Plus size brides

My daughter is a curvy bride, and we had some very wonderful experiences at the five shops we went to.

I did a lot of searching beforehand for salons that either specialized in curvy brides, or had substantial samples in sizes 16-24 that we knew she would be able to actually put on, and not just hold up to her.

Two of the shops we visited - Curvaceous Couture in MD and The Curvy Bride in NJ - had nearly every sample in a larger size. It was wonderful to have such a great selection and be a bride who needed clips to tighten up the dress.

She tried on every style, and surprised herself with how good each looked.

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Thank you! Was she she able to order her dress in her exact size ?

I only went to one shop. I am not much of a shopper now that I am larger (never been skinny before though) but I wear a size 22/24 jeans and I think they said I was a 28 in wedding dresses. I am also really short (4'11") so that in itself was a challenge however if you are taller mermaid dress I think look amazing on hour Glass figures. Mine is kind of like a ball gown type of dress that I ordered.

My experience wasn't that bad though. It went fairly easy. The shop I shopped at is a local store that specializes in plus size. They were very sweet and nice. And I had plenty of different shapes I could try on.

My experience when I went bridesmaid shopping 2 years ago for one sister in law and 3 years ago for the other was bad. We went into a place called White weddings and because we were plus size they barely even gave us the time of day. They stuck their noses up at us. We had the same thing at another store, but I can't remember the name of that store.

My opinion is as long as you do your research first and see if the business specializes in plus size it will be a great experience. Hope this helps!!!

I went to DB and tried on many dresses and all were close to street size. I'm an 18/20 but its mainly because I have a big ole booty and thighs. I ended up going in requesting a size 20 to start with and they were too big. We moved down to an 18 and I fell in love with this one. It still needs to be altered in the waist but I'm going in July for that. Simple, sweet and super soft.

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Courtney, she ordered the size suggested by the consultant who worked with her after her measurements were taken. The consultant showed me my daughter's measurements, then showed me the sizing chart (she bought a Sottero-Midgley dress) and where her measurements fell for sizing.

The dress took about 6.5 months to come in, and coincidentally we went into the shop this past weekend for a try-on. Her alterations appointment won't be until August, but we wanted to make sure that the sizing was correct in case we needed to fix something - we'd have some time instead of scrambling just weeks before the wedding.

I'm happy to report that the dress fit exactly as expected...and the alterations she'll need are in the areas we knew about based on the way the measurements worked.

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Thank you! yes ive been doing my research. Im 5ft 9.5 inches so maybe ill give mermaid a shot.

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Its gorgeous!

I am a wedding dress size 24. I went to Davids bridal and was not impressed. I felt, as a plus size bride, there was not as many options.

I ended up finding a local boutique near me that specializes in plus size gowns, They also offer travel packages if you are interested, The name of the shop is Bombshell Bridal in Saint Clair Shores MI.

I highly recommend looking for a shop like this.

my wedding dress i chose

Beautiful!

I'm 5'8" and a 22/24. I went to David's Bridal and got my dress there. I'm a cross between an apple and a pear and carry most of my weight in my body.

I tried on mermaid, fit and flair, sheath, and A line. All except the sheath looked good on me. I chose an A line tea length dress.
Just be aware of where the waist line falls on you. Empire waist looks horrible on me. A waist at my natural indent looks best.

Thank you! I agree I hate Empire waist on myself! Mt fiance doesnt understand how unflattering it looks on me

I traveled to Bombshell Bridal in Michigan from Las Vegas. The shop specializes in plus size dresses. I had an awesome experience there. I’m a street size 20 and my wedding dress is a 26. It needed to be taken in at the top though. I got a satin ball gown with pockets! It’s fantastic.

I started at David's Bridal. I then went to a local plus sized store. We looked at several boutiques in New York. I ended up buying my dress at Kleinfeld's. I had a wonderful experience at all of the stores. We went to one that had very few choices, but all of the others had a great selection.

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I'm a street size 16, but my wedding dress size is a 22 (the shop said generally they run two sizes over your street size, but mine was 3 because of my booty and hips).

I think the most important thing is to do research before you go to the store. Calling them and asking what size their samples are would save the annoyance of going there the day of to find that they only had like a sample size 8 (which was my fear). If you live in a bigger metropolitan area, you may even be able to find boutiques that cater specifically to plus size. I live in the DC metropolitan area, so I only went to the two plus size shops, but in my research it looked like some of the other local boutiques carried plus sizes as well, though I can't speak to the breadth of their inventory.

As far as shape, I think it's a fallacy that plus size women should stick to dresses that aren't form-fitting. All of my favorite dresses were ended up being form-fitting ones that had ruching on the bodice. I think they are just universally flattering. I went it thinking I was going to get a long sleeved A-Line, and I ended up with a strapless trumpet.

I don't know if this is advice, but the epiphany I eventually had is that we are so inundated with images of "straight size" brides on Pinterest, movies, Insta, etc that we can feel like we are in the minority and nobody caters to us, and in actuality it isn't true.

Good luck on shopping for your dress. I know you are going to be stunning!

I went to David's Bridal because I couldn't afford a more expensive dress. I had a great experience. I'm usually a 22/24 and my dress is a 20 and fits.

I absolutely hate my arms and love the sleeves and neckline on this dress.

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This dress is gorgeous on you. And can I please have your secret to get that long, thick hair?

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Haha its all natural! I literally don't use anything special!! Thanks tho!!

I bought mine at DB, and went in knowing just about what I wanted- a ballgown that was light with lace. I thought I wanted sleeves, until I tried them on and found that they looked atrocious on me. I was terrified to go shopping because I wasn't sure they'd have dresses to fit my body as a street size 26 and 5'11. I bought a size 26, extended length and the dress fit perfectly. It needed absolutely no alterations whatsoever, other than putting a bustle on.

FrontBack with veil

I went to David’s Bridal and got a size 22 wedding dress. I tried on over 15 dresses until I just had enough and picked my favorite. I definitely wouldn’t say that David’s bridal is a great dress shopping experience, my store is rushed, packed and the employees are unprofessional, but I didn’t feel like trying on more and I love my dress.


If you’ve ever gotten a bridesmaid dress from them before it was pretty much the same experience. They had all the dresses I wanted to try in a size 22, 24 or 20 and they fit close enough