The first thing to do is work out what you want to pay. Then what style and color of wedding dress would best suit your body shape and skin tone.

Step 1: Work out what you can afford or want to pay

Wedding dresses can cost from a few hundred to thousands of dollars. What you want to pay is up to you it is a very individual thing. Some people would rather spend more money on the honeymoon, wedding or buying a home than on a wedding dress.

Mood Board showing A-Line/ Princess Styles created by Rosena on SampleBoard.com

Step 2: Workout the best style of wedding dress for you according to your body shape  

The strapless Ball Gown style of wedding dress is suitable for tall thin women with broad shoulders. Ladies with pear shaped figures can also look great in the style. The Princess Line style of dress is ideal for petite ladies but suits most figure types. A Line styled dresses are one of the most popular styles of wedding dresses and can help camouflage the fuller figure.

Boyish figures look great in Column style dresses. Short brides can appear taller in the Strapless Sheath style of wedding gown. This is not a good style for those with fuller figures. Mermaid and Fishtail styled wedding dresses suit ladies with well proportioned figures and is not suitable for those who have a flat chest and/or are very skinny.

You may find my blogs ‘How to decide which style of wedding dress is best for you; Part 1: the Ball Gown’ http://wp.me/p1jrSa-gt and ‘How to decide which style of wedding dress is best for you: Part 2’ http://wp.me/p1jrSa-gz helpful.

Mood Board examples of Ball Gowns created by Rosena on SampleBoard.com

Step 3: Workout the best color of wedding dress for you according to your skin tone

As far as skin tone is concerned basically you can have a warm yellow undertone or a cool blue undertone skin color. It can be helpful to have your colors done to determine what type you are. If you have a warm undertone then creams and ivory colored gowns will flatter your skin tone. It you have a cool undertone then pure white and blue whites would be the most flattering colored wedding gown for you.

Once you have determined the best style and most flattering color for your gown you can now start your search for the perfect wedding gown. My wedding gown was in a ivory white satin in a princess style as I am petite just under 5ft (I was upset when a number of years ago I read ‘when you stop growing you start to shrink’ I told my husband I was horrified and we had a good laugh. I mean what else can you do? I did wear very high platform shoes) One of the best things I ever did was have my colors done. Its well worth the money as it can save you time and money in the long run.

Mood Board examples of Column styles created by Rosena on SampleBoard.com

Step 4: Find examples of your ideal style of wedding gown by doing an Online Search

So armed with this vital information you can start you search. Search the net for ideas. It is so much easier to do extensive searches for your dream wedding dress there are so many wedding and designer sites. The challenge is not to get overwhelmed with so many choices. But if you have followed the first two steps above you could have overcome this dilemma by narrowing the field to the best style and color for you. Try to stay on tract by only looking for the styles and colors you have decided on.

You can copy any images of dresses you like and create a folder to place your selections in. You may find it helpful to create some mood boards on this site. We have many images of beautiful wedding dresses helpfully divided into the style categories mentioned above. You can then save the sample boards to your folder.

Mood Board examples of Mermaid style created by Rosena on SampleBoard.com

Purchasing a wedding gown over the internet can be risky. Some sites will sell you badly made poor imitations if designer labels. So it pays to do your home work. Check out what sort of recourse you have if the dress does not meet your expectations also check out what sort of guarantee you have of receiving the dress well on time. Also note different countries sizes can vary, so make sure to check this carefully.

Step 5: Visit bridal boutiques to try on some wedding gowns

Go through your folder and select the dresses you like best. You can reduce the size of the images so they all fit on one or two pages. Then print the pages to take with you as you shop. Take a trust friend or family member with you. Make sure the person knows what you want and is not too pushy.

Mood Board 'White' created by Rosena on SampleBoard.com

Try to go to the shops when they are not too busy, maybe you could organize to have a day off work. This means you avoid busy days like Friday and Saturdays. With some bridal boutiques you have to make an appointment. You may find it best to visit a number of shops to have a general look around to see what is available and what the price range is. Then you can list the ones you want to revisit to actual try on some dresses. So this might take a few days.

Mood Board 'Cream' created by Rosena on SampleBoard.com

Make sure you do not rush into a purchase. If you make it a rule with your friend to have a cup of coffee or a walk when you feel the urge to jump into a purchase you can save yourself a lot of heartache. I recently had the pleasure of helping a friend choose her wedding dress. She was so excited when she saw herself in the dress of her dreams she wanted to buy it on the spot. As this was the first one she had tried on I quietly suggested we have a coffee. It turned out she found another lovely dress in her budget later that day.

All the wedding dresses featured on the moodboards in this blog are with many others available in the SampleBoard.com library you can view more dresses by going to the 'Create Your Own SampleBoard' link on the right. Most of all enjoy the time searching for your dream wedding dress I know my friend and I had a lot of laughs, we treated ourselves to coffee breaks and lovely lunches.

Author: Rosena MacFadzean for SampleBoard.com – concept creation online