Trends in Wedding Dresses for Spring 2011

With all the recent buzz over the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, and especially Kate's wedding dress, I thought that it would be good to look at some of the current trends in wedding gowns. Obviously, one of the newest ones is long sleeves and lace.

This is a throwback to a classic style from the 50's which you can see in the beautiful photograph above of Grace Kelly. With one simple act Kate Middleton has now influenced the current world of bridal gowns and I think that we should be seeing more of her style in the near future. There has been so much talk about her dress that you can visit one of many websites totally dedicated to it here.

Wedding fashion has been influenced by the royal family in England for over one hundred and fifty years now. Many of our current wedding traditions, like white wedding dresses, wedding cake, and bridal bouquets, were set my Queen Victoria when she was married to Prince Albert in 1840. You can read more about these wedding traditions in my posts 'It's All About the Dress', 'Let Them Eat Cake', and 'Bridal Bouquet Photographs for Spring.'

Photographing many weddings and bridal portraits allows me to watch the new dress trends up close. While I have not seen all of these ideas materialize here in Houston just yet, I wanted to list a few that I have seen appearing lately. Besides the long sleeves and lace trends here are some other fashion trends for wedding dresses this spring.

1. keyhole neckline

I have seen a great deal of these on dresses lately. Instead of just having a regular strapless dress this neckpiece gives the bride the ability to add some sparkle or pearls to the top of the dress but still give a revealed and open neckline look. Sometimes there is no embellishment, just fabric.

2. billowy skirts

These wedding dresses take on more of a ballroom air with lots of volume in the skirt created by layers of tulle. Even though they have more material, the tulle and the layers give them a light, airy look.

3. sheer coverage

Sheer necklines are coming in, bringing with them an elegant and slightly sexy look. These could include V-necks, one-shoulder, or bateau styles. the bateau style is the one that closely follows the collarbone and has a little more of a conservative look.

4. modified mermaid style

I recently photographed a bride with a modified mermaid style dress from Maison de Mode in Houston. It had a very sleek and elegant look. The dress produces nice clean lines which are great for design in photographs. The modified mermaid style makes it a bit easier for the bride to move around on the dance floor because the dress flares just above the knee.

5. embellished belts

I have been seeing many brides with wedding gowns that have these beautiful sparkly belts. Chelsea Clinton helped to fuel this trend. These belts can be very dramatic when placed against a simple white dress. Most of them are silver and jeweled. They are a lovely addition to any dress, but I think that they are the most effective when they compliment simple dresses.

So there are some wedding gown trends for this spring. I will be interviewing some local wedding gown experts and photographing some wedding gowns in the near future so I will have lots more information for you soon. Stay tuned.

Gary Miller

Houston Fine Art Wedding Photographer

www.redphotophotography.com

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