It's Engagement Season - 7 Things To Do After You Say "YES!"

We are in the midst of engagement season, which is the time between Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day when many couple become engaged. If you are like all of us here at Venus Bridal, you'll immediately want to start shopping for your beautiful wedding dress, but there are a few other things that you may want to take care of first. 

Share The Big News
Once you and your soon-to-be-spouse have had enough time to enjoy the moment yourselves, start spreading the news to your family and closest friends. The sooner the better, because you don't want anyone finding out through the grapevine that you prefer to tell in person. As soon as they all know, you are free to share your joy with the rest of the world too.  

Pamper Your Hands & Nails
Make an appointment as soon as possible for a manicure, because you know that everyone will be asking to see that engagement ring. Start a good skincare routine for your hands and keep your nails strong and in shape so that they are ready for the close-up ring photos at the wedding in a few months too.  

Start "Window Shopping" For Dresses
It's time to start scouring wedding magazines, Pinterest, wedding websites, etc... to discover all of the possibilities for your wedding dress, bridesmaid dresses, and fashions for the guys too. A great place to start is www.VenusBridal.com. There you will find a wide variety of gorgeous gowns, plus a store locator so that you can find a bridal boutique near you when you are at the actual shopping stage of your wedding planning.

Set The Wedding Budget
Doing this early on will help to keep all of your plans in line without breaking the bank. It's wise to have a guideline for what you want to spend before you start buying things and making reservations. Decide this early so that you can begin finding the vendors that book up quickly, like venues and photographers. Knowing your budget can also assist in keeping the next step under control.

Gather Guest Lists
You may think you have time to worry about this later, but much like the budget, knowing the number of guests you will be inviting will shape many of your other wedding planning decisions. Start with four lists: the bride's, the groom's, the bride's parents, and the groom's parents. Put these all together, then begin make adjustments as needed.  

Schedule Engagment Photos
Many wedding photographers include the engagement session with their wedding packages, but it's up to you to pick a date to have them actually done. The sooner you take care of this, the quicker you will have professional photos to use on announcements, save-the-dates, and wedding websites. 

Make Bridal Shop Appointments
When the wedding dress shopping starts, it's best to call ahead and make an appointment at the bridal boutique. Brides-to-be with appointments get the undivided attention they deserve from the consultants, and they don't have to wait in line for a dressing room if there are lots of other women there at the same time. Also, many wedding dress stores require you to have an appointment, so it's always best to call ahead. 

There will be a lot more decisions to make before the actual wedding day, but getting the tasks above out of the way is a great place to start. It may seem overwhelming at first, but there are plenty of fun tasks to tackle along the way, like shopping for your dream wedding dress. When you're ready for that one, as well as all of the other fashions for the women in your wedding, we hope you begin your search with Venus Bridal. You won't be disappointed. 

The feeling of romance.. the essence of glamour.

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Wedding Fashion Tips for In-between the Gown Purchase & the Wedding Day

It is best to pick your beautiful wedding dress up from the store when you're not fighting against the elements, you want to make walking with your gown to your car as easy as possible and have a designated space in your car that will keep your gown safe and clean. You want as few opportunities as possible for something to happen to your gown between picking it up and wearing it. Once the dress is in your possession, Venus Bridal has a few tips so that you can keep it in pristine shape until ceremony time. We've got a few other pre-wedding fashion tips for you too. 

Carefully Hang Your Dress
Store your bridal gown in a cool, dry place away from light and extreme temperature changes, you want to use the closet or area that has the least amount of traffic. Hang it from the loops provided inside the dress, not by the straps, and do not leave it in a plastic garment bag. If you need to cover the material while it is hanging, use some type of breathable fabric or a light sheet. 

Break In The Shoes
A brand new pair of shoes can be stiff and uncomfortable when you first wear them. Don't take the chance of having to wear unforgiving shoes all day at your wedding. Break them in by wearing them around the house for short periods of time before the wedding day. 

You may want to wear them to the rehearsal so that you can get used to walking on the ground at the venue, but take them off and carefully put them away once rehearsal is over. It is also wise to pack a backup pair of pretty shoes in case of a broken heel on the wedding day, and a comfortable pair to change into if your feet need a break.   

Prepare For The Wedding Day
There are a few things that you can do before the wedding day to prepare for certain things that will happen. One is to make sure that the clothes you will be getting ready in can be removed without messing up your hair and makeup. Wear something like a button-up shirt or a robe. Also, have a wedding day emergency kit packed and ready for anything that could come up, like spills to the dress or excessive wrinkles to the fabric.  

You may want to have a trial run at trying to use the restroom wearing your gown, but only if you can do so without damaging or spilling on the dress. Make sure that someone that will be near you all day long knows exactly how to bustle your dress. This is easy with instruction, but difficult to figure out without help. Your dress shop can show your mother or maid of honor how to do this properly at one of your appointments. 

Plan The Timing
The ceremony and reception aren't the only parts of your wedding day that need a timeline planned out. Be sure to start getting ready early enough in the day that you have plenty of time to not rush, and figure in a little extra down-time between photos and the ceremony beginning to rest and refresh before everything gets started.  

Traveling With the Dress
If you are not able to hang the dress safely in the vehicle that is transporting it to the wedding, make enough room to lay it flat in a back seat or cargo area. If it must be folded, use white tissue paper around it and in-between folds to help reduce wrinkling. If you are traveling further than a short car trip to your wedding, that is much more involved, but the main thing to remember in that case is to never let the dress leave your sight. 

It's not difficult to keep your wedding dress in excellent condition before the ceremony. It just takes a little extra care and attention to detail. The more prepared that you are before the wedding, the smoother everything will go. Venus Bridal will provide you with the most timelessly beautiful bridal gown for your wedding day, and hopefully the tips above will help you to get it to the wedding looking its very best. 

The feeling of romance.. the essence of glamour.

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Wedding Dresses - More Than Just White

Ivory White

People expect to see brides in white when they walk down the aisle. Many times the wedding dress that they assume is white is actually one of the many shades that only appear white to the untrained eye. Venus Bridal offers many of our bridal gowns in a few different shades. 

Bright white is not an easy color for most women to pull off. Many skin tones can be overpowered by the stark color. Choosing a nearly-white shade for your wedding dress will allow you to find a color that will bring your skin tone alive and show off its natural glow. Below we have listed a few of the different shades of white that you will find while bridal gown shopping, as well as the skin tones that they most often flatter.  

Bright White
This is the whitest white that you will find. Fabrics that are stark white nearly glow, which makes it unflattering to many skin tones. This is the hardest shade to wear. The brightness can cause your skin to appear to lose color. Usually, only women with darker skin tones can pull off a bright white gown.  

Natural White
Also sometimes referred to as silk white, this color is a shade off of bright white due to the natural fibers of the material that the dress is made out of. It may still appear to be a bright white in photographs, but it is a lot more flattering to many skin tones. You can really only see the difference in bright and natural whites when they are held next to each other.   

Ivory
This shade is extremely flattering on a wide variety of skin tones, and you will find a lot of varying shades in the ivory family. Hints of yellow undertones in some ivories will give the dress color a creamy appearance. Other ivories may have a pinker tint to them. Fair to medium skin tones look wonderful in most ivory gowns.    

Champagne
This "white" will have slight pink or gold undertones. It is lighter than the drink it is named for, yet close to the darkest shade of ivory. Olive skin tones look beautiful in this shade, as do other darker skin tones.  

Pops of Color  
There is absolutely no rule that says you have to wear any shade of white when you get married. You are free to wear any color that makes your heart happy. There are plenty of brides that go for a mostly "white" wedding dress, but add pops of color with their accessories, like a bridal sash or shoes. 

Ivory with a romantique/silver color accent

When you begin shopping for a wedding dress, hold the different shades up to your skin to find the one that looks the most flattering on you. The shade of your bridal gown will make a huge difference in the final look, and simply going a shade lighter or darker could completely change how you feel about a specific dress. 

Venus Bridal offers a lovely variety of wedding dress shades, styles, shapes, fabrics, and so much more. We strive to create a diverse mixture of designs so that every woman will have lots of gowns to choose from. Everyone deserves to look and feel their most glamorous on their wedding day. 

The feeling of romance.. the essence of glamour.

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Your Guide to Wedding Dress Silhouettes

Wedding dresses come in a large variety of styles and shapes. Lots of little details come together to create the final look, and every finished bridal gown is slightly different than the next. One very important detail is the the silhouette of the dress. 

Once you find the perfect wedding dress silhouette, it is much easier to narrow down your choices. Venus Bridal has put together a few examples of the more popular bridal gown shapes so you may begin thinking about which type you will try on first. 

Sheath
This type of gown flows straight down from the neckline to the hem. In some cases this silhouette lends to a more casual look, but it can also gives off a very seductive aura. This type of dress shows off your natural shape and can have a lengthening effect on your body.

Empire
An empire silhouette is fitted until just below the bust, giving it a high-waisted appearance. The skirt then flows loosely to the ground. 

Sheath  -  Empire

Fit & Flare
Form-fitting at the top, this dress gradually flares out, down to the floor. It is wonderful for showing off your shape while still allowing a loose fit around the legs. 

Trumpet
A trumpet silhouette fits snugly to your body at the top, then dramatically flares out about mid-thigh.    

Mermaid
This is much like the trumpet shape above, but mermaid gowns are fitted down to the knee, then flare out from there. 

Fit & Flare   -   Trumpet    -   Mermaid

A-Line
The bodice of these gowns are fitted to the waist, and the skirt then gradually flows out. This silhouette was given its name due to the "A" shape that is formed with the skirt. 

Ball Gown
A ball gown is also fitted to the waist, but instead of flowing, the skirt flares out for a much fuller look. This is a timeless silhouette, reminiscent of a princess straight out of a fairy tale, both dramatic and romantic. 

A-line   -   Ball Gown

Tea Length
For the bride that prefers a shorter wedding dress, a tea length gown's hem will fall somewhere between the ankle and the knee. Wonderful for a casual wedding or an outdoor ceremony where you do not want your dress dragging on the ground. 

Which silhouette will you start with? 
This guide should help you find a place to start when you visit your local bridal boutique to try on wedding dresses. Don't limit yourself though. You never know exactly how you will feel about a bridal gown until you have it on. Start by trying on the different silhouettes. Once you have a favorite, you can then begin searching through our Venus Bridal collections for the other important details, like neckline and fabric. Gradually, that dream wedding dress you have been imagining will come to life. 

The feeling of romance.. the essence of glamour.

Visit our website: www.VenusBridal.com

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