The Wedding dress Book 1 The Wedding dress Book 2 t h e w e d d i n g d r e s s b o o k - f i n d i n g t h e p e r f e c t l o o k Written and illustrated by Iida Silvennoinen Published by Heili Bridal The Wedding dress Book 2 The Wedding dress Book 3 First published by Heili Bridal 2018 Heili Bridal Finland www.heilibridal.com ©heilibridal ©Illustrations: IIda Silvennoinen All rights reserved. No part of this publications may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the publishers. Design: Heili Bridal Editor: Janina Silvennoinen Illustrations by Iida Silvennoinen Heili Bridal Bespoke wedding dresses, gowns and artesan headpieces from Finland The Wedding dress Book 5 The Wedding dress Book 6 C o n t e n t s A b o u t 9 Planning and Dreaming 11 Imagine your dream dress 11 Dress silhouettes 13 What is your wedding dress made of? 23 Dress Shopping 29 You have so many options 29 How the dress is made 30 The magic starts with the underwear 33 New shoes, new you 35 Shopping is easy with a good mood 37 You will get help and information 38 How tight is tight enough? 39 B u d g e t 4 3 Having a budget assures the dress bliss 43 How to stay in budget 44 Hidden costs 45 Getting a dress with a mini budget 46 The Wedding dress Book 6 The Wedding dress Book 7 Before The Wedding 51 Storing: Give the dress enough space to hang 51 Keep your dress clean 53 Wrinkles can be treated at home 54 Keeping the armpit stains away 57 On your wedding day 59 Get help for dressing 59 Last minute fixes 61 Keep calm no matter what 62 Dirt and stains are not end of the world 62 Move like a queen 66 Afterwards 69 Do at least this 69 The ruin of a dress 69 Saving the memories by keeping the dress 70 Get up to 50% off by reselling your dress 71 Make the dress into something new 73 Closing words 77 The Wedding dress Book 8 A b o u t Congratulations, you are getting married! I imagine that you are soon going to shop for your wedding dress. Maybe you have started already. Anyway, you have made a great choice to read this book. The wedding dress is often a very important and a long dreamed gar- ment. It can be the first full length gown you shop and usually it is also quite expensive. The dress also has a special meaning as it is what you wear when you start a new chapter in your life. Oh dear, it’s also such a pretty garment! When I was a little girl a used to dream about big wed- ding dresses and to be honest, I’ve never stopped. Do you know the feel- ing? So why do you absolutely need to read this book? I have gathered all my knowledge about wedding dresses starting from shopping and ending to the married life. I go through different dress styles, materials and fabrics, how to store and care for your beautiful dress before the wedding, and also what to do after the big day is over. In this book I tell you how to save time, money and effort with you dream wedding dress and also give you plenty of insider tips on the way. So if you are a bride who is a little bit confused about how to choose the right dress and have just discovered that there is a whole new language when it comes to dress shopping then I and this book are here for you! I have fifteen years experience with bespoke clothing - new and vintage - and I’m going to hold your hand through the dress shopping and make sure that you look absolutely flawless at your wedding. I’m so exited! Are you ready to start? With love, Iida. The Wedding dress Book 8 The Wedding dress Book 9 The Wedding dress Book 1 0 Planning and Dreaming What to go over before you start your dress shopping and basic wedding gown glossary. Imagine your dream dress First thing to do is to think what your dream wed- ding dress might look like. Reach into your childhood and remember what was your childhood dream and which things played big part in your wedding dreams. It might give you some glues or offer a chance for re- flection about your taste now. You might want to take few days or weeks to go through magazines or Pinterest and see what kind of dresses make you stop for a moment. Make sure that it is really the dresses that you are looking at, not the models’ hair or face or the kind of light used in the photo. You can try to cover the heads of the models to make sure or find several similar type of dresses in different photographs and compare them. Put it on paper Take notes about the details of the dresses: what material they are made of, what is the shape and sil- houette that you are drawn to and what is the overall feeling. Are the dresses structured and formal or soft and flowing? Perhaps they remind you of a certain era or are decorated in some special way. You can write your thoughts on paper, print out your favorites and overall try to figure out why you like things you do and how they make you feel. The Wedding dress Book 1 0 The Wedding dress Book 1 1 It is equally important to think what you don’t like and why it is so. Pick some photos of the dresses you would never wear and write down what is wrong with them. Sometimes the ’yuck’ things can surprise you. This way you will have pretty good guidelines pre- pared for your shopping day. I don’t know what looks good on me! If you are totally clueless what you like and want, make a trip to the nearest shopping mall and try on some different prom dresses or evening gowns to see what they look like on you. That’s the surest way to get information how the different dress styles behave and look on your body. Don’t think so much about the color or print but keep your eyes open for the shape of the dresses. You can also think what kind of clothes you like in general. Do you usually prefer open or closed necklines? Do you like to wear skirts or trousers high on your waist or do you prefer them a bit lower? These details give a general idea about what you should look for. Think what kind of clothes you feel sexy or confident in. Wedding dress is supposed to bring forward your favorite aspects of yourself. This way you don’t feel so stressed in your dress ap- pointment and have better understanding of what you want. Even if you love shopping and trying on clothes you don’t want to stand hours and hours in front of a mirror trying on every dress under the sun. You will get tired and cranky. So do your ’homework’ and dream! The Wedding dress Book 1 2 Dress silhouettes Having names for styles and details makes the discussing about dresses easier and gives you better understanding about language sales assist- ants and designers use. We hope this part of the book also shows you the head-spinning variety of dresses available. The com- binations of dress silhouettes, necklines and materi- als are infinite! Those three elements form only the very base idea of the dress and on top of them the designers add trimmings like beadings, embroidery and other details. A-line A dress that flares smoothly from the hips. It’s clas- sic and popular silhouette that works beautifully for most people. In a modified A-line the hem might flare bit more giving a dress more ball gown -type look. Sometimes the modified A-line is referred as Princess silhouette (see. Princess line). Ball gown A dress silhouette with full, roundish hem. This is a very romantic silhouette with fairytale feel. As the name suggest it’s a good fit for formal weddings. Sheath A slim silhouette with a narrow and straight hem. The amount of embellishments and trims give lots of var- iation to otherwise simple form. Sometimes referred also as Column. The Wedding dress Book 1 2 The Wedding dress Book 1 3 A-line Ballgown Sheath Mermaid Trumpet Empire The Wedding dress Book 1 4 Mermaid / Trumpet Mermaid and Trumpet silhouettes are sometimes re- ferred as the same thing, but in their purest forms the Trumpet’s hem flares out before knees and Mer- maid’s somewhere lower. Otherwise they are very close fitting which can make moving in the dress a challenge. They are glamorous, Hollywood style sil- houettes that give curvy and sensual look. Empire The empire line dress has raised waist seam right beneath breasts. The silhouette has gotten it’s name from regency/empire era (beginning of 19th century) fashion. Think Jane Austen movie heroines. Princess line Not a dress silhouette but refers to the dress type that doesn’t have waist seam but vertical seams that give it it’s shape. Most typically seen in A-line, Sheath and Mermaid gowns.