by Bonnie Christiano

Created on: December 03, 2008

I have always been somewhat in denial about my short stature. I would wear tall shoes to appear taller, even though everyone knew I was short. The tall shoes didn't fool anyone. I would wear clothing that would lengthen my body. Again, didn't fool anyone. But when the time came to look for wedding dresses, I couldn't deny the fact that I was petite.

Before going to the bridal shops, I searched through wedding magazines to get an idea of what kind of dress I liked. I had several styles picked out. Armed with my folder full of cut out pictures, I dragged my mother to the first dress shop. Looking through all of the dresses can be a bit overwhelming and I soon discovered that being petite added another layer of complexity. There are certain rules that you should follow if you are petite and looking for the wedding dress of your dreams.

Rule #1: Accept the fact that you will need alterations. Wedding dresses are manufactured with average height and tall people in mind. Even the petite sized dresses I tried were extremely long. I didn't even try to find a dress with a length close to my height. It didn't exist and I was ok with that.

Rule #2: Size doesn't matter. At the time I was shopping for dresses, I wore a size four in regular clothes. My attendant started pulling size tens from the rack and I tried to stop her. There was no way I would fit into those. She asked me trust her but I pulled a size four just to show her that I knew what was best. I couldn't even get the size four past my shoulders. I tried the size tens and they fit like a glove. Wedding dresses are cut differently than your everyday clothing so trust the sales people and don't freak out if you must try on dresses that are multiple sizes higher than normal.

Rule #3: Keep an open mind. Remember rule #1? You will need alterations so look at each dress with that in mind. If there is a lot of detail on the bottom, the seamstress may take off the excess at the waist. If there is a lot of detail at the waist, the bottom may be hemmed. If there is detail and beading all over, be prepared when you are told that all of it must be removed and reattached when the dress is cut down to the correct length. If that is not something you are willing to live with, be flexible and look for other dress options where alterations can be made easily at the waist or hemline.

Rule #4: Contact the designer. Many of the wedding dress designers are willing to take custom orders. If you find the dress that you know you must be married in or not get married at all, then don't settle for second best. The designer may be able to create your dress with your specific proportions. Just understand that the price tag for a custom dress can be considerably higher and additional time may be required.

Rule #5: Don't get discouraged. If you don't find your dress right away, keep looking. Visit all of the bridal shops you can and try on as many different dresses as you can tolerate. I knew what I was looking for an expected to find it right away. In reality, my first trip to a shop had me trying on at least thirty dresses and also changed my mind of the style of dress I wanted. Styles that I thought would flatter my body, didn't. Dresses that I would never even look at twice looked fabulous. Five stores later I ended up back at the third store where I had found my perfect dress.

Planning for weddings, including finding the dress, can be very stressful. You will be beautiful on your wedding day, even if you end up wearing a potato sack down the aisle. Have fun with the preparations because the wedding is just one day but the marriage will last a lifetime.

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