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Bridal Dress Ideas for a Winter Wedding

You are officially man and wife. You kiss him lovingly and then make your way out of the church only to find yourself frozen in your steps due to the freezing low temperature outside. Perhaps you should have gotten advice from a wedding dress consultant on the practicality of your chiffon wedding dress during winter. Rule number one in picking a wedding dress for a winter wedding is to select one that will keep you adequately warm throughout your journey to and back from the church. During your big day, you wouldn’t want to be troubled with frostbite just for the sake of looking beautiful.

Nevertheless, there is still room for an enchanting bride in winter, as it is also a fact that there are many winter wedding gowns to choose from. While most of these selections do not include a strapless, tea-length organza gown, you will still be able to locate the perfect winter wedding dress with ease.

Winter Wedding Dress Trains

It is always good to remember that perfect wedding dresses come with long trains. Celebrities and royalty alike set records for lavishly embroidered designer wedding dresses with unusually long trains. Nevertheless, long cathedral trains are not strict necessity, with 10 feet usually being the maximum practical length.

If trains are not your cup of tea, you should then consider a wedding dress that extends to the floor, instead of one that will protect your knees. Otherwise, wedding boots can be a great alternative. Laced-up wedding boots are more becoming of winter weddings as they protect the bride’s feet from the cold whilst sacrificing none of her fashion sense. Having a little less sense would probably land you with a ball gown wedding dress. Nevertheless, if you have a problem with the size of your hips, this would be the best decision you would have ever made.

Some Protective Coverings for Winter Bridal Gowns

Protective coverings at the top area usually revolve around shawls made of silk or other heavier material. Apart from that, sleeves or illusion jackets are also great options. Usually, the sleeves of wedding gowns are made of sheer fabric, net or illusion. Long sleeves may button up near the wrist or open up like angel sleeves. Another long sleeve design is the gauntlet, where the ends of the sleeve is held on by the middle finger to produce a slimming V-figure on the back of your palm.

Alternatively, there are also sleeves that open out like the angel sleeves which are usually made of see-through fabric such as chiffon. The flowing characteristic unique to chiffon also allows wedding designers to provide sleeves with that sweeping effect when the sleeve is extended. In addition to that, a laced net on top of satin fabric would do great to produce thick sleeves with translucent effects. Otherwise, the bride can always go for a two-piece gown: a wedding gown inside and an embroidery-laced jacket on the outside. Apart from that, there are also designs that lengthen the back of the laced jacket into a cathedral laced train.

Wedding dresses can also incorporate extra protection against the cold with the use of gloves and hooded overcoats. Sheer gloves or kid gloves project a romantic and classical femininity to the bride and they also go well with open-ended sleeves.

Bear in mind that gloves should slip on and off easily as you need to exchange rings during the wedding ceremony. Apart from that, white bridal overcoats with fur-covered hoods work wonders in keeping the shoulder area warm. Having an overcoat also allows the bride to wear a strapless wedding dress as it can protect the bride from the cold outside of the chapel.

Warm Fabrics for Winter Weddings

Fabric also plays an important part in keeping the bride warm. The few common fabrics entrusted with this responsibility are satin, brocade, heavy lace and velvet. For more designs on the fabric, brides can also choose to have two different layers of fabric on top of each other. The outer part is usually made of thinner material like chiffon and tulle which can be embroidered upon whereas the inner part is of a thicker fabric. Other embellishments like beadwork, accents and lace will help to add layers to the dress.