I’ve been hearing a lot about green weddings over the past year or so. While I knew they were supposed to be  weddings that were more friendly to the environment, I didn’t really know all the specifics about how brides were able to make their weddings so eco-friendly. But I’ve been looking into it lately, and there are lots of great ideas about how to keep your wedding from really harming the environment that I’ve decided to start a whole new series on green weddings. I’ve already done articles on conflict-free diamonds, and alternative wedding  flowers. One of the more important factors of having a green wedding is to find an environmentally friendly wedding dress. When it comes to choosing a wedding dress for your green (or earth friendly) wedding, there are many different options you can choose from.

Recycling an Old Wedding Dress

Many brides choose to wear their mother’s wedding dress as a way of recycling. If the style doesn’t work for you, then take it to get wedding dress alterations to change it up a little bit by adding some lace, removing puffy sleeves, or any other alterations you want to do to make the dress a style you would enjoy more. If your mom’s wedding dress won’t work, then consider asking a friend or other family member who wouldn’t mind you using their wedding dress.

Many brides who can not use their mother’s wedding dress for any particular reason, or a friend or family members also have more options when it comes to recycling their wedding dress. You can buy your wedding dress second-hand at a thrift shop or off of the Internet and then have it altered to meet what you want in a wedding dress. That will cut down on the number of chemicals and fuels used to make the gown, as well as the demand for labor overseas.

Buying an Organic Wedding Dress

This is another great option when you are planning a green wedding. There are now many designers who are offering lines of organic wedding weddings made from hemp and other types of environmentally safe materials. I’ve looked through many of the lines of organic wedding dresses, and while they look a little bit different from the normal wedding dresses you’ll see in a bridal shop, they are beautiful and comfortable dresses.

Making Your Own Wedding Dress

If you’re familiar with my blog at all, then I’m sure you know that I had my wedding dress special made by a friend of mine who made it just exactly what I wanted, and that I recommend doing this to everyone I can. If you choose to go this way, you buy the material for your wedding dress that is all natural, such as silk or a silk blend of some kind. The ladies at the fabric store should be able to help you find some all natural fabrics.

You’ll find that just taking a few simple steps while doing your wedding planning can help you save the environment from lots of waste unnecessary harm. Keep checking back for lots of great tips and tricks for planning an environmentally friendly wedding.

Tags: design your own wedding dress, Green Weddings, organic wedding dress, wedding dresses

If you’re purchasing your dress in a bridal boutique, or even purchasing it on the Internet, then most likely you’re looking at having to have some wedding dress alterations done. It seems that some wedding dresses need a major overhaul once they’re purchased to be able to tailor them to a particular person’s body type, which can be a lot of work for a seamstress. Taking in fabric on the top, taking it in at the waist (yea!), and other wedding dress alterations aren’t as easy as they look. Even if what you only need to have done is to take up the dress so it isn’t too long, then you’ll want to pay attention to some of these tried and true tips for making sure you get it done right the first time. Here is some great advice for taking care of your wedding dress alterations.

Watch Your Timing

It’s important to get your wedding dress alterations done at the right time. If you do your alterations too early, and are planning on dieting before the wedding, then your dress may be a bit too big on your wedding day. But, if you start too late, you could run into the danger of not being able to get everything done in time. You’ll want to be sure to factor in times for fittings as well, as wedding dresses having a lot done to them will need many fittings along the way to make sure everything is still fitting all right.

Which Seamstress to Use?

Many of the bridal boutiques will offer wedding dress alterations for their customers, but if you’ve bought your dress online or the bridal shop you used doesn’t offer alterations, then you’re kinda out of luck with that one. Be sure that you go to someone who specializes in bridal gowns, and not just any seamstress will do. Wedding gowns have so many complex details that it’s best to find a professional who has worked on wedding gowns in the past. This will keep you from any nasty surprises later.

What to Bring?

Once you’re ready to start your alterations, you should bring more than just your gown to your seamstress.  Be sure to bring a bag full of what you will be wearing with your dress on your wedding day. This includes your undergarments, shoes and any accessories you’ll be wearing with your dress. When you are trying on everything together, it will be easier to envision what you’ll look like on your wedding day. Having your wedding shoes on hand is important to get the length of your gown right so you won’t be tripping over it on your wedding day. If you don’t have your wedding shoes yet, then bring a pair that are close to the height you are looking for. If you bring your hair accessories or wedding veil with you, it will help to make sure that you have the right balance of frou frou (my families term for fancy stuff). It’s important to create some kind of balance with all of the articles in place.

How to get Out of Wedding Dress Alterations

I was exceptionally blessed during our wedding as I didn’t have to deal with wedding dress alterations. I chose to design my own wedding dress and had a dress that was made exactly to my body type and specifications for what I wanted in a wedding dress. The seamstress was a friend of the family, and a pro at creating beautiful wedding gowns at a fraction of the cost of a bridal boutique. So if you are looking at altering your wedding dress so that it looks like a whole new dress with a new style, then here’s a great way you can save some money. Instead of paying full price for a dress you want to change, then paying a seamstress a lot of money, why not find a wedding dress seamstress who can create the exact dress you want to meet what you want? Sounds like a lot less hassle to me.

Your wedding dress alterations are important to take care of as soon as possible. Be sure to keep in mind that the more things you need to have done to your wedding dress, the more time it is going to take and most likely, the more money it is going to cost. Wedding dress alterations are something you don’t want to rush, or you could wind up with some disappointing results.

Tags: design your own wedding dress, wedding dress, wedding dress alterations

While I was doing my wedding planning, I was determined to find what I considered a modest wedding dress. I knew that I wouldn’t be comfortable wearing anything strapless or too low cut. And the last thing a bride needs on her wedding day is to be self-conscious of her dress, or worried that she didn’t buy the right style of wedding dress. But as I started looking around in the different wedding boutiques and shops in the areas around me, I found that the kind of dress I was looking for just wasn’t available in the places I was looking. I wanted something with perhaps a cap sleeve, as I knew I’d be uncomfortable in anything else. So I set out looking for some kind of a modest wedding dress that I would feel comfortable wearing. And it took me on quite a journey. So if you’re in this position, trying to find some kind of modest wedding dress, let me tell you that it isn’t impossible to find. Here are some great places to find what you’re looking for.

Modest Wedding Dresses on the Internet

This one is really kind of a no-brainer. There are many different websites that offer lines of modest wedding dresses that you can purchase off of the Internet. If you’re nervous about buying something that important off of the Internet, then no need to fear. Nearly all of the websites that sell wedding dresses are trustworthy, just make sure that they have a secure system to take payments. Take your measurements so you know what size of dress to order, and any other basic alterations the dress needs once it arrives can be done with a local trusted seamstress or family member.

Design Your Own Modest Wedding Dress

This is the route that I chose to take, and it’s easier than you might think. All I had to do was find several wedding dresses that I liked, or rather, wedding dresses with particular attributes that I liked. For example, I found a picture of a wedding dress with beautiful capped sleeves that I liked, one with a a higher cut V-neck, and a dress wtih the beading that I liked. And then, my aunt had a dear friend who made wedding dresses, and I went and showed her the pictures I had collected. She took my measurements, went with me to pick out fabric and beading, and created the modest wedding dress I had been dreaming of.

Altering A Wedding Dress to Your Desires

I have a dear friend who went this route. She purchased a wedding dress with beading and style that she loved, and then she took it to an alterer and had pieces of fabric added to the top to make into a more modest wedding dress. This method can get a bit pricey, and you do run the risk of making the dress look unnatural if your seamstress is less than par.

These are just a few of the routes that you can take to either find or to create your own modest wedding dress. But just bear in mind that if you are not comfortable wearing any kind of wedding dress out there, then don’t settle until you have the wedding dress that you love.

Tags: Alterations, Attributes, Beading, Beautiful, Brainer, Cap Sleeve, design your own wedding dress, Family Member, Journey, Measurements, Modest Dresses, modest wedding dress, modest wedding dress online, Modest Wedding Dresses, Seamstress, Secure System, Wedding Boutiques, wedding day, wedding dresses, Wedding Planning

It seems beneficial that after a certain amount of time we should look back on all of the helpful articles that have been provided in the past. With the multitude of articles available on this site, sometimes it can be quite difficult to locate the article that you need at a particular point in your wedding planning. With 25 plus categories and over 110 helpful articles, there is a lot of information to sort through to find what you are looking for. So I thought I’d look back over the last few months and put some of our most popular and helpful wedding dress articles all here in one place for you to look at, and easily look at the articles which will help you the most. So without further ado, here are the Top 5 Wedding Dress articles for us here at Wedding Help.The headings are links to the different articles, and they won’t close the screen you’re in, so read away!

Find a Wedding Dress for Your Body Type

This article goes through the several different body shapes and types, and lists what types of dresses will work best for that body type. An important aspect of your wedding dress shopping is to discover what kinds of dresses will look the best on you, and what you love. To help you out this this, it is important to know what kinds of dresses are best for your body type, and this article has always been a fan favorite. Check it out.

Design Your Own Wedding Dress

This article is far and away one of the most popular and informative articles that our site has put out. Many brides, not wanting to look like every other bride out there, choose to design their own wedding dress. This article has lots of helpful hints to helping you know where to start, what to look for, and much more to help you create your dream wedding dress.

Which Neckline Works Best with My Body Type?

Once you understand what type of wedding dress you’d like to have, then you need to start looking at necklines for your wedding dress. There are so many different types of wedding dress necklines, that sometimes it can be hard to choose from them all. This article has a great list of the many different necklines so that you can choose. You’ll find that most wedding dress shops do not carry all of the different necklines, so choose carefully.

Non-Traditional Wedding Dresses

While some girls dream their whole lives of a big white wedding dress, some couldn’t bear the thought. Here are some great choices for non-traditional wedding dresses for those ladies who just want something different from everybody else.

Why Does the Bride Wear White?

I wrote this article after someone wrote in and asked me a very good question about all the different traditions in weddings. This article describes the basic reason of why brides traditionally have always worn white in weddings. Some may not agree with some of the points listed, but they are the Christian traditions and purposes of wearing white in the wedding ceremony.

To most brides, their wedding dress is the most important part of the wedding planning. Even if you haven’t had your wedding dress picked out since you were 5 years old, wedding dresses are still a very important part of wedding planning. As the bride, all eyes will be on you, and you want to look your best. These articles listed above are the most popular articles I have on helping the brides to pick out their perfect wedding dress. As always, if you need extra help, please check out the other articles in the Wedding Dresses category, or write and ask me a question. Happy wedding planning.

Tags: bride in white, design your own wedding dress, non-traditional wedding dresses, wedding dress body type, wedding dresses

If you have been wedding dress shopping, I’m sure that you have found that besides a few minor differences, most wedding shops have the same wedding dresses over and over again. Nearly all of them are strapless wedding dresses with large full skirts and lots of beading. Not only did I not want a strapless wedding dress, I wanted a wedding dress that was somewhat modest. I didn’t want to show off a bunch of cleavage, and with me being so short, feel like everyone was looking down my dress the whole time. Not long into my wedding dress searching, I decided that I wanted to create my own wedding dress, with everything that I wanted. You can create your own wedding dress just as easy, trust me. With technology being the way it is, being able to create your own wedding dress is getting easier than ever. Let me explain what I mean, and how easy it can be to create your own wedding dress.

Create Your Own Wedding Dress Software

You knew it was coming. Some smart soul out there who creates a wonderful piece of technology allowing brides and other girls to play dress up on the computer. No more paper dolls or barbies, but an online paper doll and the ability to change her hair, dress, and much more. This kind of software may be helpful in that you can put different tops and bottoms on the online model, but as far as I know, you can’t create anything to put on them, only use what is available in the program. Unfortunately, I don’t know of any software program which brides can purchase to help them create their own wedding dress. If you do, write me so I can check it out and let everybody know about it. These software programs can help you to create your own wedding dress, but if you don’t know what you’re looking for, they can also just be a waste of time.

Create Your Own Wedding Dress by Trying on Dresses

As always, my first piece of advice when wanting to create your own wedding dress is to try on as many different styles as possible to see Find a Wedding Dress for Your Body Type. This will really help you a whole lot in the long run, as you find out what styles you love, what looks terrible on you, and what kind of necklines work best for you as well. Bring in a camera and take pictures, or bring a notebook,then you should be ready to create your own wedding dress. Have a neckline that you want for the dress, as well as what kind of skirt to have. Then, as described in my Design Your Own Wedding Dress Article, go and find a seamstress who is able to create the wedding dress for you. If you can sew yourself, then go for it! Fabric shops do sell patterns to write down different parts of the dresses that you like. Also, bring a friend who’ll be honest and tell you what looks good and what doesn’t.

Create Your Own Wedding Dress

Once you have a basic idea of what you like in a for wedding dresses, as well as many Internet websites, and you should be able to find the parts of the dress you want and put them together. The whole reason I wanted to create my own wedding dress was because I didn’t want to look like any other bride with the same old strapless dress. I wanted a wedding dress with a V-neckline, and I didn’t want to pay a whole bunch of money for it. Trust me, when you decide to create your own wedding dress, you’ll find that not only will you love the dress more, but you’ll save a bunch of money as well, which is always worth it!

Tags: create your own wedding dress, design your own wedding dress, wedding dress software, wedding dresses

Many brides today want to look unique, different from any other bride out there. It’s hard to do that when most brides typically shop at the same stores you are looking at for your wedding dress. There are only so many dresses, and in my opinion, I’ve seen enough brides in strapless dresses to last me a lifetime. Trust me, not every body type out there looks good in a strapless wedding dress. If you’re unsure, check out my article, Find a Wedding Dress for Your Body Type and What Neckline Works Best with my Body Type? Many brides now are looking for ways to design their own wedding dresses, and its a good thing. Your wedding dress should reflect you and your personality, which is different and unique from everyone else out there. If you are wondering how you can design your won wedding dress, then here some great pointers to get you started.

Find out what you like

A wedding dress is different from any other dress that you will ever wear. They’re bigger, heavier and fancier than any dress I own, and I own a lot of dresses. So if you don’t already know what kind of wedding dresses you like, then go into a bridal shop and try on as many dresses as it takes. Look at the different necklines, waistlines, and beading, and patterns to help you decide which you like. Bring a camera and take pictures of what you like and a notebook to help you remember later.

Design Your Own Wedding Dress

You don’t have to have any special software or skills to do design your own wedding dress, just pictures of what you like. If you have a friend or family member who is a seamstress, go and talk to them about making your dress, and if not, then go to fabric stores and start asking around. Most fabric stores will have business cards of ladies who can make wedding dresses for you. Set up a meeting with your seamstress and take your pictures and notebook of ideas. A good seamstress can look at your pictures and be able to copy the different ideas that you have into one dress. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Learn to Love Fittings!

A lot of brides I know complain about having to go to fittings. I don’t understand it. Especially when you design your own wedding dress. You want to make sure during the dress making process that you are happy with the way the dress is coming out and making sure that it fits. Don’t be afraid to let your seamstress know if you don’t like something about the dress so that it can be changed early.

An Added Benefit

When you design your own wedding dress, the cost of the dress does decrease considerably. You will typically pay your seamstress a flat amount, along with the cost of materials (which is surprisingly inexpensive – the satin for my dress was only $7 a yard, and I only needed 7 yards). So, for less money you get a dress that you absolutely love, totally unique, for less money. Can’t beat it!!

If you’re still unsure if you want to create your own wedding dress, then check out my article, Custom Made Wedding Dresses. Find out why I chose to design my own wedding dress, and why I recommend it to everyone I know getting married. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me!

Tags: Beading, Bridal Shop, Brides, Business Cards, design your own wedding dress, Fabric Stores, Family Member, Lifetime, Lot, neckline, Necklines, Notebook, Personality, Pointers, Seamstress, Special Software, Strapless Dresses, strapless wedding dress, Waistlines, wedding dress, wedding dresses, Wedding Pictures