Manolo for the Brides

For those brides-to-be who love gloves, a wedding presents a perfect opportunity to glove it up. Bridal gloves can be elegant, tacky, fun, a nod to the past, or just another accessory that completes your overall wedding day look. There are as many different kinds of bridal gloves as there are brides. From sophisticated silk opera gloves to sassy lace fingerless gloves a la Madonna, there are plenty of bridal gloves to choose from if you’re considering dressing your hands on your wedding day.

If you’re glovin’ it, think carefully before settling on length. As beautiful as long white gloves can be, they are most appropriate for a very formal wedding. A good rule of thumb (heh) is this: The more formal the wedding, the longer one’s gloves should or can be. That’s not to say, of course, that you can’t glove it up for your casual outdoor wedding if that’s your style. This is one of those wedding rules that’s made to be broken!

Once you’ve found the perfect pair of bridal gloves, you need to learn your glove etiquette. Basically, gloves must come off while eating. It stands to reason, really — who wants to get lovely white gloves smudged with dinner residue? You can, however, keep your gloves on while dancing, greeting guests, taking photographs, or doing all of the other things brides typically do at a wedding reception.

But what about the ceremony? Gloves can become a bit unwieldy when it comes time to exchange wedding rings unless yours are the sort with built in holes at the wrists. You can add a slit at your ring finger if you’re handy with a sewing machine, though I think the ‘one finger poking out’ look is kind of silly. You can also ask your wedding officiant to give you just a bit of time to peel off your left glove and hand it to your maid-of-honor.

If full gloves seem just a bit too fussy, there are always arm warmers, like these from ShawkStitches. Cream knit lace with pink ribbons and silver buttons won’t coordinate with most wedding gowns, but could work with a less formal gown made from a matte material.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 23rd, 2009 at 8:56 am and is filed under Accessories, Brides. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.