A special day in a woman's life

A wedding day is one of the special days in a woman's life. There is need for attention to detail putting effort to look the best ultimately.

As such, wedding outfits need to be punctuated with accessories so as to complete the finesse look.

Accessories need not compete with but complement the wedding dress. As such, if there is too much detail on the dress; the accessories need to be few and passive in colour, width, length and pattern. Sometimes the bride may run the risk of overshadowing the wedding dress with accessories.

Hair accessories depend with the kind of hairstyle you want to go with. However, an experienced stylist can make everything work on any hairstyle. Caution should be exercised to avoid being too loud with hair accessories.

Tracy Fungai, a hairstylist with Tracy's Hair shared some of the popular hair accessories.

"A bride can have couture clips, hair clips, bobby pins and embellished hair pins to finish off the hairdo. Trendy these days are hair flowers, head wraps, headbands and hair combs. Tiaras are now an old tradition," she explained.

The type of dress also dictates the kind of hairstyle to be suitable. High collared dresses or dresses with fashion details at the back of the neck do not go well with long falling hair because it overshadows the details.

Veils have been a creative wedding accessory since time immemorial and they add a touch of class. The bride can choose from a variety of veils depending on the length and style she desires.

The birdcage veil is a stylish choice, worn by fashion conscious brides. Fingertip length veil (middle length) or cathedral length (longest) veils are more popular traditional choices. Mrs Shava a fashion advisor at Wedding Day Bridal explained some of the rules of accessorising with veils.

"A veil is crucial as it can cover up some skin for usually bare back wedding dresses. A dress with a long tail can't go with a long veil. It becomes too crowded," she said.

Shoes are a great accessory. However, think comfort before buying six inch heels. Remember on your wedding day you will be moving around a lot. Another idea is to have your flats on standby.

Therefore, depending on the style of the bride, there are various options such as wedges, short heels, spiky heels, flats and even sandals. Any shoe can do as long as you are comfortable walking around in them.

Always get the right size for your shoe and always try them together with the dress during fittings to see if the combination is acceptable.

Jewellery such as necklaces, earrings and bangles can finish the wedding look with a glamorous touch. However, sometimes the bride can ignore necklace and bracelet because her ultimate look will be crowded if the dress has lots of sparkly bling.

Mrs Shava added: "The necklace and bracelet are best worn when the dress is sleeveless and is not high collar. Earrings usually work when they are studs and not too loud."

However, hook earrings can also be nice for the wedding depending with the ultimate look. Gloves don't seem to be trendy these days but Indian inspired hand chains are in fashion.

Sometimes the bride needs a shawl, cape or wrap as an accessory to complement her dress. This can be due to religious, weather, cultural or fashion reasons. Whatever the reason maybe, a wedding shawl can be a great accessory. The wrap, cape or shawl can be made from fur, silk, lace and any other material.

When glamourising the bride with accessories it should be remembered that less is more as the saying goes.