What gowns are brides buying in 2025? A guide to dress shopping for the modest bride.
So you’re engaged?! Congratulations!! Now the fun, or to some, headache, of wedding planning begins.
Regardless of where you fall on the love-hate spectrum of wedding planning, it goes (mostly) without saying that finding a wedding dress is the most exciting and enjoyable aspect is finding where to begin!? There are infinite dresses out there, so many styles and places to shop. Does one begin with booking an appointment at David’s Bridal? Googling wedding dresses? A Pinterest board?
Those are all good places to start, though if you have lots of time before the big day you might want to hold off on booking an appointment with David’s Bridal. While there are a plethora of other dress shopping locations that might be preferable to you over a big chain company, an appointment at David’s will go more smoothly if you have somewhat of an idea of what you’d like, or at least not like, in a dress.
Neckline, sleeves, length, fabric, color (yeah, turns out there are a lot of different colors of white out there, who knew!).
First, take a deep breath. Make yourself a warm beverage (unless it’s summer in Texas, then maybe opt for a cold one). And then take another deep breath. Wedding dress shopping can be fun. But let’s dispel a little myth before we go deeper.
Finding “The Dress”: An Unrealistic Goal
You don’t need to find “the dress.” The “perfect, quintessential dress for your one day which is the most important day of your life” (note the sarcasm). It is just a dress. The thing that will ultimately make it special is the event that takes place when you are wearing it. Remove from your mind this idea of finding the perfect dress; even if it does exist, you don’t need that pressure in your life. Focus on finding a dress you like; one you feel like your beautiful self while wearing. It might not be the one you loved in The Knot catalog, it might not be one you’d even like from looking at on the rack; it’s maybe not the dress you’ve thought of wearing since you were a little girl or your great-great-grandmother’s. That’s okay. So long as you like it and you feel like the beautiful person you already are when wearing it.
With that said, we can get to the fun part. While there is no right or wrong way to go about finding a dress, there are some helpful tips and tricks that can get you started, or finished, if you are feeling a little lost and overwhelmed.
As a Catholic Bride
Take note though, that as a Catholic bride, there is a little extra something you have to keep in mind when choosing a dress, and that is modesty. Is this dress appropriate for a church wedding? Does it draw undue attention to the bride or a particular physical attribute of the bride? Does it reveal too much for the setting of a Catholic church wedding? What even is considered too much? Or you may be asking yourself, what even is the big deal of modesty in my wedding dress? Can’t I just wear the strapless dress at my Catholic wedding?
Well, that depends. Many Catholic churches have regulations regarding the Bride’s dress. While this may be frustrating, don’t fret too quickly. Let me explain why these standards exist, why you should care about the modesty of your gown regardless of the specific church requirements (or lack thereof), what you can do about it, and how it can even add charm and/or variety to your dress for your day.
Why Dressing Modestly within Churches Matters
So why do some Catholic churches have regulations and even if they don’t, why should you care about the modesty of your dress in a Catholic wedding?
If you’ve chosen to get married in a church that has standards then you can’t get married there without following them. So while you have no choice, you can either go along with it begrudgingly so you can get married in this beautiful building, or you can seek the reason why the church has this standard and why you should care.
That reason is . . .
TRADITION!!!!! Tradition!
Tradition carries weight. When you respect tradition we communicate one thing, and when we dismiss it we communicate another.
For example, according to tradition, we wear black, or muted colors, to funerals. This shows you, as the attendant, are grieving, or at the very least respecting the grief of those present as well as the solemnity of the occasion. To show up to a funeral wearing a bright yellow sundress with pink high heels would communicate an entirely different thing, most prominently disrespect.
What we wear sends out a message. It is a means of communication in our culture, in almost any culture. To wear a swimsuit to the beach communicates you’re there to swim or sunbathe. To wear a bikini to the grocery store, in winter, communicates . . . something else. It would not be modest to wear a bikini somewhere where you would not go swimming or sunbathing. You would be drawing undue attention to yourself by doing so, which is the essence of immodesty.
So what is modest as a bride? As the bride, much of the attention is already drawn to you, how can you draw undue attention to yourself?
You could draw undue attention to your body, or rather a particular attribute of your body. Especially in the context of a church wedding where there are often set standards or expectations of modesty. Hence, to wear a plunge neckline gown in the context of a church wedding could be considered immodest, as this gown could draw undue attention to yourself, or at the very least undue attention to a particular part of yourself. In less extreme scenarios, uncovered shoulders, low necklines, low backs, and short skirts are other things that could be immodest.
To summarize, according to Church tradition, a woman’s shoulders should be covered when in a church, regardless of whether or not she’s a bride, but also including brides. Other standards of women’s dress within a church are an appropriate length and neckline. These are less specific and more subjective but use your prudence. Just because you are getting married in a church doesn’t mean you need to wear a long-sleeved, full-length, high-necked, high-backed dress. Of course, you can if you want to, but you don’t have to, at least within most churches. Again, check your venue for whether or not they have any set standards.
The Problem and The Solution
So you know the Church’s tradition, but you’ve found a great dress, and it’s strapless (or has merely spaghetti straps, off-the-shoulder sleeves, etc). Must you merely sigh and delete that dress from your dreams forever? No.
You don’t have to dismiss that perfect dress you found just because it is strapless or spaghetti straps. There are a plethora of creative ways to make that beautiful dress work for you without compromising Church tradition, both temporarily for only the church ceremony or permanently for the day.
A temporary fix for the ceremony can be to add a bolero, a cute shawl or wrap, etc. It can be a fun accessory to dress up your dress; it can be lacy, netted, sheer, etc. If you’re getting married in colder weather you can find something warm and fuzzy, you can find a long sleeve bolero to wear under your dress to give the illusion of long sleeves, but not have the added cost or time of alteration.
A bolero comes in many shapes and styles, and even colors if you want to add a small pop of color to your dress. It’s easy to slip on for the ceremony and slip off afterward.
Lastly, if you want a more permanent alteration you can get sleeves easily added to your dress. And the options here are endless. From butterfly, bell, fitted, short, elbow, long, etc. And actually, sleeves aren’t even necessarily permanent. You can have them sewn on in such a fashion that with a small pair of scissors and a little pulling, the sleeves will be off.
A lack of sleeves is an easy-to-fix problem for a beloved dress. This can be a relief to many brides, especially in a day and age where sleeveless dresses are quite possibly one of the most common styles.
While some stylistic elements of a dress cannot so easily be altered to work within a Catholic Church wedding (you might be hard-pressed to have the element of a plunging neckline while still fitting Catholic modesty traditions), most of them can be. Talk with a seamstress (maybe before you buy the dress) and ask what ideas they might have for raising the neckline or backline, making an area less shear, etc. You might be surprised, and I’d wager most seamstresses will welcome the challenge.
With respecting Church tradition in mind, as well as a plethora of ideas for making that (almost) perfect dress work, let’s begin the search.
How to Say Yes to the Dress
2025 Trending Gowns
Simply googling “wedding dresses” can be a place to begin, but keep in mind that this route will largely show the current trends. Now there is nothing wrong with this, and there can be many reasons why you may want a trending gown.
Some trends can be right up one’s alley. Trending gowns can also be a mark of what era you got married in. It can be a fun way to own the fact that you got married in 2025 and when your kids and grandkids are looking at your wedding photos they’ll know that you got married in this era (at least we all do, often with some cringes, when looking at our parents and grandparents gowns). Another reason to choose a trending style is that there will be a plethora of options to choose from, they will be easier to find and likely less expensive than say the non-trending or vintage gowns from the small boutique stores.
So what are the current trends? While a quick Google search will likely tell you, that would be stealing my thunder. They are (Drum roll please):
Bows!
Bows add a delightful feminine touch to any dress and are charming. From big bows to little bows, one bow to many bows, these are trending in 2025.
Bohemian tiered skirts.
This style can be great for a lighter-weather wedding, like in Springtime. A very light, airy, breezy style that just makes you think of singing birds and gently blowing breezes that are slightly warmed by the sun. With all the greenery and blooming flowers found in spring, a tiered skirt can have you feeling right in the season.
Lastly, modern floral, or Chantilly lace.
Lace has been appealing to women for generations and decades. Choosing a trending style of lace can be a way to get a classy-looking dress that is within budget, marks your era of wedding, and is a way to strike a balance between vintage and modern.
The Steps of Finding a Dress
Regardless of whether or not you want a trending style, the first step of dress shopping can be to think about what you might like, even if it’s not ultimately in your final dress. For example, I love lace and when I first started shopping for dresses I looked at lacy ones, and even tried on several. In the end, my dress had no lace whatsoever on it, but I loved it more than any lacy one I had tried.
Thinking about what you like helps to get the ball rolling. Write out what you like regarding style aspects such as dress length, lace or smoothness, sleeves, etc. Don’t get too caught up in color or fabric type if that’s overwhelming to you. You could write down something like “fur” if you love that aesthetic, but the world of fabric can be a lot to anyone who’s not a seamstress. This is even more true with color. Did you know there are like a dozen different colors of white? Yep, white has a lot of variations. And you probably aren’t gonna know off the top of your head if you prefer ivory or true white. When it comes to color, leave that until you’re trying on dresses and can see the effect they have on your colors (i.e. skin tone, hair, eyes, etc), or consult an expert for what colors would look best on you.
After you’ve got a small list of preferences or just things you want to see more of,
Pinterest can be a good place to head. Search wedding dresses with one or two of your words and start pinning what you like. Don’t get caught up in making a cohesive-looking board, just search for different things and pin what you like. Afterward, go back and compare and contrast the different pictures you’ve selected. You might be surprised with what ends up on that board, but trust that first glance. Look through those pins and see if you can write down the top 3-5 things that appear in numerous photos or that stand out to you the most. They might be the same, or different, from what your initial list had.
From here you are all set to begin the online or in-person search. Book that appointment at David’s Bridal or your local boutique if you want the in-person experience. Look at some online places if you don’t feel the need for that or want to get a clearer idea. Or do both: Go in-person dress shopping for the experience and to get a sense of color and maybe narrow your options, and then go to the online options or small boutique stores to find what you want or to support local and small businesses.
Try googling wedding dress boutique stores in your area if you’re looking for a small business or something that may have more options than what’s trending.
Online stores can be a great place to get a further idea of what you like and don’t like. Just as a warning though, it can be misleading if your body type is drastically different than that of the models. A dress that looks great on one woman will not always look great on another.
If you’re looking for some local, small businesses in the Metro-Detroit area, check out some of these:
http://www.thebridesproject.org/
The Brides Project sells used dresses (a great economic way to keep the budget small and be environmentally conscious). They are also a non-profit, which donates to Cancer Societies. Find them in Ann Arbor.
https://ivycityco.com is a great option for Bridesmaid and Bridal Shower dresses.
Other options are:
https://www.onceagainbridal.com
And don’t write off your local thrift store, I know more than one bride who’s found her dress for $25 at a local thrift store, sandwiched between yellowed gowns from the ‘80s, at a place run by sweet protestant old ladies. You just never know where that special gown will find you.
Conclusion
With all that said, I hope you are excited, or at the very least, less overwhelmed, about finding your wedding dress, while staying true to our wonderful Church’s tradition. Have fun and know that 30 years from now, while you may not still love your dress when looking at those photos, it will likely always hold a small special corner of your heart, all because of the great Sacrament you received while wearing it. And that Sacrament is the most beautiful, important part of the day; not the dress, the flowers, the venue, or marrying “Mister Right”. This 2000 year Sacrament is what matters, and it’s what will give you the grace to have and to hold that Mister till the day you die.