Your wedding is a unique opportunity to celebrate the commitment you and your partner are making to one another. While the wedding needs music, a venue, and decorations to be successful, the attire by those in attendance has the potential to enhance the celebration even more. Specifically, it’s important for you, as the bride, to sport a beautiful bridal gown. The perfect dress does more than impress and look beautiful. It accentuates your best features, offers you optimal comfort, and makes you feel confident and powerful.
Jovani recognizes that brides-to-be don’t need yet another thing to stress over when planning their dream wedding. That’s why we strive to make the selection process simple and fun with our extensive collection of Jovani wedding dresses. This also extends to outfits for everyone in your bridal party, including mother of the bride dresses.
Don’t risk being distressed on your wedding day because you begin to question and regret the look and fit of your wedding dress. We encourage you to visit us in person to try on as many of our Jovani wedding dresses as needed. Our consultants can be of service to ensure you are satisfied with your selection. While we are more than happy to offer guidance and advice, it is a good idea to have your own opinions and ideas in mind. That way, we can get an overview of your personal preferences without any outside influences interfering.
Before stopping by one of the many retailers who carry our exclusive line of wedding gowns, browse our catalog and keep these 3 vital aspects of choosing the perfect bridal gown in mind!
1) Your Dress’s Shape
The shape of your wedding dress is its foundation. Do you want a loose, flowing wedding dress that grants you unrestricted movement? Or do you prefer a tighter and sexier bridal gown that hugs your curves? Our collection of Jovani wedding dresses has something for every bride-to-be, no matter your body type.
Maybe you are unsure of what wedding dress shape would best fit your personal preferences. The popular form shape wedding dresses are a choice no bride can go wrong with. A form shape dress naturally conforms to your body’s beautiful and feminine shape. Here are some common form shape wedding dresses that you can consider.
Mermaid
This shape is form-fitting to your upper body, from the chest to the knees. It becomes looser as it flows to the floor. It is a very sensual dress shape that prominently shows off all of your curves. The mermaid dress is perfect for the women who are confident and wish to flaunt their feminine charms. Women of all body types, whether you have a short or tall frame, or are slender or curvy, can don this bold wedding dress shape.
The Mermaid bridal gown can be accentuated with additional details, such as lace, sequins, gems, and jewels. However, if you want a simpler look, this dress shape can just as effectively be worn plain with no additional decorations or embellishments.
A-Line
An A-line wedding dress shape is a safe and modest choice. The dress flows out to the floor in a simple and elegant manner but not in a way that is overly elaborate. In fact, it gets the “A” in its name from the controlled, simple lines and how it flows to the floor. As a semi-form-fitting dress shape, the A-line style hugs the waist and chest. It is best compared to a simplified version of a ballgown. All body types can rock this bridal gown shape.
Any wedding dress with the A-Line shape is easy to modify because of its versatile nature. This means that you can easily have this dress shape tailored for your build and frame.
Ballgown
This voluminous bridal gown is a regal and extravagant choice. It is perfect for the bride who wants to truly feel like a princess on her special day. The ballgown wedding dress shape has a fitted bodice and flows dramatically to the floor. Because of this dress’s tight upper half and looser lower half, all of the attention will be on your waist.
With ballgown wedding dresses, the beloved shape always stays consistent. However, there are a variety of ballgown dresses available in our Jovani wedding dress collection that fit all body types and sizes.
Short Dress
Most women shy away from short wedding dresses. This type of wedding dress is seen as unconventional and strays from long-held family traditions of floor-length dresses. If you are one for breaking with tradition or have always envisioned yourself in being utterly unique with your wedding, consider opting for a short wedding dress!
A short wedding dress will offer mobility that you may not get with a heavier and more constricting bridal gown shape. To make sure your short dress still belongs at a wedding, we have short wedding dresses available in feminine materials, like chiffon, satin, and tulle. Short Jovani wedding dresses can vary in length, from knee-length to above the knee. They are perfect for modern, casual weddings.
Trumpet
Bridal gowns with a trumpet shape are ideal for curvy women who wish to invest in form-fitting attire. The trumpet wedding dress shape flows into a skirt, but it is less elaborate than a ballgown’s skirt. While the trumpet shape fits to your body shape, the mermaid is more fitted than the trumpet. It is important to keep these subtle differences in mind when selecting the right bridal gown to wear on your special day.
2) Sleeve Lengths
Sleeves of bridal gowns are often not given enough consideration. The look of a wedding dress can be completely altered, depending on the sleeve length you choose.
Full-Length or Long Sleeves
In the past, members of the royal family, like Princess Diana and Princess Kate, have chosen long sleeves for their wedding dresses. Full-length or long sleeves are ideal for adding an element of sophistication and royalty to your wedding dress. Full-length sleeves are best suited for traditional weddings held in formal locations, such as cathedrals, churches, or historical locations.
¾ Sleeves
If full length sleeves won’t complement the dress or theme you have selected, or if the warmer weather in your area will make long sleeves uncomfortable, go with ¾ sleeves. ¾ sleeves will still allow you to achieve a sophisticated and royal look, all while wearing a little less material. These sleeves tend to reach somewhere between the wrist and the elbow, depending on your personal preference. With ¾ sleeves, you will be able to draw attention to other aspects of your dress, like its skirt or fitted bodice.
Cap Sleeves
Cap sleeves, which are typically made with lace, fit onto your shoulders and stop right at the top of your arms. They tend to go well with classically themed wedding dresses. They offer a timeless and feminine look.
Sleeveless
Many women are choosing to skip the sleeves altogether. Sleeveless bridal gowns most often go well with modern venues and themes. A sleeveless bridal gown allows you to show off your arms and shoulders, as well as a wedding up-do or any accessories that you wish to flaunt.
Often times, sleeveless dresses come with a bit of support, so you do not have to worry about your dress slipping during the most important parts of your special day. This support is typically found in the form of spaghetti straps, which still leave the shoulders bare enough to reap the benefits that a sleeveless wedding dress look offers. Halter tops are also another elegant choice that provide support for sleeveless dresses. Halter styles are great pairings with backless dresses.
3) Necklines
The neckline alone can greatly enhance the look of whichever bridal gown you choose. You do not have to compromise the shape of your wedding dress to accommodate a favorite neckline. With the right adjustments, the variety of necklines available will fit with any of our Jovani wedding dresses.
Sweetheart
This is arguably the most prominent neckline in our culture. It is an easy one to spot, as the shape of this neckline resembles the top of a heart. With this neckline, the heart-shaped portion rests over your chest. If you want certain degrees of support and cleavage covered (or exposed), you can choose to have the heart portion of your wedding dress rest high or low. Brides of all bust sizes have confidently worn this neckline style. It accommodates any chest type.
High Neck
The high-neck style has been a timeless one that speaks to tradition and modesty. This neckline covers the majority of your chest, and it can be worn at both classic and modern church weddings. A high neckline can resemble a turtleneck and reach your neck itself, or it can stop slightly before the neck. High necklines go well with simpler dresses, like trumpet and A-line shaped dresses. These lack excessive volume in the skirt area and balance well with the coverage afforded by the high neck.
If the idea of completely covering your chest doesn’t appeal to you, there are different routes to take that still allow a degree of modesty to be maintained. For instance, you can have the dress’s fabric stop at a certain point, such as right under the collarbones to accentuate their feminine appeal. Another option is to have the main portion of the chest stop just above the cleavage and a lacy fabric fill the remaining space up to your neckline.
Illusion
This neckline is similar to one of the options for for the high neckline. If you want to maintain the comfort of additional fabric and still be able to show off some skin, an illusion neckline is a good choice for you. The sheer or lacy fabric can feature an elegant floral or abstract design, or you can allow the lace to stand on its own for a simpler look.
Off the Shoulder
This neckline is a great cross between the sensual sweetheart and the modest high necklines. With this neckline, your dress will have straps that rest right below the shoulder. The look that is produced by an off the shoulder neckline is similar to the look achieved by a sleeveless wedding dress. However, the difference here is that an off the shoulder dress has straps that serve as automatic, built-in support. Sleeveless wedding dresses, on the other hand, require some modifications to offer the support that is lacking.
If you appreciate the look of a sleeveless dress but prefer more support, an off the shoulder dress may be for you. With an off the shoulder dress, you will be able to show off the elegant silhouette of your shoulders, neck, and collarbone, just as you would with a sleeveless dress.
V Neck
The V dip is a timeless look. You can make the dip shallow or deep, depending on how dramatic of an angle you want to achieve. Because of the way the V neck plunges down, this neckline is able to provide a slimming look that many brides appreciate. It often goes best with cap sleeves, so consider a V neck dress if you are a fan of these types of sleeves.
Putting It All Together
These 3 aspects of choosing the bridal gown that is right for you should be initially considered individually in order for you to determine if you like them on their own. Then, they should be considered in relation to each other to see if the wedding dress shape, sleeve length, and neckline you have selected all complement one another in a way that you enjoy.
In addition to the style of the dress itself, outside factors might also influence your selection. For example, your wedding’s theme, the weather, and a certain degree of modesty expected by family members might determine which dresses are in and which are out. Be sure to carefully weigh these factors into your final decision as well.
Find Your Wedding Dress at Jovani
After being inspired by our online catalog and tips, visit us at one of our main retailers across the nation! You’ll be able to see our bridal gowns in person and pick the dress that speaks to you.
Finding the right wedding dress is all about preparation. Everyone has different ideas of the flawless bridal gown, and Jovani is here to help ease you into this often time-consuming and challenging process. Our wide selection of Jovani wedding dresses guarantees that every bride can find their perfect wedding dress.
