One of the biggest decisions that you'll have to make as a bride to be is choosing your wedding dress. Your wedding dress should show off your individual style, beauty and grace whilst flattering your figure and making you feel so confident that this emanates through into a bridal radiance and glow.

However the quest to find the ultimate bridal outfit can seem pretty daunting, especially if you just don't know where to start your search or worse still, don't even know what you're looking for.

Professional hair and make-up artist and Bridal designer Minal Shah draws on her 15 years of experience within the Asian beauty and fashion industry to offer her expert advice on what to consider when choosing your dream wedding dress.



Minal has a unique blend of skills which we believe are unmatched in the wedding industry - she weaves together fashion, hair and beauty expertise, which make her insights and advice highly invaluable for any Asian Bride to be as she can envisage a "Total Look". Her knowledge has enabled her to combine the worlds of Beauty and Fashion and approach bridal designing in a new and innovative way.

Your Dream Shaadi is delighted to share Minal's advice on what to consider when choosing your wedding outfit(s), condensed into seven steps easy-to-read steps.

1. CLARIFY YOUR VISION

Before you start shopping for your dress, you should have a vision of how you want to look. There are so many look that you can achieve as a bride with your dress and makeup. Pick a look that will truly reflect your personality and personal style. Something that you feel comfortable wearing which is truly you. Don't be afraid to deviate from the norm, its important that you go for a look that is truly you.

You'll need to take into consideration the time of year you are getting married. It won't be practical or warm wearing an elegant halter neck dress in winter! This will keep you from buying a dress that won't feel right on the day. This will also determine any seasonal beauty products you may want to consider using to prep your skin so that your makeup lasts longer.

2. DO YOUR RESEARCH & CREATE A MOODBOARD

Looking at different wedding magazines and wedding portals is a great way of finding inspiration.

Tear-outs of photos that you like and stick them into a scrapbook or mood board, so you can show your ideas when consulting with your designer. I suggest having one mood board for each outfit in your trousseau.

Try and whittle down your choices to at least 10 of your favourite dresses to show your designer so you both have a clear idea of what styles of dress you prefer.

If you are having your dress custom made, take your visuals and be specific about what you want. Ask your designer whether your chosen designs will flatter you and your body shape. You may also want to do the same with any make up, hair styling and jewellery looks you like.

3. SET A REALISTIC BUDGET

Your wedding dress will probably cost more than any other garment you own. But a stylish and graceful dress doesn't necessarily mean spending more than you can reasonably afford. It's important to establish your budget before stepping into a bridal store or visiting a fashion designer and then sticking to it. Temptation is difficult to resist, and you may fall in love with a dress that will greatly exceed your budget

For bespoke dresses, the price is usually determined by the amount of detail involved in making it, which can range significantly. Find out what options are available to you within your budget, or what your budget will be able to afford you for your custom made gown. . A good designer will often be able to adapt an outfit outside your budget by suggesting ways in which to make it more affordable.

4. BODY PROPORTION

We all have parts of our bodies that we don't like. Dressing your body to enhance all the parts that you want to draw attention to is simply a game of proportion. Don't worry about the parts of your body you don't want to draw attention to, it's all about using lines and light to accentuate your best assets.

Most women want to look taller and thinner in their dress. The key thing to remember is horizontal lines widen, while vertical lines elongate the body. Diagonal details cut the width of the body and move the eye to another area of the body.

Don't forget it's not just about how your body looks, take into consideration what your beat facial feature is and see how make up or even elements on your dress and jewellery, such as the colour and jewellery shape, can play up to these.

5. DRESS APPROPRIATELY

For those of you who are having a religious ceremony it may be required for you to be dressed modestly. It's important you find out exactly what would be appropriate to wear, so you can incorporate new features into or around your dress. A halter neck blouse for a religious ceremony may look really sexy but could have your mother in law aghast - find out well in advance what's appropriate.

6. TRY THINGS ON

Try on a variety of dresses. A dress you've seen on a mannequin or someone else may not flatter you as well as you thought. A dress that looks limp on a hanger could turn out to really suit your body shape.

After assessing your dress in a three-way mirror, see whether the dress feels good on you, how comfortable it is and whether it gives you that ethereal bridal glow and confidence boost.

7.SEEK USEFUL OPINIONS & ADVICE

A great way to make bridal wear shopping relaxed and fun is to bring someone along who will enjoy sharing this experience with you and knows your sense of style. Ideally this should be someone who is a decisive decision maker but won't necessarily force their views on you but will help you come to a decision. But bear in mind, the more people you bring the more opinions you will have, which can confuse you from what you really want.

Make use of the bridal designers expertise, they'll be able to suggest the best cut and design to suit your shape and skin tone.

Remember the experience of creating and buyng a wedding dress shouldn't be stressful. Enjoy your time and make the most out of the most fun shopping experiences of your life - after all you've been dreaming about this for years, haven't you?!