I hated my dress but was pushed for time so had ltd choices. But others loved it so it must have looked OK. It was dated even for the time (mid 90's) sweetheart neckline, puff sleeves, princess skirt. In addition to the style being wrong for me I lost 2 dress sizes as I was running round like a blue arsed fly organising the wedding and working 12-14 hour days in a nursing home and travelling hours at weekends to see then fiancé. Mainly lost weight from chest which made the dress look worse. What I am glad about is my regular hairdresser did my hair and I did my own make up - so in that respect I still looked like "me".
10 years later I ended up working in the industry and learned so much.
The boutique I worked in though had a wide range of styles including shorter lengths, maternity options and even trouser based outfits. Also most were available in a good range of colours.
Because this isn't a type of dress we wear very often we don't know what suits us. So often I had brides come in with a set idea of what they wanted, usually based on a picture in a magazine or online - but they'd given no consideration to their height, size, colouring, type of wedding... So often the dress they thought was perfect was completely unsuitable.
Most were open to suggestions, and we knew not only our stock but which styles would probably work better.
Often had the situation where I'd bring in a dress as a suggestion and brides would be 🤔 but I'd say "no harm in trying it on" - and then that would be THE dress.
We also had an excellent seamstress who fitted the dresses well. Was happy to add straps, sleeves, lace, coverage etc and was an absolute genius in doing so - you'd never think the additions were anything but part of the original design.
I've seen numerous celebrities in their wedding dresses of course and many are wearing dresses they don't look comfortable in and given they probably spent a fortune are poorly fitted. Gaping busts, too tight on hips and wrong lengths are the most common things I notice.
Another thing I see a lot of is over accessorising - veil AND tiara, necklace, bracelet AND ornate earrings. And very few brides can wear pure white. It's a very stark unforgiving colour. Most who wear a "white" dress are actually wearing Ivory, off white, light cream etc as it adds a little warmth.
I actually used to really enjoy serving adventurous brides happy to try all styles and open to wearing non bridal colours. We had one dress that was a dark iridescent purple satin, bateau neckline, wrap over full skirt with embellished underlay which a tall, very curvy bride bought - she looked absolutely amazing!
A good boutique will take into account not only your figure/size/height/colouring but also how you normally dress, preferred colours, style of wedding etc
Friends have mostly chosen good dresses for them but where it hasn't looked quite right it's been down to poor fitting or flowers/accessories not quite right. With poor fitting the other problem which I think is a real shame is it can mean bride is uncomfortable and constantly having to adjust it.
My favourite of my friends weddings the dress was black Victorian gothic style, made her own jewellery and her hair pillar box red.
Ultimately if the bride feels confident and beautiful that's all that matters.
"Used to work in a bridal shop and I always steered brides towards the styles that would suit them. Most of the times they listened and ended up with a flattering dress. Sometimes though, they would bring friends along who supposedly knew about fashion and would choose dresses that would have suited themselves but not the actual bride." Yep seen that happen, also pretty sure I've seen jealousy mean those supposedly supporting the bride have steered her away from a dress she looks amazing in or to one she doesn't look her best in. But then I've seen brides do similar to bridesmaids.