Wedding Dress Trends from Spring 2020 Bridal Fashion Week

By Sarah Schreiber
April 19, 2019

Green gowns, new-age skirts, and t-shirt bodices were just a few of this season's stand-out styles.

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See all of the wedding dress from Spring 2020 Bridal Fashion Week

There's more to Bridal Fashion Week than meets the eye: Season after season, designers debut new wedding dresses that not only delight the modern-day bride-to-be, but also indicate how bridal fashion is changing. Our best marker of this shift? Bridal trends, which showcase the styles that every bride should bookmark as she shops for her future big day. We have some good news for women just starting their search. If the following common threads are any indication, brides getting hitched in 2020 and beyond have so many unique, romantic options to choose from.

Ahead, you'll find the five most noteworthy trends to take away from Spring 2020 Bridal Fashion Week. It's impossible for us to choose a favorite (we'll leave that to you!), but it's safe to say that the following styles speak to the many facets of the contemporary woman—someone who is bold, but romantic, refined, but natural. From half-skirt overlays (these bring dramatic ball gown vibes to slinky sheaths) and gowns with green motifs (perfect for garden weddings!) to ballet-inspired silhouettes and t-shirt shirt bodices (we're loving the idea of casual elegance), these trends are definitely new to the wedding scene; we haven't seen dresses quite like this before. There is, however, one notable style that's better defined as a comeback: the drop waist. We saw this unique cut in nearly every new collection, indicating that this tried-and-true silhouette is back at the forefront of couture—and here to stay.

Though they're all vastly different, the following trends share this key attribute: They don't feel trendy or fleeting at all. In fact, they feel so distinctly bridal that we expect to see them reimagined season after season, ingrained in the new age bridal oeuvre.

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Half-Skirts

Here's Everything You Need to Know About Wedding Dresses

Good news for brides searching for subtle drama: The half-skirt, which dominated runways this season, offers both the volume of a ball gown and the slinkiness of a sheath. Most commonly seen as a sheer overlay, the half-skirt encircles the back half of a shift, simultaneously defining the waist and adding another layer of visual intrigue to the gown. The best part about these accents? They're often removable—which makes transitioning your wedding dress from ceremony to reception a breeze (no second garment needed).

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Half-Skirts

Courtesy of Oscar de la Renta

Wedding dress by Oscar de la Renta

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Half-Skirts

Courtesy of Mira Zwillinger

Wedding dress by Mira Zwillinger

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Half-Skirts

Greg Swales

Wedding dress by Gala by Galia Lahav

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Half-Skirts

Courtesy of Lazaro

Wedding dress by Lazaro

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Half-Skirts

Courtesy of Amsale

Wedding dress by Amsale

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Half-Skirts

Randy Brooke

Wedding dress by Isabelle Armstrong

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Half-Skirts

Dan Lecca

Wedding dress by Morilee by Madeline Gardner

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Half-Skirts

Courtesy of Lee Petra Grebenau

Wedding dress by Lee Petra Grebenau

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Half-Skirts

Courtesy of Romona Keveza Collection

Wedding dress by Romona Keveza Collection

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Ballet-Inspired

Ballet-Inspired Wedding Ideas We Love

When you think about, weddings have plenty in common with the ballet—they're beautiful, carefully orchestrated productions that require lots of planning and skill. It makes sense, then, that your big-day attire could model a ballerina's. More and more designers integrated this connection into their Spring 2020 bridal collections—and we're loving their translations: Gowns with leotard underlays and full, tutu-inspired tulle skirts were definite focal points this season. Slip into one of the ahead numbers and you'll be ready for your pas de deux in no time.

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Ballet-Inspired

Courtesy of Naeem Khan

Wedding dress by Naeem Khan

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Ballet-Inspired

John Guerrero

Wedding dress by Vera Wang

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Ballet-Inspired

Courtesy of Leanne Marshall

Wedding dress by Leanne Marshall

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Ballet-Inspired

Courtesy of Mira Zwillinger

Wedding dress by Mira Zwillinger

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Ballet-Inspired

Courtesy of Lazaro

Wedding dress by Lazaro

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Ballet-Inspired

Courtesy of Reem Acra

Wedding dress by Reem Acra

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T-Shirts

What to Keep in Mind While Wedding Dress Shopping

If your favorite white t-shirt is part of your daily uniform, you're in luck—t-shirt-inspired bodices defined many a silhouette this season, which means you can now integrate the very best parts of this beloved staple into your bridal look. We noticed both short- and long-sleeved options across multiple designers' new series—but were more intrigued by the way each creative rendered the trend. While some, including Amsale, offered actual t-shirt-like garments (re: separate lace pieces that go underneath a gown), others, like Jenny Packham and Naeem Khan, kept the piece's structure in mind when reimaging traditional bodices. We're loving the results of both approaches: Casual, comfortable elegance.

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T-Shirts

Courtesy of Jenny Packham

Wedding dress by Jenny Packham

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T-Shirts

Courtesy of Carolina Herrera

Wedding dress by Carolina Herrera

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T-Shirts

Courtesy of Nouvelle Amsale

Wedding dress by Nouvelle Amsale

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T-Shirts

Courtesy of Lihi Hod

Wedding dress by Lihi Hod

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T-Shirts

Courtesy of Reem Acra

Wedding dress by Reem Acra

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T-Shirts

Courtesy of Naeem Khan

Wedding dress by Naeem Khan

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T-Shirts

Courtesy of Amsale

Wedding dress by Amsale

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T-Shirts

Dan Lecca

Wedding dress by Gracy Accad

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Drop Waist

A Guide to Every Wedding Dress Silhouette

If we had to choose the most popular silhouette from Spring 2020 Bridal Fashion Week, we'd stand by drop waist. The unexpected cut is back in a big way—with a contemporary twist, of course. Designers didn't just lower waistlines—they wrapped them with gauzy tulle, added flattering curves, and even made them sexy (Jenny Packham and Galia Lahav's numbers are proof that the often-demure cut looks incredible when paired with a sheer skirt). Versatility is arguably the best part of this trend—a drop waist number can feel either shockingly bold or impossibly classic, depending on the rest of the ensemble.

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Drop Waist