You’ve spent months, years, planning your big day. The venue is perfect, the service planned to perfection, with caterers, photographer, musicians and entertainment booked. Everything is in place, to the final buttonhole. Many months ago you selected the perfect dress and it’s been altered to fit your frame at the last minute. However, while some brides will lose weight with the stress of planning the special day, some will undoubtedly lapse last-minute if they’re dieting or exercising to comfortably fit into their dress.
When it comes to the overall look on the day, underwear is as important as outerwear. As we all know, the correct shapewear can dramatically alter the look of an outfit, and this is never more true than on a brides’ wedding day. The average spend on a wedding dress in the UK is just under £1,400 and with all eyes on you, it’s really important to make sure you fit the dress perfectly. With numerous foundation garment options available, including plus size shapewear for curvy brides, making the right choice for you can be a challenge. In order to help you choose, we’ve compiled the following tips, to make sure you’re comfortable, sleek and elegant on the big day:
Select the correct strength
There are four levels of control available – light, medium, firm and extra firm. We recommend brides choose firm control, but this will depend on the level of boning within your dress. You need to be able to comfortably sit, stand and dance, while knowing your shape is being snuggly controlled.
Always choose your correct size
Make sure you get properly measured and select the correct size for you. Don’t think that choosing smaller sized shapewear will achieve greater contouring. By not fitting you properly it will wrinkle up, roll down and make you feel really uncomfortable. It will also cause unsightly bulges that will make you look bigger. If you feel you need more support, go for an extra firm control garment.
Cool down before putting on
Getting ready can take a while and even the coolest of brides can get hot and flustered. It’s best to get your hair and makeup done before wiggling into your shapewear. This will ensure you’ve cooled down a bit after the frenetic preparations. If you have the correct size but are struggling to get into the garment, try applying a little talc to the inside of the material.
Go nude
Nude and natural colours tend to work best under white, ivory or cream dresses, rather than white, which can show through. It’s therefore more important to match your skin tone than your dress, you’ll also tend to find there are more shapewear options in nude colours, giving you greater choice.
Know the areas you want to target
Depending on your body shape and the style of your dress, there are plenty of options to chose from:
* Full coverage – If you’re looking for streamlining and control from your bust to your knees, then consider purchasing a full body, full body suit or shaper slip. There are also open bust options, which allow you to wear your own bra, if you don’t require help lifting and shaping your cleavage.
* Cinch in the waist – If you’re wearing a strapless dress and your waist is your problem area, then waist cinchers can be worn to reduce your waist measurement by 1-3 inches; boned corsets will provide more extreme shaping.
* Tone your tummy, hips and bottom– To target these areas, control briefs are your best option. Among the most popular shapewear out there, these will smooth, streamline and enhance your shape. If you need shaping control from under your bust, choose a higher waisted style or for more extreme toning an open bust bodysuit. This style of shapewear is popular for slinky, fishtail dresses. Unless your dress is lined, go for seam free shapewear.
* Slim down those thighs – mid-thigh shapers are similar to control briefs but come down to your mid-thigh or knees. Just check they’re not visible under your dress, if you’ve gone for a cocktail or tea dress. You don’t want them captured by the wedding photographer!
Keep it a secret from the groom
As much as he loves you, we recommend that unless you’ve chosen pretty, lacy shapewear, you have something else to change into once the dress comes off. This is especially important if your shapewear is more Bridget Jones than Victoria’s Secret!
