Whilst on the big day it is often the wedding dress that gets all the attention, and it is often the dress that many a young girl dreams about, ask any woman interested in fashion and they will tell you that choosing the correct shoes for the occasion is nearly as important. Whilst many women know exactly the type of dress they are after, it is not as regular that they will have thought in advance about what to put on their feet. With a long trail, might heels be too awkward? Would flats not feel glamorous enough? There are many factors worth taking into consideration before making these decisions.

How Long Will You Be On Your Feet?

The first thing to do is to make a quite practical consideration. How long, throughout the course of the day, are you likely to spend on your feet? Whereas some weddings start late and the after-party is short, some will begin in the morning and there will be dancing way into the night. If you are going to attend a wedding where you are expecting to be on your feet for twelve hours then the choice of shoe design is going to be a completely different one to a quitter affair.

Where Will You Be Walking?

Walking to the altar in a church may be one thing but if you are thinking of spending any part of the day outside, as a part of the ceremony or even the after party, this could play a huge part in the decision making process. Beach weddings can be romantic but trying to walk on sand in heels could prove impossible. Similarly an outside drinks reception could prove troublesome for heels too.

Remember The Photographs

Wedding photographs are often passed down from generation to generation and are used as a reminder of one of the happiest days of your life. Which is why it is imperative to make sure that these are as perfect as they possibly can be. Apart from making sure the groom’s tie is done up properly, everyone is dressed up smart and that a professional photographer is hired, the one things that can be down is to make sure that your shoes do not cause any problems. So, for example, if the bride is taller than the groom to begin with, wearing six inch high killer heels, may end up making the photograph look a little askew. Similarly, if all the bridal party are all quite tall in comparison to the bride, it may make sense to shy away from flats.

Wear your shoes BEFORE the big day

New shoes can really hurt. Especially if they are worn for up to twelve hours with no reprieve. As with all shoes, the best way to get around this is to wear the shoes in a bit. This does not mean wearing bridal shoes to work every day or down to the pub. But perhaps wearing them around the house for a small while at a time in the build up to the wedding day may make the shoes more comfy! It might be advisable to bring bandages, plasters and gel pads to the wedding just in case, but any preparation work that can be taken in advance is always welcome.

Deciding On Design

Although it is quite obvious that no bride should go shopping for their shoes with their wedding dress on to make sure the shoes match, a good idea could be to take a small swatch of the outfit with you to make sure the shoe and the dress have patterns that co-ordinate. Failing this, make sure to take a photograph or a picture on your phone so you can imagine the outfit as a whole.

Final advice for Bridal shoes choices

Although the shoes are one of the most important parts of your outfit, be prepared to lose them later on! After ten hours in a pair of new shoes the urge comes to kick them off to go dancing, do that! Make sure that you are either prepared to go barefoot or, perhaps, bring along a spare pair. That way when you wake up the following morning you will have a bunch of happy memories to go with your pain-free feet!

Kieron Casey is a fashion writer and two time best man. He suggest checking Barratts for their collection of bridal shoes.