Guest Blogger: Wedding Lingerie all your questions and dilemmas answered!

Today’s Guest blogger is the lovely Sarah Wells owner of Elizabeth Wellsthe gorgeous lingerie business. Sarah answers all of your wedding underwear questions, queries and dilemmas, and it appears there are quite a few! Having spent months looking for the right wedding knickers to go with my own wedding dress I understand the importance of good advice on this subject. having gone from good old fashioned hold me in pants, to the smallest of G Strings after 5 purchases I eventually found the right style that didn’t show under my dress but still managed to hold me in!
So a massive thank you to Sarah for spreading her expert eye on this subject, I hope you find it useful!

Wedding Lingerie

It’s the most exciting day of your life, you’ve been planning it for months – if not since you were little, everything is planned, down to the smallest detail of table confetti; and yet more often than not the most important choice of underwear you’ll ever make is all so often left until the last minute!
Wedding underwear – conjures images of stresses brides, impossible designs and inflated prices…….
Fear not! Independent boutiques, such as Elizabeth Wells, are here to make sure your shopping experience is a pleasurable one and that you will love your underwear! Here are our top tips for the smalls:

Let’s begin looking at underwear – begin as soon as you like! This means that even though you may not be ready to purchase you’ll have a good idea of what you like, what you don’t and where to go when you are ready to begin trying things on – this planning will leave you less stressed.

When can we buy it? – Many brides want to slim down before the big day, so you don’t want to buy the bra too early (you may not lose any weight from the bust, you may lose it in the cup or loose it round your back). I recommend my brides to purchase in time for their first fitting – many dress boutiques ask brides to bring their underwear with them to the first fitting.

Start trying things on – Your dress is chosen so now we can look at the practicalities of underwear tailoring the lingerie to the needs of your dress: plunge front, strapless, thin material, corseted. The aim of underwear is to enhance the dress.

I left it a bit late….. – Your got the impractical dream dress, you’re having a nightmare. Remember – you need something to under the dress (it may not be the most sexy thing in the world, but you can get something special for the night); go to an independent boutique who knows their stock, they may also know other styles they can bring in for you – bigger stores are often unable to do this and this is where Elizabeth Wells comes into her own – personal, understanding service.

I’m scared it won’t fit when the big day comes – If you are planning on slimming down the thing to do is buy something you can adjust – a corset is perfect, you can pull it in & slight shape changes won’t affect its fit. You should buy underwear so that you do it up on the last clasp (thus being able to tighten it as it stretches); make sure you do this so if you lose weight you can tighten the back of the bra. The other thing worth remembering is your dress is being made – you have a seamstress! She can bring the back of the bra in & dart the cups if needed – make sure you check with you underwear expert where & how to do this on the bra though!

Do you really want the full bustier set……? – Under a corseted dress you may not need anything – corsets are designed to shape & hold you. If you put underwear on you may affect the shape of the dress. More practically wearing a Basque under a corset dress is going to be hot (in the summer or abroad), a pain to go to the loo in and not very manoeuvrable in sitting down, dancing etc. If you really want something go for a bra – the problems above will be minimized. I recommend you let your dress do the hard work and instead of a lingerie set treat yourself to some really gorgeous silk knickers instead! A sexy lingerie set can then be packed in your overnight bag…

Slinky dresses are being chosen more & more often, these require more thinking about – An all in one is not the most glamorous thing in the world BUT it will leave your dress sitting perfectly – no lumps, bumps and your curves will be smoothed out & looking awesome! At Elizabeth Wells we have some that don’t look too scary; the dress shaped ones would be great under a wedding dress as they are strapless and easy to go to the loo in!

A backless nightmare! – If a seamstress is making your dress, she could customise the back of a well-structured Basque. We do have some excellent strapless, backless bras but these do not give enough support for bigger breasts. For smaller cup sizes we have some fantastic stick on bras. If you do have to compromise on your underwear – treat yourself (and the groom) to something slinky for the night!

My tummy sticks out – help!– Shape wear – say that and all you can think of are massive horrid nude coloured garments. Elizabeth Wells is all about feeling good, and let’s face it that’s going to feel good in a giant flesh coloured monstrosity! We felt it would be hypocritical to have gorgeous lingerie and then unattractive shape-wear so we’ve done our best for you! Our favourite find is the hold in thongs. Rather than the knickers, which run the risk of VPL, the thong will sit under any dress or trousers perfectly. The collection is known as ‘slinkies’ slinky on the outside (clothes just float over the top) and a grippy texture on the inside. Other best buys are our dress all in ones – an all in one slimming suit which is strapless and has easy access for going to the loo! We also have an all in one with the thighs in which is multiway in terms of straps and quite a light material thus you shouldn’t get too hot in it!

Elizabeth Wells Lingerie – The Underwear destination, home fittings, available at The Studio, Clifton Moor & Online

W: www.elizabethwells.co.uk
T: www.twitter.com/elizabethwells