Which wedding dress fabric should I be looking at?

[tinkandonaldfans]

I'm starting to think about the dress and wanted to know if there are any fabrics that I should avoid?

Im getting married in september and know it will be hot, i've looked at satin but some family members are saying that satin might be problem in the heat!

 

[act1980]

I'm starting to think about the dress and wanted to know if there are any fabrics that I should avoid?

Im getting married in september and know it will be hot, i've looked at satin but some family members are saying that satin might be problem in the heat!

Satin is very heavy and you will boil! How about chiffon? If you want your dress to look more like a bridal gown though I would go for taffeta. That's the material I have. It's very light and gorgeous, much nicer than satin IMHO.

Also, if you wear an underskirt that will make your dress flare out a bit which will allow some air circulation.

HTH

 

[bellebride116]

I'm starting to think about the dress and wanted to know if there are any fabrics that I should avoid?

Im getting married in september and know it will be hot, i've looked at satin but some family members are saying that satin might be problem in the heat!

I think it's all about personal preference. I would try on a number of different fabrics, walk around the store in them, and see which ones you like best.

Personally, I hate tulle. I don't like the way it feels against my skin.

My picture/ceremony dress was satin... it was very heavy... however I wore a super large crinoline underneath and I didn't sweat at all. I also had cups sewn in, so there wasn't anything against me except the actual dress.

My reception dress was taffeta, which was very, very light weight.

 

[girli565]

I tried on several different dresses with different fabrics and I found that yes, satin is hot but it also provides the most flattering fit. I'm a plus size girl and i found that satin dresses in a corset style were the most flattering on me. It seems to forgiving if you have problem areas you want to hide... I just told the girl to pull it tighter and BAM I had a tiny waist and looked at least 3 sizes smaller.

 

[Skylersmommy5]

I don't know if you're familliar with Silk Shantung or not, but it's actually very light and comfortable. My sister had our bridesmaids dresses for her wedding made in black and that was the fabric we wore for a very hot 5th of July wedding and were still comfortable even for wearing all black. Our dresses came from Watters & Watters(style 350 which they show in black and ours were the tea-legnth ones). They make bridal gowns too out of Silk Shantung(and their dresses are very easy to alter too). Their website is http://www.watters.com. Hope this helps you.

 

[ColeV]

Silk, being a natural fabric, breaths decently depending on the weave. Satin is a tight weave, and heavier, so it will breath the least. Taffeta is also a very tight weave (if good quality), so it won't technically breath much more, but there's less weight so heat at least escapes. Going downhill, shantung is next, it has some slubs and uneven weaving, making it looser. Dupioni is known for it's slubs and loose weave. Chiffon, not surprisingly, is the lightest silk.
My biggest tip is to check the lining more than worry about the outside. Most wedding gowns, in order to save money forgo a good lining, some don't even use polyester (which is decent depending on the quality), but go with cheaper man-made fabics. They don't breath and they don't absorb moisture well. If you have a man-made fabric lining, you can find something you can put underneath at least part of it that's made for exercise or wicking away moisture. Or sew pieces in where you normally sweat (like cups or a small pad under the arm).

 

[tinkandonaldfans]

thanks for the tip about the lining! Didn't really think about that bit but will keep and eye out!

 

[Skylersmommy5]

Another idea for you is maybe a cotton Wedding Gown if you want light and comfy. For my DH's and my actual wedding I was 7 months preggers with our DS and I bought a very light cotton eyelet maternity sun dress which was so comfortable(we live 45 min outside of Washington, DC and it was so hot and humid on our wedding day, just as hot as Florida can be in June, and I had the extra body temp which made me more hot). The good thing Was I wasn't dying in my dress from heavy fabrics or heavy beading(if you want it light don't have excessive beading, my sister's dress weighed an extra 20 lbs. From tons and tons of beading, and she was the one sweating the most at her own wedding, not us bridesmaids she had wear black). There are cotton Wedding Gowns out there.