The Right Bridal Lingerie for Your Wedding Dress

So you know what kind of wedding dress you’re going to wear on your big day. You know how your hair and makeup are going to look. You’ve even got your shoes all picked out and ready to go. But now, you realise you’re missing something: your bridal lingerie.

Now, you might think “Well, I have plenty of underwear at home, I don’t need anything new or special”. The thing is there’s a reason that wedding lingerie is a thing. Much like your wedding dress is unlike any other dress you’d wear, it’s true that your wedding lingerie has to work a lot harder than your regular bras and underwear.

It’s not one of the most talked about things in bridal magazines and online, but if you look in wedding forums, there are a lot of brides who have similar questions when it comes to what to wear underneath your beautiful wedding gown.

So let’s answer those questions and get to the bottom of how to find the right bridal lingerie for your wedding dress!

Colour

Okay, so this might seem like an obvious thing but get the colour lingerie that matches your wedding dress or your skin tone. Nine times out of ten, it’s going to be some version or variation on white, cream or ivory. If you can find lingerie that’s comfortable and suitable in this kind of shade, then that’s great, go for it!

If you can’t find something suitable in a colour that matches your dress, then instead try and match your bridal lingerie to your skin tone. This way if something slips during your wedding day, perhaps if you’re dancing or moving around, it doesn’t seem as obvious as if you were wearing a completely random colour.

Obviously, you don’t want your bridal lingerie to be seen by anyone other than your new spouse, but as with any underwear, sometimes bra straps slip or skirts blow up and you want to be as prepared for these things as you can be.

Also if you’re wearing a more sheer or thin dress, you don’t want a darker colour for your bridal lingerie as the light may hit you and show the outline. Definitely not what you want from your wedding photography.

Style

Next up is the style of bridal lingerie that you’re going for. Largely, this is going to depend on the silhouette of your wedding dress, but also your body type. One of the easiest options to go for is a strapless style bra with adhesive sides to stay in place or a multiway bra that can be worn in multiple ways.

Think about the type of material that your dress is made out of. If there’s lace or sheer involved, even if you have sleeves, it might be worth wearing something strapless so the bra straps don’t ruin the illusion look.

Obviously, strapless bras aren’t great for everyone. If you’ve got bigger boobs you might want to think about getting something with a bit more support, like a basque or a corset. The last thing you want to be doing is rearranging your cleavage all night long!

Shapewear

Another item of bridal lingerie that a lot of brides are thinking about is shapewear. Now, by and large, shapewear isn’t the sexiest piece of clothing to ever exist, but it can help smooth out those lumps and bumps before you put on your wedding dress. It’s particularly helpful if you’re wearing a mermaid gown or something with a tighter silhouette.

That being said, it’s not all circulation-stopping Spanx anymore, you can now get corsets, basques, bodysuits and slips to help manipulate your figure and give you the seamless look that you’re seeking. Whether it’s to help the dress stay in place or give you the confidence to look your best, there are a lot of reasons brides choose to invest in shapewear.

Obviously, you’re going to want to buy any shapewear as soon as possible, again either matching the colour to your dress or your skin tone, so that you can see where any dress alterations need to be made.

Hosiery

Lastly, we have bridal hosiery to think about. Although many brides are foregoing the wedding tradition of wearing a garter that gets taken off by the groom during the wedding reception, there is still a case for tights or pantyhose, stockings, suspenders and more.

As a general rule of thumb, the fuller your dress is, the less hosiery you’ll need. Assuming your stockings have a good silicone band on, similar to a strapless bra, you won’t need to tie everything together with garters – no one will see that far up and the skirt’s fullness hides any lines.

If you’re in a more tight-fitting wedding dress then you’re probably going to need full pantyhose to avoid multiple lines shining through the silhouette. The good thing about this is that a lot of wedding pantyhose have tummy and thigh control panels so you might not need shapewear in addition to hosiery!

Final tips

Okay, let’s round out this guide to finding the right bridal lingerie for your wedding dress with a few final tips:

• Always bring extra hosiery. If you’ve ever worn tights or stockings to an important event, whether it was a wedding, meeting, or night out, you’ll know how easily they can get snagged. Even the “anti-run” stockings can be susceptible to tears and holes. Make sure you have multiple pairs on hand – maybe give some to your bridesmaids to look after or have them in a small bag with your make-up for any necessary touch-ups.
• Ensure that you can get out of your lingerie. This sounds like a basic thing but when you’re in a rush to go to the toilet and you already have a big or tight dress to contend with, ease of access is a must. Trust us on this one, if you need to do a trial run in everything before the big day, do it. No judgement from us here!

How to Choose Bridal Lingerie

I am the last person in the world that my friends go to for bra advice (sadly I still have to shop in the pre-teen section and I’m not kidding), so I was thrilled when HerRoom sent over this amazing infographic on how to choose bridal lingerie. Plus, it’s so fitting after yesterday’s article on finding the right wedding dress for your body type!

Make sure you read all the way to the bottom. Why? Because their tips on what to do when it’s time to go to the bathroom and you’re wearing your gorgeous wedding dress are so true!

I’d like to give a big Mahalo to HerRoom for sponsoring this great infographic and I’d love to hear your advice on how to choose the right bridal lingerie!

Credits: HerRoom