What emerged from the A/W 18 bridal collections is that designers are carefully considering the myriad of wedding-related events beyond the reception and ceremony.
Not content with just gowns, designers also delivered a diverse range of mini-dresses, jumpsuits and removable trains that can take you from modest blushing bride right through to skin-baring siren on the dance floor.
These are our designer picks for every type of bride:
The fashion-forward bride
Crowd favourites Elie Saab and Marchesa revisited old-school silhouettes but added modern twists; Saab carrying over the popular cape from last season but this time, with hand-embellishments and a dramatic, Handmaid’s Tale–esque hood, while Marchesa’s Georgia Chapman produced gowns that continue to be the dream for many brides.
The more-is-more bride
Appealing to the magpies among us, look no further than Naeem Khan‘s divine collection inspired by international cultures with ’50s and ’60s nuances. If you are sold on wearing just one dress at your wedding, Khan will most certainly convince you otherwise. Designed to cater to the various stages of your special day, Khan’s silhouettes move through elegant, heavily-embellished numbers to highly outré pieces and even some “simple” shorter options. He concluded his show with models literally dancing in a disco. If that doesn’t illustrate fit for purpose, we don’t know what does.
The sweet-toothed bride
Viktor & Rolf dished up plenty of candy embellishments and plexiglass flower coatings across their fuller designs, however the minimalist strapless column dresses and off-the-shoulder gowns are the refreshing glass of milk to temper the sugar hit.
The opulent bride
Paris has proven to be an inspirational second home to Vera Wang. With this collection, she pushed the envelope with opulent yet easy silhouettes, offering alternatives to the sweetheart necklines, mermaid hems, and frills found elsewhere. Each season, Wang evolves with her bride which perhaps helps to explain the slight increase in modesty of her famous sheer designs than seen in previous collections.
The romantic bride
Traditional brides will likely gravitate to Carolina Herrera whose Rolodex of famous brides from weddings past sees her romantic gown creations flourish within the realms of tradition and ceremony. Though designer Herrera appreciates the fantasy element of bridal planning and designing, she doesn’t neglect the practical. We can’t help but love that.
The pared-back bride
If you consider yourself more of a simple bride – you know, the Sex and the City style pop down to the courthouse with Mr Big wearing a vintage, label-less twinset variety – then Meredith Stoecklein’s simple designs for one-year-old label Lein are crafted for multiple wears post “I do” – and might just be your ticket for inspiration.
Scroll for the best looks from the A/W 2018 bridal collections below:
