What Wedding Dress Style & Shape Should You Wear For Your Body Type

Are you a bride just beginning to shop for your wedding dress? You may be wondering what style, silhouette and shape wedding gown will be best suited to your body type. This is one of the most frequent questions we get asked at Lovella Bridal as we assist brides in finding their dream wedding dress. It may surprise you to learn that there is no simple answer to which style wedding gown best suits a certain body type. 

Planning a wedding can feel stressful and overwhelming and our goal is to make help make finding your bridal style easy and enjoyable. In addition to helping brides find a wedding dress that makes them feel confident and beautiful, we also want to help demystify the wedding dress shopping and ordering experience for brides. Today, we're going to share our best advice from our bridal style expert on how to find the best wedding dress style, shape, and silhouette for our body type. Whether you are a petite bride or a plus-size bride or any shape or size in between, we have helpful advice for you on picking a wedding dress that is perfect for your body.

If you need more advice on your body and wedding dresses, be sure to check out our advice on how to shop for your wedding dress when you're losing weight and tips for overcoming feeling self-conscious of arms and stomach in your wedding dress.

Video: How to Pick A Wedding Dress For Your Body Type

This is the number one question that we get asked as bridal stylists, so many brides want to know what type of dress they should wear for their body type. For those that like their wedding fashion advice on video, our Wedding Fashion Expert is sharing a video on what style wedding dress you should wear for your particular body type:

Don’t Worry About Style Names

There is no magic formula based on your body measurements that equates to which style of wedding dress will look best on you. Wedding dress designers make so many different shapes and silhouettes of dresses from mermaid to A-line to ball gown to trumpet to column and every shape in between. Wedding dress designers even make unique and hybrid bridal dress designs with different elements, shapes, and silhouettes that don't have a particular name.

Every bride has likely heard of some of the more common wedding dress silhouettes including ball gown, mermaid, A-line, fit and flare, tea length, sheath, and many more. And, as your wedding dress shopping, you could fall in love with a mermaid-hybrid style bridal dress that is more of a fit to flare design.

Our first tip for finding a wedding dress shape and style that tips for your body type is to not worry about the names of the dress styles. Don’t get hung up on the names of wedding dress styles, because each dress designer is different. Instead, brides should be open to trying on many different wedding dress styles regardless of the name of the style. 

Try On Many Silhouettes

When you're trying on wedding dresses and shopping for your dream bridal gown, it comes down to two very simple things. First, do you want to show off your body in your wedding dress? Second, do you want to hide your body in your wedding dress?

It truly does not matter what your body measurements are or what your body type is. If you're top-heavy, bottom-heavy, or super slender, none of it matters. What does matter is how you feel when you are trying on each wedding dress. We encourage brides to try on many different styles and silhouettes to see which type of dress makes you feel the most confident and beautiful. 

Brides have to start trying on wedding dresses to help them determine the proportions and the shapes of wedding dresses that they feel the most beautiful in. Any body type can technically wear any bridal dress style. There are no rules when it comes to fashion, especially bridal fashion on your wedding day. Fashion is subjective and it only comes down to your opinion on what you think looks best on you and the dress that will make you feel your best on your wedding day. 

For more tips and advice, be sure to check out our post on wedding dress sizing and measuring.

No Magic Formula

There is no formula or rules for wedding dresses and body types. For example, there is no rule that says if your body type is a curvy pear shape, then you need to wear a certain style of wedding dress. You can wear whatever wedding dress style you want and you should wear whatever dress makes you feel beautiful.

As with all fashion, there are certainly going to be wedding dresses that are more flattering on you than others. For example, you could even have three of the same style wedding dresses, but based on certain design elements, like lace or beading or even where the dress seams are placed, the wedding dresses could flatter your body in different ways.  

You may think that if you are petite and curvy, you should wear a more fitted wedding dress to show off your curves. Or if you are tall and slender you should wear a sheath wedding gown. This is not true. Finding your dream wedding dress comes down to personal preference. What you love and makes you feel good is the answer to the question of which wedding dress shape is best for your body.

Talk To Your Stylist

You may be self-conscious about your stomach or a certain part of your body. If you're feeling uncomfortable at all, be sure to talk to your wedding dress stylist about your concerns. We guarantee there is a wedding dress style out there that will be perfect for your body and will make you feel beautiful and confident on your wedding day.

Your bridal stylist in your dress store is there to help you find a dress, but they are only as good at the information that you are providing to them. Your feedback about what you love and don't love about each wedding dress that you try on and about your insecurities will help them to show you dresses that will make you feel beautiful.