A Petite Bride’s Guide to Finding The One

Calling all shorties! If you’re a bride under 5’5”, we’ve got the chicest, dreamiest gallery of petite wedding dresses and style inspo made especially for you. From understanding your measurements to choosing the best accessories for your proportions, we’ve gathered everything you need to curate a look that’s stylish, comfortable, and complementary. Scroll on to find your perfect look!

Why Petite Brides Need Dresses That Really Work for Their Frame

First things first: What counts as a petite frame? Short ’n’ sweet brides know the drill: petite sizing is made for women who are 5’4” and under and adjusted for their petite proportions. Petite clothing often features:

• Shorter sleeves to minimize extra fabric
• Shorter inseams to create a more tailored look
• Narrower shoulders and bodices
• Higher waistlines to flatter your shorter torso
• Other lengths scaled down to fit your proportions

Petite clothing is important because it’s designed from the get-go to improve fit and naturally complement a short frame. Certain silhouettes, fabrics, and trends are more amenable to petite proportions, so don’t shy away from finding specialty sizes designed for you! Though you might think petite styling comes down to something as simple as height, it’s much more about finding a beautifully tailored gown designed with your unique frame in mind. 

Need a fun place to start? Take our Style Quiz to narrow choices based on your body type, venue, season, budget, and more. Petite brides will love the options to shop based on body type; you can filter your results by silhouette, budget, fabric, and more

Best Silhouettes for Petite Wedding Dresses (And Why They Flatter)

Take it from our decades of design experience and real bride inspo: You can wear any gown you love, but certain styles just work wonders for petite frames. These are the silhouettes we recommend to petite brides the most:

• A-Line wedding dresses are classic, versatile, and so romantic for shorter brides. The beauty is in the tailoring: An A-line doesn’t lean too heavily toward one proportion or structural statement, so it adapts beautifully for shorter brides.
  • Ireland by Maggie Sottero is an A-line wedding gown tailored perfectly for a petite frame. The layers are swishy and romantic, the shimmer is enchanting, and the subtle illusion adds balance and visual interest to your bodice. 
• Sheath gowns are an excellent choice for shorter brides. If you love the glamor of a fit-and-flare but with the ease of a sheath-style skirt, petite wedding dresses, like Devon by Maggie Sottero, are a match made in heaven. It’s a perfect balance! 
• Speaking of fit-and-flare wedding dresses, minimalist curve-hugging styles, like Cindy by Rebecca Ingram, are a gorgeous option for petite brides. These are designed to let your natural figure take center stage, without the bells and whistles of a more flamboyant design. 
• Modified Mermaid styles are another way to show off your curves and elongate your frame. A unique gown, like Delanie by Maggie Sottero, features that gorgeous hourglass silhouette, but with a fresh spin on the flared skirt. (We also love the straight neckline for a chic and modern upgrade.) Keep an eye out for unexpected yet classically tailored silhouettes like this to flatter your petite frame.
  

Our Favorite Petite-Friendly Gowns from the Maggie Collection

Our latest collections feature petite wedding dresses across every trend, vibe, and personalization. We’ve got our eyes on several for your consideration:

Ortensia by Maggie Sottero

Ortensia is a sexy fit-and-flare style with a touch of boho styling. Nature-inspired lace motifs and subtle illusion make this a perfect choice for a summer soirée.

Constance by Sottero and Midgley

Constance features head-to-toe shimmer in vintage-inspired beading and a luxe, glamorous silhouette. This red-carpet look is immaculate for a black-tie celebration, and looks so chic and sophisticated on petite frames.

Narissa by Sottero and Midgley

Narissa is designed for a sweet yet elegant statement in regal lace. The illusion bodice combines with the lush, swishy skirt for a look that’s equal parts dreamy, sensual, and timeless.

Twilight by Sottero and Midgley

Twilight is another dazzling style for petite brides. The form-fitting silhouette creates long, graceful lines, the 3-D flourishes are dreamy and delicate, and the plunging sweetheart neckline helps elongate your frame. Add a bridal veil or off-the-shoulder gauntlet sleeves for a couture upgrade.

Rita by Maggie Sottero

Rita offers an ideal balance of regal glamor and boho romance. The off-the-shoulder long sleeves are luxe and regal, the full silhouette is formal and feminine, and the shimmer is divine. For shorter brides, this style offers all the black-tie elegance of a full ballgown without adding extra bulk to your petite frame.

Denise by Rebecca Ingram

Denise proves that a sleek, exquisitely draped silhouette is an ideal choice for petite brides… The fabric is elegant, the tailoring is sophisticated, and the overall effect is effortlessly stylish. If you have a smaller frame, this checks every box for silhouette, style, and fit.

Adrian by Sottero and Midgley

Adrian fuses soft, sensual romance with red-carpet glamor, from the delicate 3-D motifs and shimmer to the long, luscious train and illusion flourishes. Notice the long, graceful, and continuous lines from hollow to hem — an ideal illusion for petite frames.

Camille by Maggie Sottero

Camille is another minimalist style with major versatility for petite brides. This simple, timeless silhouette feels like a dream to wear, and the accessory options make it easy to personalize for your vision, style, and season. 

Zinaida by Maggie Sottero

Zinaida features a lovely crepe fabric and effortless silhouette. If you’re shopping for petite wedding dresses that feel like a glamorous statement, this style is the ideal fusion of simplicity and drama. (Minimalist gowns are a perennial favorite for petite brides!)

Pezy by Rebecca Ingram

Pezy makes a chic and fabulous statement with an oversized bow and vintage satin. We love these kinds of wedding gowns for petite brides because they help to add visual interest without weighing down your frame. They look great in photos, they pair beautifully with unexpected accessories, and they’re an undeniable confidence booster.

Gabrielle by Maggie Sottero

Gabrielle channels timeless Grecian glamor with a lush, draped silhouette and unique corset-inspired bodice. You’ll feel dreamy and sophisticated in this goddess-like design… It’s a little Old Hollywood, very vintage glamor, a touch modern, and totally unique.

The Power of Alterations: Tailoring Tips for Petite Brides

When it comes to wedding dresses for petite bride sizing, it’s all about the finishing touches. To achieve a beautiful, elegant, and elevated look for a petite frame, speak to your bridal stylist about professional tailoring and alterations. Style details to consider in your “perfect fit” may include:
Sleeve length – cap and flutter sleeves might need to be shortened, and long sleeves might need alterations to hit the perfect wrist length.

• Necklines – even if you prefer a low, revealing neckline style, you might need to raise a bodice to ensure the perfect decolletage.
• Skirt length – long, dramatic trains might need to be shortened to look proportional to your petite frame, and hemlines should be adjusted according to your shoe height. 
• Bodice details – tailoring helps to create a snatched waistline, accentuate your bust, and create support and coverage if needed.
• Accessories – items like bridal veils, detachable sleeves, overskirts, capes, gloves, and belts should be included in your alterations

There are tons of personalization and accessory options in our Personalize It! gown program. Start with these galleries to gather inspo for creating a bridal look that’s totally true to you.

Styling Tips to Elevate Your Petite Bridal Look

When styling wedding gowns for petite brides, it’s great to consider accessories that work with your silhouette and help create that elegant, tailored look. Accessories are a great way to:

• Add demure coverage with items like veils and sleeves.
• Create volume while still giving the option to remove for different parts of the evening. (Think overskirts and capes.)
• Play up the glamor with jewelry, hairpieces, and shimmery flourishes. We recommend keeping these proportional to the motifs in your gown so you don’t overwhelm (or underwhelm) your frame.
• Create long lines with graceful sweeps, romantic layers, and illusion. (Think long, simple bridal veils and overskirts.)
• Add pretty and personalized details to your bridal portraits.
• Draw the eye to specific features in your gown and balance proportions. For example, you might want to create more visual interest in your top half with jewelry and bodice details, or create the illusion of height with a plunging neckline or back.

From Real Brides to Real Inspo

Feeling the inspo? Check out our gallery of Real Brides for tons of creative, customizable, and ultra-romantic ideas from real-life weddings. Whatever your budget, season, style, and body type, you’ll find magical inspo to bring your bridal vision to life. 

Petite brides, your perfect dress is waiting for you! It’s not about faking height or working against your frame, it’s about enhancing your petite features and personal style… Maggie Sottero’s variety of petite-friendly gowns are so stylish and flattering, which makes it so easy to find “the one” that speaks to you. 

Ready to book a boutique appointment? Use our store locator to find a store and make it a date IRL:

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Happy shopping, cuties!