Wedding Dress Advice - plus size bride

Hi

I'm new to all of this so not sure if my opinion will count. However, being a larger girl myself I've approached my dress shopping in this way.... I've gone into bridal shops and been open and honest the couple I've delt with have been very helpful. I've also aranged to go for a shape fitting first to see what style suits me as I spend my whole life in jeans at no point am I committing to a dress just working through in a non pressurised way what works and what doesn't almost methodical. Then nearer the time it's not so daunting looking for that right dress it becomes fun. Alot of the dresses I've seen have been designed to be flattering and are corseted inside to help. Don't let it stress u out. Just remember ute fella is marrying u for u and not ure size. Hope this helps

There are lots of shops that cater for plus size brides, so don't worry about it! However, if you want to lose the weight you've got plenty of time to do it. The sooner you make a start the happier you'll feel about the dress shopping.

I'm a dress size 22 and I went to "normal" bridal shops and fit into everything I wanted to try on, I mean not proper fitted but I got my bum into them! The shops then patch the back together to make it fit.

I did worry beforehand, but I emailed all the potential shops and asked about sizes and got an idea of the owner before I went.

Honestly, my advice is to just go :-). I don't even know what size my dress is, the bridal shop just took my measurements and ordered a dress so don't fret!

I researched which shops stock plus size designers and went to them. For me it was important that I could try on dresses that fit. I've got a julietta by mori lee dress. Its beautiful.

Seriously try not to worry, I was so terrified of dress shopping and it was absolutely fine.

I'm a 24 in "normal" clothes and read horror stories of stores not having samples in bigger sizes. I went completely overboard in my research. In the end I plucked up the courage to go to my local wed2be store, thinking that sort of environment would be easier to deal with. I also went on my own because I couldn't figure out how to explain to people how scared I was.

Wed2be was great, they had loads of dresses in my size and bigger, I tried maybe 6/7 dresses on that day. And thought I;d found the one!

I then went with my MIL to be to a local "posh" shop and again loads of samples in my size. A couple that I had to squeeze into but I could definately get a good idea of what they looked like on me.

I finally took my mum to a little local shop that's been there since before I was born. They were amazing! Again I tried on half a dozen dresses and found THE ONE!

All of the assistants I dealt with were lovely, didn't make me feel fat or ugly, the lady at the last store was simply amazing. Now I know this is probably just sales patter but she seemed genuine when she was saying to us that she prefers it when brides come in with curves because bridal dresses are meant for curves not sticks. (Apologies to any slim ladies) Corsets are meant to make the best of your shape and you need some foundation for that to start with. She said she finds it easier to find a dress for a curvier woman that for a size 6.

I will say do your research, I went crazy and had a list of stores up and down the UK, narrow it down to the ones you like the look of/carry the designers you like and get in touch and ask about sizes. I dropped a few an email just explaining that I was plus size and wanted to be sure they had something I could try on before making an appointment. It just put my mind at rest since I'd had nightmares of turning up to an appointment to be told "not a chance love!"