Blusher Bridal Bird Cage Veil by DazzlingLilia
Embroidery flower veil by LamnhiBridals
Flower Lace Veil with Pearls by MelvinSmithDesigns
4. Step Into Some Shoes
If you lovers decide to get married with your toes in the sand, you can move right on to some shiny suggestions. But if you’re looking to consider your shoes to match your style, we can help you there.
Classic white high heels will never do your style wrong, but just make sure that it’s something that you are comfortable spending time in, dancing in, and of course, walking down an aisle in.
Brides choose a variety of shoes to walk down the isle in, including heels, sneakers, flats, and sandals. The choice of a shoe depends largely on the bride, where you’re getting married, and the style of your wedding.
If you are getting married outdoors with limited amounts of concrete or solid surfaces, heels are best to stay away from. The unstable surfaces of the ground can break your shoes, have you sink into the ground, or become a tripping hazard.
If you are getting married indoors, heels or graceful flats are a good option. If you are a bride that hates formality or “girly” dresswear, consider choosing some well-designed sneakers.
5. Choose Your Bridal Jewelry
Bridal jewelry is always something that catches the eye, and we’re not talking about our wedding rings. Choosing a wedding jewelry set can be extremely sentimental. You could update a family heirloom to wear, or you could start your own traditional jewelry set to be passed down to your children.
We suggest making sure the jewelry set matches your wedding rings in the metal that they’re set in. A simple string of pearls or flowery, ornate pieces can give your wedding bling a whimsical feel. But for the more edgy bridal style, you can find more out-of-the-box pieces like colorful gems to add some color.
When deciding how to accessorize your wedding dress, consider other elements. If your wedding dress has a low back, consider a dainty jewelry piece to accentuate it. They can add a touch of glitter to your look, especially when your back is to your family.
With a plunging line in the back, this can even add a little sexy flair. And some say it’s taboo to want to feel sexy in your wedding dress, but who doesn’t want sexy on their wedding day?
Feel gorgeous with a little glitter. We’re all adults here.
Bridal Back Drop Necklace by bySone
Don’t Forget Your “Something Blue”
Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a sixpence in your shoe. This timeless rhyme is a list of things that any bride can wear on her wedding day that can bring luck to your big day and also into your marriage.
The items listed in the rhyme are to help tie in a bride’s past, bring hope for the future, borrow some luck from a friend, and hope for prosperity in the future. Something blue is the most significant piece of this rhyme, as blue stands for love, the fidelity of true love, and the purity of marriage.
As much as we love the blue flowers for accents or even some blue incorporated into your bridal jewelry, more exciting options are definitely out there. A beautiful compact to make sure your makeup stays touched up is one option, and we love how it can be turned into a family heirloom too.
Or a beautifully embroidered handkerchief to catch only happy tears. There’s always the option of the peep of the gorgeous blue heel, but if you opt for sneakers, you could always think a little outside the box and wear a touch of blue with your socks.
It’s giving real Father of the Bride vibes.
Something Blue-Personalized Compact Mirror by CrystalFiligree
Monogrammed Something Blue Bride Handkerchief by Mollyandmom
Final Thought
Accessories are everything to make a statement about your style, but nothing says bride quite like these iconic accessories. Finding bridal accessories should be a fun part of the process.
Don’t let it stress you out, and only choose what you love and what makes you feel beautiful on your big day.
