Guide to the Best Fabric for a Wedding Dress

Once you start the exciting search for your dream wedding dress, you will be faced with hundreds of choices. Usually, the first hiccup comes when you have to choose the fabric for your wedding dress. 

Most brides know the traditional and classic fabrics for wedding dresses. However, bridal fashion is constantly evolving, and there are now so many different fabrics available. Plus, not many brides know the different qualities of different fabrics.

Stress not! We have created just the guideline you need for selecting the best fabric for a wedding dress.

Best Fabric for a Wedding Dress

Various factors work together to create the wedding dress you always wanted. The silhouette, the design, the neckline, the color, and whatnot!

Nonetheless, the key to the perfect wedding dress is choosing the right fabric. As you enter the world of wedding dresses, you will encounter so many more kinds of fabrics than ever before. Each of these fabrics has distinct qualities and work for different dress styles.

Here are the most popular choices of fabrics for wedding dresses with their advantages and disadvantages. We hope it helps you get your dream wedding dress in no time.

Chiffon

Chiffon is a beautiful and delicate fabric. It is among the most popular fabric choices for a wedding dress. Chiffon is essentially known for its sheer material and airiness. 

It is made from woven silk, which gives it a matte finish. The floaty and transparent style makes it the perfect fabric for draped, layers, and flowing wedding dress styles. It drapes effortlessly to your body, giving you a naturally sophisticated look.

Its light and breathable structure make it the perfect choice for spring and summer weddings. As opposed to the other fabrics, chiffon has quite a sheen and smooth texture. As a result, it looks light and breezy as you walk down the aisle. With a chiffon wedding dress, you will be exuding the ethereal vibe you always wanted!

However, this sheerness and weightlessness also make chiffon one of the most fragile fabrics on this list. It can easily pull, snag, tear, or fray. Moreover, because of this fragility and transparency, chiffon is usually layered with a lining fabric.

Lace

Lace is undoubtedly the most popular wedding dress fabric. It is a sophisticated and lightweight material that can be molded into any and every shape. 

The suppleness of lace allows it to be used in so many ways. You can use it to add subtle or intricate details to your wedding dress, give beautiful finishing touches, enhance your necklines, and so much more. Adding lace can give a beautifully romantic and vintage vibe to an otherwise simple wedding dress.

The versatility and flexibility offered by this amazing fabric are what sets it apart from the others. It is incredibly diverse and offers countless possibilities. Be it the pattern, the texture, or the embellishments – you can create anything you want with lace. This adaptable quality of lace makes it ideal to be used all year round.

This incredibly adaptable fabric can be used for all types of wedding dress silhouettes, overlays, and details. However, the delicacy of lace makes it fragile and vulnerable to wear and tear.

Being an iconic fabric for wedding dresses, most brides know what lace is. However, the many variations of lace are mostly unknown! Some of the most popular laces that are often used for wedding dresses include sheet lace, lace applique, Chantilly lace, embroidered lace, and Venetian lace.

Satin

We have all grown up with fairytales. Those silky princess gowns with flowy texture and shiny appearance have made us all fall in love. Deep down, most brides are looking for that smooth wedding gown for their big day. And no other fabric other than satin is able to give that smooth finish and soft drape.

Satin is one of the most popular, durable, and versatile wedding dress fabrics. Its best and most unique feature is its smooth and shiny finish. Moreover, satin is a heavy fabric with a thick body. Yet, this heaviness does not weigh on you or make you uncomfortable.

In fact, it is one of the most comfortable and breathable wedding dress fabrics. So, when compared to other fabrics, satin might feel heavy, but it won’t restrict your movement.

Another amazing benefit of wearing satin on your wedding day is that it can be very supportive, which can be great if you’re looking for a dress that works well if you have a bigger chest. No matter your body type, a satin wedding dress will make you feel luxurious and sexy effortlessly. This makes satin best for structured gowns, bodycon designs, draped wedding dresses, or ruched styles.

Satin is thus an amazing fabric choice when it comes to wedding dresses. However, it gets wrinkled up very easily. This can be quite a problem and inconvenience for many brides. So, if you opt for a beautiful satin wedding gown, make sure to keep a portable dress steamer with you.

Organza

Organza has been a staple of wedding dresses for a very long time. It is a lightweight and sheer material that is traditionally woven from silk. If you want your wedding dress to have some structure to it but is also translucent, then this is the way to go!

Organza is a crisp yet sheer fabric. The stiff texture of this material allows you to layer it for maximum volume. However, this enhanced volume does not add too much weight to the dress. This is what makes organza stand out from the others!

You can also use organza to add beautiful details and designs to your wedding dress. It can help you create beautiful overskirts, overlays, necklines, and sleeve detailing. As mentioned earlier, organza provides structure but is very lightweight. This makes it ideal for structured wedding dresses, such as ball gowns and ballerina styles. 

So, if you want an exaggerated and dramatic look for your wedding day, add some organza to your dress. However, organza can be a very delicate material to work with. Its Sheerness makes it very vulnerable to wear and tear. Moreover, it is not as flowy as other materials mentioned on this list.

Georgette

If you want to have a breezy and flowy look on your wedding day, then georgette is the best fabric for you. This is a sheer, soft and smooth material with an amazing draping quality. 

As compared to the other materials on this list, georgette is lighter and a lot more floaty. This makes it an ideal choice for feminine silhouettes. This is a very fine and soft material that molds to your body effortlessly. 

It may look similar to chiffon, but there is a difference in its texture. Where chiffon is plain, georgette has a crinkled finish to it. Hence, if you want to bring some drama and feel to your wedding dress, then georgette is a great option. 

Georgette is a sheer material but lesser than chiffon. So if you want your wedding dress to provide more coverage and warmth, then use georgette instead of chiffon. The soft and flowy material can be used to add an ethereal finish to your wedding dress. 

Georgette is a super soft, comfortable, and flowy material. It is best suited for body-fitting, sheath, and A-line wedding dresses. However, it can be see-through if not lined and draped properly.

Features to Consider for Choosing Best Wedding Dress Fabric 

Fabric is the undisputed key to a perfect wedding dress. When you are searching for your bridal wear, there are a few things that you must take into account. These factors will help you find your dream wedding dress more easily.

So, here are the main features to consider when choosing the fabric for your wedding dress:

Wedding Dress Style

Bridal fashion is always evolving. Each season brings new trends, new silhouettes, and new designs. Like all styles, all fabrics are also not created equally. While some fabrics might work for a specific silhouette, others may not.

For instance, you would need a flowy and lightweight fabric for A-line wedding gowns. Using heavier and structured fabrics would ruin the look of your dress. And you don’t want that! So, make sure to opt for a fabric that suits the wedding dress style you want.

Season

No bride wants to sweat in her wedding dress. Similarly, no bride wants to be shivering in her wedding photos. That’s why make sure to choose the fabric that is appropriate to the weather of your wedding.

If you are having a summer wedding, you can choose a sheer and transparent fabric. However, choosing such fabrics for a winter wedding can turn into a disaster. Likewise, you can choose heavy materials like polyester and velvet for winter weddings only.

Color and Pattern

This is a very important detail to look for when finding your wedding dress. You should look for a fabric that works for the color and pattern you want for your bridal dress. Where some fabrics look good with patterns and textures, others may not. 

For instance, adding patterns or too many embellishments on lightweight fabrics can make them fragile and awkward. So, make sure to find the fabric that is suitable for your requirements in terms of design, colors, and embellishments.

Texture and Drape

Wedding dresses are made out of a huge variety of fabrics. Each of these fabrics offers different and unique qualities. The big question that you need to answer here is what kind of bridal look do you want? Choose the fabric according to the answer to this particular question.

Some fabrics are ideal for flowy, breezy wedding dresses. On the other hand, some are best suited for structured gowns. Where some give you a smooth drape, the others might add some stiffness. If you’re planning to wear a wedding dress with sleeves, think about how you want those to fit as well.

Moreover, some materials are shiny, whereas others are matte. The list goes on!

So, make sure to choose the fabric that suits the bridal look you want for your big day.

Fabrics to Avoid

Generally speaking, you don’t need to avoid any fabric unless it contradicts your vision for what you want your dress to look like. Choosing the wrong fabric can completely alter and ruin the overall silhouette of your wedding dress.

If you want a flowy look, don’t choose organza or crepe. If you want to have a structured wedding gown, then avoid lightweight fabrics like chiffon and georgette.

Also, be sure to try your dress on with the proper undergarments before the big day! If you’re wearing Spanx underneath your dress or a strapless bra, double check that you can’t see them through the dress fabric.

Final Words

A wedding dress is undoubtedly the most important item on a bride’s shopping list. Finding the perfect wedding dress fabric can be tiring and overwhelming. So many options can confuse any bride. However, it can be a lot easier if you know what you are looking for and what each fabric offers.

Above all, make sure to pick the fabric that makes you feel and look your best! It is your wedding day, and it should be all about you!