When it comes to choosing a wedding dress for your big day it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you need to follow the latest trends, copy the celebrities or choose a gown made by a ‘cool’ designer.

However what is really important when choosing your wedding dress is making sure that the cut and style suits your body type. There’s no point in wearing a dress that looks great on the store mannequin but accentuates parts of your body you’d rather disguise.

So with this in mind let’s take a look at the various body types and the styles of dress that will work best for each.

Hourglass figure or curvy

This body type is characterised by hips and shoulders that are equal in width, with a well-defined waist. The look is proportional – think Marilyn Monroe!

If you have an hourglass figure then you’re pretty lucky whatever your weight may be as this shape is easy to dress. Anything that accentuates your narrow waist will create an ultra-feminine look, the bust area can be accentuated with a corset or bodice style top, or you can show off your wiggle with a dress that tapers into a fishtail skirt.

But remember subtly may be the key. Hourglass figured women are lucky because they can literally flaunt any of their feminine features. However don’t try to accentuate everything – you don’t want to end up looking cheap! Remember – you can accentuate your glorious figure without showing off too much flesh.

Also hourglass women need to be aware of things such as ‘back fat’ overspill caused by too tight corsets and flabby upper arms spoiling their look.

Pear shape

The pear shape is a very common body type and can be exasperating to dress. This body type is characterised by narrow shoulders and a small bust combined with a fuller bottom half that can be wide in the hips, with weight carried on the upper thighs.

First of all – what to avoid. Bias cut dresses are definitely out, as dresses cut in this way will cling to the bottom half of your body. Pears need to accentuate the upper half of their body, which usually combines a slender torso and non-flabby back with slim upper arms.

Corsets and bodices work well on this body type to show off these desirable features as do halter neck styles. These can be teamed up with a flowing or full skirt for the bottom half of the body to disguise any heaviness in this area. Think Empire line dresses, ball-gown styles and A-line dresses.

Apple shape

Apples carry their weight around the stomach although the rest of their body may be relatively slim. Generally this body type is characterised by the shoulders, waist and hips all being around the same width.

As with pear shapes A-line dresses work well on this body type, particularly if combined with a bodice or corset to help nip the waist in a few inches. Apples should avoid ‘column’ style dresses. This style will highlight a bulging stomach and not flatter the figure.

Boyish or athletic

This body type is the opposite of the hourglass and the pear in that it is straight up and down and usually without curves. Boyish types are usually slender with a small bust and slender limbs.

This body type can show off their toned arms, shoulders and back in backless or halter neck style dresses to great effect. Because there is less need for bust support a backless dress can look particularly stunning on this body type.

Gowns cut on the bias also work well on this body type – think supermodel Kate Moss at her recent wedding to rocker Jamie Hince – as do long, fitted dresses that show off a toned, taut figure.