When and How Should I Choose My Wedding Shoes

Wedding shoes may be one of the smaller details of your bridal look, but choosing the right pair involves more than simply finding shoes you love.

When should you buy them? How high should the heel be? Do they need to match your dress? And what happens if you want to change into something more comfortable later?

The best place to start is with your wedding dress.

You don’t need your wedding shoes before you begin dress shopping. In most cases, it makes much more sense to choose your wedding dress first and your shoes afterwards.

But once you’ve found your gown, don’t leave the shoes until the last minute. You will need them when the final length of your wedding dress is being determined during alterations.

Do I need my wedding shoes before choosing my wedding dress?

No.

Choose your wedding dress first.

Once you know the style, fabric and overall look of your gown, choosing shoes that work beautifully with it becomes much easier.

Your shoes should complement your wedding dress — you don’t need to choose your dress around a pair of shoes.

When do I actually need to have my wedding shoes?

You should have your wedding shoes before the alterations that determine the final length of your dress.

Your seamstress needs to know exactly how high you will be standing in your shoes in order to establish where the hem should fall.

Even a few centimetres of difference in heel height can make a noticeable difference to the length of a floor-length wedding dress.

Should I bring my wedding shoes to my fittings?

Yes.

Once the length of your gown is being adjusted, bring the shoes you intend to wear on your wedding day.

If you don’t have the exact pair yet, a shoe with exactly the same heel height can be useful temporarily, but ideally your actual wedding shoes should be available when the final length is decided.

The type of shoe can also affect the way you stand and move, so trying your gown with the actual shoes gives you a much better idea of the complete look.

How high should my wedding heels be?

There is no correct heel height for a bride.

Choose a height that works with your gown but, very importantly, that you can actually walk, stand and dance in comfortably.

If you regularly wear high heels and feel completely comfortable in them, a higher heel may be a natural choice.

If you almost never wear very high heels, your wedding day probably isn’t the ideal time to discover whether you can manage them for ten hours.

Do my wedding shoes have to be white?

Not at all.

Wedding shoes can be white, ivory, nude, metallic, coloured or something completely unexpected.

With many floor-length wedding dresses, the shoes are barely visible when you’re standing and appear only when you walk, sit or dance.

Choose something that works with the overall bridal look rather than feeling that a wedding shoe automatically has to be white. Maybe a color that you will wear again is a better option!

Do my shoes need to match the exact colour of my wedding dress?

Not necessarily.

Trying to find exactly the same shade of white or ivory isn’t always necessary, and different materials reflect colour differently.

An ivory satin shoe and an ivory crepe wedding dress, for example, may not appear to be exactly the same shade even though both are described as ivory.

Think about whether the shoes complement the dress rather than trying to achieve a perfect colour match.

Should wedding shoes be beautiful or comfortable?

Ideally, both.

Your wedding shoes are part of your bridal look, and there is nothing wrong with falling in love with an incredible pair.

But remember how long your wedding day actually is.

You’ll walk, stand, take photographs, move between spaces and, hopefully, spend a very large part of the night dancing.

A shoe can look spectacular during the ceremony and still become a problem several hours later.

Should I wear my wedding shoes before the wedding?

Yes.

Don’t let your wedding day be the first time you properly wear them.

Wear them at home for short periods. Walk in them. Stand in them. Find out whether they rub, slip or become uncomfortable after some time.

And during your fittings, walk around in your wedding dress and shoes together.

Your dress and shoes need to work together when you move — not only when you’re standing still in front of a mirror.

Can I change into more comfortable shoes for the party?

Of course, but there is one very important detail to consider:

Heel height.

Your wedding dress will have been altered according to the height of the shoes you wear during your fittings.

If you wear high heels for the ceremony and then change into very low heels, flats or trainers, you suddenly become several centimetres shorter — but your dress doesn’t.

The gown will sit lower to the floor, making it easier to step on and potentially more difficult to walk and dance.

Should my second pair of shoes have the same heel height?

Ideally, yes — or at least very close.

Your second pair doesn’t need to look anything like your ceremony shoes.

What matters to the length of your wedding dress is the height.

If you already know you will want to change shoes during the party, choosing a comfortable second pair with approximately the same heel height can make a big difference.

The Brideswings Tip

Choose your wedding dress first and your shoes afterwards.

The shoe is important — but being able to dance all night is even more important.

If you fall in love with a beautiful pair of heels that you already know will be difficult for you to wear for the entire wedding, think twice — or have a plan.

Don’t assume that changing later into a much lower heel will be easy. Your wedding dress has been altered to work with the height of your wedding shoes. If you suddenly lose several centimetres, the dress becomes longer and you may find yourself stepping on it — exactly when you want to be dancing.

So if you need a specific heel height for your gown, have a second pair at approximately the same height that you already know is comfortable.

Keep them somewhere at the venue and change whenever your feet tell you it’s time.

The beautiful pair can have its moment. The comfortable pair can take you through the party. And your dress will still be the right length.