With all the importance placed on the wedding dress, we should not forget how essential the shoes are for completing the look.

For the modern bride the old question about practicality versus fashion has come to have new meaning with respect to wedding shoes. Fashion is more casual these days. Women, in general, are much more concerned with comfort. While some of us still go for the four-inch stilettos because we love high heels, I know that some of my brides choose to wear sneakers the whole day and night. Now that I am planning my own wedding this summer I love the idea of changing into cute flats or sneakers after a certain hour.

Thankfully, the market reflects the new reality of more casual fashion, and if you choose comfort it no longer has to be at the expense of beauty. When it comes to sneakers the bride doesn’t have to wear just plain white tennis shoes. The industry is now making sneakers as glamorous as possible.

You can now find sneakers made of leather or velvet or lace – brightly colored, embroidered, or decorated with beads, to mention just a few of the available offerings. You can find a pair that matches your dress or one that makes a bold fashion statement. Many designers, such as Jimmy Choo, Tory Burch, Kate Spate, Stewart Weitzman, Bill Blass, Etsy, Keds, FitFlop, Nike, and Converse offer an expanding choice of comfortable, yet stylish, sneakers for different budgets.