A Beautiful Bride

Choosing Your Wedding Shoes – What To Know

First off let me say Thank You to my pal Andy who jokingly emailed me one day asking if I’d misspelled my new blog name, “You’re sure it’s not meant to be A Beautiful Bride?” but it got me thinking, so much of my week revolves around some kind of wedding admin, it would make sense to do a little series on the blog about some of the thing I’ve learnt along the way. First up on the list I have a guide on choosing your wedding shoes and all the important questions you should ask yourself.

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What Comes First, The Shoes Or The Dress?

My dress was a big priority for me, it was hard for me to visualise anything from hair, makeup or shoes before I had it. I found once I got it, it was really easy for me to choose the style of shoe I wanted to go for as the colour and embellishment of the dress helped guide me in the right direction.

Really though, its up to the bride! If you fall in love with a pair of shoes before you have a dress you could always work the other way around and select your dress style on the design of your shoes.

What About Colour?

I’ve heard lots of different opinions about coloured wedding shoes, but I’d say go for it! Of course a classic cream or ivory pair would look lovely, but more and more I’m seeing brides with coloured and patterned wedding shoes. The most important thing to do is to make sure your chosen colour goes hand in hand with your dress. As such I’d probably steer clear of lime green shoes, but soft pastels, nudes and neutrals could be the perfect shades you are looking for.

High or Low?

I find high heels ridiculously hard to walk in, so when choosing my shoes It was massively important for them to be super comfortable and easy to walk in. I opted for a more kitten style heel from Valentino which gives me a little bit of height and means I can walk with confidence. Whether you choose a high heel or a smaller heel it’s vital you wear your shoes when you go for your wedding dress fitting, if you have a 6 inch heel on it’s important that the seamstress takes that into account when altering your dress length.

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Think About Your Venue

If you’re getting married on the beach a  pair of high heeled wedding shoes probably isn’t the most practical choice to go for. A sandal or a flat shoe might be more appropriate. The same goes for if you expect to be standing around on grass for a large part of the day, if it has rained you don’t want to start sinking into the ground so again something with a wedge heel might be more foolproof!

Little Things Make A Big Difference

There are loads of small things you can add to your shoes to make them that little bit special for the big day. Jimmy Choo has launched its own personalisation service for the soles of its bridal shoes, or why not opt for a pretty shoe clip to add a bit of sparkle?

Make Use of Your Bridesmaids

Your bridesmaids are there to help and support you on your big day, so make sure they have a stash of plasters or gel pads in their bags just in case of a shoe related emergency, that way you can ensure you can dance until the early hours! Don’t forget them though, you can always look into providing frequently popular baskets of flip-flops near the dance floor that they can throw on after a long day!

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Bear In Mind That The Shoes You Think You Love Might Not Be The Ones For You

I was fixated on getting a pair of Jimmy Choos as my wedding shoes. I went down to the store on Bond Street which has its own bridal section, and when I tried a pair on I couldn’t wait to take them off! For me they were way too narrow and the heel height was ridiculously uncomfortable, if I was going to be paying through the nose for a pair of shoes I was going to at least make sure I could walk in them! It’s all about trial and error – don’t box yourself in and only try on one brand of wedding shoe, shop around and see what others have to offer.