​Wedding accessories play a powerful part in projecting a bride’s personal style and completing their dream big day vision. And so, to help you discover those perfect transformational touches, our Founder & Head Stylist, Hayley Hoyle, shares her expert advice on choosing bridal accessories whilst explaining how HWL can assist!

Although wedding dress shopping tops most brides’ planning highlights, choosing bridal accessories will often come in a close second. Not only because any pressure felt towards finding ‘the one’ has now eased away but because it provides an exciting opportunity for a bride to channel her style preferences into her final big-day look.

As bridal fashion moves further away from traditions and a select number of design trends dominating a decade, you beautiful brides are revelling in the chance to put your own sartorial stamp on your wedding attire and truly reflect your individuality.

Of course, the dress design you pick, particularly if customised, goes some way to achieving this. But the finishing touches are where you can really set your own bridal style narrative and further enhance your look. 

And that’s not all they’re good for! If you dream of having two wedding dresses, but it’s a stretch too far for your budget, buying a ‘change’ of bridal accessories for your evening party is an easy and highly effective way to get multiple looks from just one gown.

Keen to bring individual style to every “I do” occasion, we’re also seeing brides snapping up extra on-trend touches to wear for hen parties, rehearsal dinners, and extended day-before/after celebrations.

How To Pick Your Wedding Accessories

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Timing

Shop for your accessories too soon, and you may end up with pieces that no longer suit your bridal vision, but shop too late, and it can become a stressful rather than enjoyable experience with limited options. As such, we’d suggest picking your accessories four to six months before the big day or at your first dress fitting appointment. 

Check out this helpful blog post to learn about the typical Bridal Shopping Timeline.

Hair Choice

Having an understanding of how you want your hair styled for your wedding day will be super helpful when it comes to picking your accessories. As such, some brides prefer to hold off shopping until they’ve had their first hair trial, but generally, knowing if you’re going for an up or down do will help you decide between picking a hair comb, hair pins or a headband, for example. 

Dress Style

It makes sense that the style of your wedding dress will influence your accessory selection. As mentioned, there are no set rules when it comes to the finishing touches, but if your dress is heavily detailed, it might mean dainty or pared-back accessories work better. In contrast, a statement accessory can help add impact to a more simple wedding dress design.  

Neckline

The neckline of your gown is an essential consideration when shopping for accessories. For example, if it’s a high or halter neck, you’re likely to steer clear of a necklace and choose a pair of bridal earrings instead. Equally, if it’s a plunge or strapless gown, adding a necklace or chandelier earrings can avoid the décolletage area looking too bare.

Venue, Theme & Season

The setting and style of the wedding can put a steer on your accessory choice, so think if you’re going for ethereal magic, city chic, free-spirited boho, timeless elegance, cool and contemporary etc. And be sure to keep the typical weather conditions for the season in mind, as this might also sway your finishing touch selection.

True To You

Above all else, you want to choose bridal accessories that will make you feel comfortable and confident rather than defaulting to what you think a bride ‘should’ wear. 

How We Can Help

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Dedicated Accessory Appointments

To help you brides find your perfect accessories and add another lovely experience to your wedding planning journey, we offer dedicated Accessory Styling Appointments at our Harrogate bridal boutique. These are available Monday to Friday free of charge, giving you time to experiment with various looks and accessory options. If we have a sample of your chosen dress in the boutique, you can slip it on to help build the full bridal picture. Equally, we can include an accessory styling session as part of your dress fitting appointments, so you can try on all elements together and ensure your choices hit your bridal brief. 

Professional Styling Guidance

Our talented bridal stylists have in-depth knowledge of our dress collections and have styled thousands of brides over the years, so they know how to achieve different looks with the right accessories. Being styled by an expert rather than just picking accessories online will avoid the overwhelm whilst giving you confidence in your decisions and clarity of your look.  

Carefully Considered Collections

We pick our bridal accessory ranges to complement our dress collections and to work with a wide range of bridal style preferences, from delicate to dazzling, classic to contemporary. This includes classic bridal jewellery and hair accessories by Ivory & Co, modern, trend-led wedding accessories from The Bobby Pin, and spellbinding artisan-made bridal accessories by Miss Clemmie and Debbie Carlisle. We also have a captivating range of bridal veils by Helen Martin Veils, Richard Designs and Couture Veil, with designs varying in length, style and detailing.

Custom Options Available

Given that two exceptionally skilful seamstresses are part of our boutique team, we can work with our brides to design beautiful bespoke finishing touches. This includes dreamy belts, jackets, veils and coverups designed and made especially for you. 

Top HWL Tip: Be prepared to say yes to the accessories you love during your fitting or accessory appointments, as there’s generally a higher turnover of designs compared to dresses, meaning a piece you fall for could be discontinued if you don’t secure it there and then! 

2023 Wedding Accessory Trends We Love

Return Of The Tiara

Pretty and regal tiaras are having a bridal revival giving you the opportunity to put your own unique styling spin on this iconic bridal classic. 

Textured Veils

We’ve seen an abundance of unexpected and textured fabrics in bridal gown designs for 2023, and the tactile trend has spilt over into the world of veils with highly desirable creations featuring floral applique, ruffles and pearl adornments.

Bows & Bands

Two of our very favourite bridal accessory trends for the coming year…romantic bows and statement headbands. Super wearable and with options for all, designs vary from lavishly embellished headdresses to pared-back pretty. 

Simple To Statement

We’re seeing more brides making an accessory switch part way through their day, picking simple pieces for the ceremony and swapping to statement designs come evening. Think studs switched for hoops, tiaras changed for headbands, full-length veils exchanged for big hair bows or the evening addition of a glitzy belt to catch the light on the dance floor.

Ready to start shopping for those all-important finishing touches? Book your free-of-charge Bridal Accessory Styling Appointment with one of our expert team today, available Monday to Friday. Or, if you have any questions, simply email us at info@theharrogateweddinglounge.com.