“Ask The Experts” Julie Sabatino the Stylish Bride {Part 2}

Julie Sabatino is both the Stylish Bride and the Stylish Dresser. The Stylish Bride was started in 2004 is a service where I find all of the fashion elements of the wedding and coordinate them with the bride so that it evokes her personal style and matches the style of wedding she is having. The Stylish Dresser is a wedding day service where we come in, prepare the bride, bridesmaids, and the wedding party. We organize, press, steam, hand hold. In essence, we are their “Ladies in Waiting” for the day of the wedding. The “Original Wedding Fashion Stylist” was gracious enough to provide some expert insights that I will share with you. Julie gave me so much great insight I am creating two parts to this interview. Check out Part 2 now.

Should I wear a second dress at my wedding?
Many of my clients consider whether or not to change out of their wedding gown into a short dress. I wouldn’t even call this a trend anymore because it’s so common where a bride changes for the after party or the dancing segment of the wedding. I get asked a lot of whether or not I think this is worthwhile and I actually really do think that it is, especially when the bride is wearing a fuller dress a ball gown or something heavy, but even when she’s in something on a slim scale like on the slimmer side. At the end of the day when she’s been in that dress for ten or twelve hours it’s a lot to carry around. I’ve had so many clients on the fence of whether or not to change and that night they decide to go for it and have their dress and they are so happy to do it. It’s not that they don’t love their dress and they all say “I never want to take it off” but at that moment they are so happy to be free of it and to really be able to party and dance and not have a gown that you are not used to wearing. It’s not as hot and you can just move around so much more freely so it is something that I think that some brides shy away from but it does have a functional purpose that a lot of people don’t think about.

6 Tips for Wedding Dress Shopping:
1. When you walk into your first appointment it’s great to realize that the consultant is there as your partner and she is very knowledgeable about what she has and so take her recommendations.

2. One of my best tips for wedding dress shopping is to wear underwear. You’d be surprised at the number of people that don’t wear underwear when they go to wedding dress shop but you should know that you are going to be in a room with at least one other consultant if not more people so it’s always kind of nice to wear underwear. You may want to consider wearing a light colored underwear so you can’t see through the dress. If you are a little more on the modest side spanks are a great idea because it gives you a little more coverage.

3. Don’t bring an entourage of people wit you. You may be tempted to bring your friends, your mother, your sister, your sister in law, all of these people, but don’t do it! Too many opinions get confusing and it chaos and it’s just going to distract you and the consultant from finding you a dress.

4. If at all possible shop for your wedding dress on the weekday because the salons are much less crowded and it’s a much more calm and peaceful experience.

5. Another great shopping tip is to get your hair and makeup done before you go out shopping. I think that it is something that not everybody considers but feeling good and feeling your best when trying your dress on really helps the way that you see it. So, it’s a great idea if you have the time to do that before you go.

6. I don’t recommend a bride getting too tanned before her wedding. You have to remember that you are not used to wearing the color ivory or white you wedding day. A tan is much more obvious when you are in that color. A subtle glow, in my opinion is much more beautiful than a full on tan. Also, you need to be careful of tan lines for an entire year before your wedding because they take a really long time to go away and I’ve seen several brides try to work it and but you can still see it a little bit.

Same-Sex Weddings:
When you have a same-sex wedding you really need to consider how you want to coordinate but not match your partner. It can be a little bit more complicated and there aren’t a set of defined rules in the same way you think of in a traditional weddings, which is actually, in my opinion, very exciting and it’s something that’s wonderful and you have a lot more free reign to do what you want to do and express yourself, but I do think there is a challenge in figuring out how to coordinate it without matching and incorporating your own personal elements into it without being overly matchy.

What I Love about Weddings:
It’s an entire community of people gathering around and celebrating a couple and their commitment to each other and it really honors them as people and the new life that they are starting together. I think that it’s a moment in time that is magical and things go wrong and people behave in the way they are going to and there are always issues with every wedding, but at the end of the day, it’s about the couple’s love and it’s so special to see that and be part of it and it’s one of the things that I love about my business.