Tuesday Tips: 4 Ways To Stay Modest & Modern On Your Wedding Day

Whether you’re getting married in front of a few select friends and family or having a large-scale celebration, it’s the bride’s prerogative to want to look and feel her best in a dress she absolutely loves. However, finding the perfect, shop-stopping gown isn’t always about opulent materials with huge trains and embellishments, which is why we’ve called upon the modest clothing experts at AbayaButh to provide some style inspiration for brides-to-be in search of a more understated look on their wedding day!

From long-sleeved gowns and classic cuts to choosing those all-important accessories, we’ll be looking at different styles from around the world, giving you plenty of inspiration for choosing the dress that’s perfect for you.

Style it with sleeves!

The Grovers

While strapless or thin-strapped gowns are a popular choice for western wedding wear, there may be instances where these aren’t appropriate - whether that’s due to cultural traditions or you simply don’t feel confident with a lot of skin on show. However, a fabulously fresh alternative is to opt for a long-sleeved wedding dress to ensure you feel suitably covered up. Taking inspiration from traditional Muslim wedding wear, these types of dresses are far from being just modest by design - they deliver an enviable elegance that can work on so many different levels.

From fitted styles cut from delicate lace to boho bell-bottom sleeves made from floaty chiffon, long-sleeved gowns offer a surprising versatility. Working well in both traditional and modern designs, they can provide the perfect wedding wear solution for brides who want to project their own individual style while still retaining a certain sense of modesty. You can even opt for three- quarter length sleeves or capped sleeves, which can be a welcome feature for summer weddings, helping you keep cool on a hot day.

Cover up with a shawl

Jessica Kettle

If long sleeves aren’t a practical or desired option, then why not consider adding a shawl, cape or bolero to your wedding ensemble? From intricately embellished shawls like those worn at Indian weddings to vintage-style capes and chic boleros, using accessories to offer some additional coverage for shoulders and arms can be a great way to add a unique style to your outfit while also achieving a more conservative finish.

In addition, these accessories can also add a comforting layer of warmth on a cold day or in the case of shawls, they can double up as a veil or headdress.

Choose simple dress designs

Mirelle Carmichael

If you’re not comfortable wearing a big, ball-gown style dress or this doesn’t fit in with your cultural beliefs, then choosing something more understated could be key to pulling off a modest matrimonial outfit. Although, when we say a simple, we don’t necessarily mean it has to be painfully plain, but rather that the dress favors classic cuts and fabrics over showy decorative features.

Whether you want to accentuate your natural curves or cover them up, there are cuts to suit every shape and style. From floor-length A-line dresses in light fabrics that evoke a Grecian feel to silhouette sheath dresses, choosing a classic design that uses one or two different materials, such as lace, organza and satin will lend a luxurious yet understated finish.

Embellish with jewelry

Acqua Photo

Jewelry and accessories are used across the world in bridal attire and can be a great way to add some sparkle for those brides with humble tastes. From vintage hair clips and dainty earrings to delicate bracelets or floral braids, pairing your wedding gown with jewelry and accessories is a great way to add subtle accents without it feeling too over-the-top.

Whatever your personal tastes, the key to modest wedding wear is to choose styles that you’re comfortable with; and we hope this article gives you plenty of ideas to bring you one step closer to finding the perfect wedding dress that makes you feel a million dollars on the day.

Real Weddings: Maria + Oscar

 Want to know the best part of a secret? Finally getting to share it with those you love! When we first heard Maria and Oscar's story and how they had wed in secret 5 years ago all the while keeping it from their family and loved ones, even after having a baby together... We were beyond thrilled that they came to us to help them with the big reveal. The two dated briefly in high school, but 10 years later fate brought them back together. After dating for seven months they knew they couldn't spend another day without one another so they decided to secretly elope.

Fast forward to when they came to us with the desire to honor and share the love they had found. Their ceremony was to be the first time that they would share with their guests that they actually were already married. For Maria and Oscar's we pulled inspiration from Maria's personal style and combined bohemian and romantic elements to create a day that felt intimate, elegant, and full of romance. Their wedding took place at the La Quinta Resort located in Palm Springs, California and set a beautiful desert backdrop for their day. For their color palette we paid homage to the Palm Springs desert with boho neutrals and shades of wine, plum, and mauve. The groomsmen (many of them police men and colleagues to the groom) appropriately wore suits in a deep shade of blue, while the bridesmaids wore flowy white dresses. Guests were greeted by an escort wall built by Back Up Backdrops that read "You're My Best Kept Secret" and were favored with diaries hand painted and calligraphed by Betlem Calligraphy that held their names and table assignments. Guests were asked to sign in with "the secret to happily ever after" all as a tribute to our couple's love story. Floral arrangements by Oak and the Owl that mimicked the surrounding desert landscape sat on top of Moroccan inspired runners from hostess haven with tables and chairs from Folklore. Gold flatware was placed alongside crisp white plates with intricate details, and glassware that resembled the blue dessert sky.

When it came to designing Maria and Oscar's dessert table we wanted to keep it playful. Maria is a nurse and Oscar is a police officer, so naturally dessert began with coffee (a nurse's go-to beverage) and an array of donuts by Home Bakeshop (because what police officer doesn't love a good donut?!). Hey There Cupcake! Designed a cake inspired by the intricate detailing of Maria's wedding gown. Friends and family spent the rest of the evening dancing under strings of market lights, sipping on a boysenblue (boysenberry and blackberry cocktail) and another nod to Oscar's career, as well as "a hush hush", a ll the while watching Maria and Oscar's darling 3 year old bust a move on the dance floor. It was a night to celebrate family and the unveiling of Maria and Oscar's secret - because some secrets again are best when they're shared with those we love most!

Want to see more from the road to Maria and Oscar's wedding day?  Check out the Style Me Pretty feature here or our previous post "What's In Our File" where we share more about our inspiration behind their wedding day and then head over to our Engaging post and prepare to swoon over snaps from their engagement shoot!   Many thanks to our talented friend Ashley Kelemen for all the gorgeous photos!

Outside the Lines with Exquisite Weddings Magazine

What's black and white and pretty all over? Give up?!  Our Exquisite Weddings Magazine cover shoot!! We haven't stopped pouring though the gorgeous images from Ashley Kelemen and thought we would share a little more of our behind the scenes inspo of what went into this fun day before taking things to print! 

Feeling so honored to have been asked by the Magazine to collaborate on their main feature, we really wanted to create something special for them and their readers that felt elevated yet modern and unlike anything they had done before.   For us, our design usually begins with a concept or some type of golden nugget of inspiration!  That inspiration can come from anywhere and sometimes it can be the smallest of things that can grow into varying levels of interest.  For this shoot in particular we were Inspired by a simple clean grid pattern that would lend itself to all the nitty griddy details and makings for a beautiful editorial spread!  We teamed up with some of our favorite vendors in the industry to help pull our vision together and began by pairing stark, modern black and white contrast with soft romantic elements of spring! The invitation suite was designed by Miss Multee and was the perfect compliment to the overall design with hand lettering and modern calligraphy. Veering from the traditional, we pulled gowns with texture and clean lines from both The Dress Theory and BHLDN as well as accesories from Marrow Fine Jewelry, Trumpet and Horn and Melinda Rose that would play against the custom grid backdrop we had Back Up create for us .  Layered Vintage did her thing and spread flower love over the backdrop and onto the table top and the results were gorgeous!  Stunning hair and make-up was done on our model by KC Witcamp with Hello Birdie Nail Salon accenting her finger nails in none other than a grid pattern, taking our look from head to tips! :) 

  We also asked Hey They Cupcake! to create a showpiece designed around our concept and she offered up the perfect blush geometric inspired cake that incorporated our playful use of lines.    Our unique tabletop pieces were pulled from Hostess Haven's extensive collection, with drinks by Baron.  To keep up with the mix between modern and romantic, we pulled furniture pieces from Adore Folklore that had a little bit of both and designed a lounge area that was just begging to be enjoyed!    

All of our images from this amazing creative adventure were captured by Ashely Kelemen.   Can't thank our team enough for all of their beautiful efforts to bring this one together with us!