You should not follow trends when selecting your gown, but rather choose a dress that is comfortable, classic, and truly most flattering for you. The biggest mistake a woman makes is to select a gown with design features - an elaborate sleeve or an unusual neckline - that completely overwhelm. The dress wears her instead of the other way around. And then, sometimes the dress is fine, but the headpiece becomes too much. It overpowers both the woman and the gown and throws the whole image out of proportion. You will have to think about all of this, and more, when choosing your own wedding attire.

To capture your own best look for your wedding, you'll need to work with the consultant, keep an open mind, and be objective about your physical features. The saleswoman will begin by asking questions about your wedding: date, time, location, type of ceremony, and reception. She may then talk to you about the appropriateness of the style of gown you seem to want for the kind of wedding you have described.

The bridal consultant will bring you sample gowns in your nearest size to try on, clipping, pinning, or holding them in place so you can get an idea of how the properly fitted dress would look. You'll notice as you try them on that wedding gowns have a different "feel" from ready-to-wear clothes. They may employ stays, boning, wires, crinolines, and linings for shape and contour. Depending on the fabrics and the decorative applications, they can be heavy and constricting. 

Sleeves and bodices can have complicated closures, and you may need help getting into the dress. You may even have to practice a bit before you feel graceful moving in billowing skirts with weighty trains.

People in the industry refer to constructing a wedding gown as "building a costume," and once you become familiar with wedding apparel you'll understand why. Your bridal consultant may counsel you to put this sleeve on that bodice, or drop this waist or raise that hem. She may show you the same gown available in different shades and fabrications, or the same basic design with more, or less, ornamentation. Such options are what customization is all about. 

Your wedding dress will probably be quite unlike anything else you've ever worn before and, since you will be wearing it for many hours, it is important to consider comfort and convenience, as well as style, when choosing it.

Think about the following: 

1. Getting into and out of limousines

2. Kneeling, bending, or climbing stairs at your ceremony

3. Dining and dancing at your reception

4. The weather, and how warm or cold it might be

5. The properties of individual fabrics and how easily they might wrinkle, snag, or tear and, if you intend to preserve your gown as an heirloom for your own daughter one day, then make classic design and quality construction top priorities.

Good fit and construction are absolutely essential. A poorly made garment, or even a well-made one inexpertly altered, can be a problem, or even a disaster, on your wedding day. Besides the hundreds of dollars you are spending, that's one more reason to purchase your gown from experienced bridal retailers and manufacturers who have earned a reputation for quality and service.