Wedding Dress Nightmares

monicaroozo

I got my wedding dress from a local mom & pop bridal store. Not being into frills myself, I ended up purchasing a bridesmaid dress for $100.

Thge bodice was satin with a square neckline, sleeveless (married in August) and had an open lace up back. It was a drop-waist style that cascaded to the floor in tulle.

I loved my dress! So think outside the box and you might find exactly what you are looking for.

(Sorry no pics)

I love this idea of looking at bridesmaids dresses in replacement of a wedding gown!! I will pass this idea along for friends!

3rdxacharm

Bump

steadk

There are some bridal shops that speciallize in having "demo" dresses that are in larger sizes. That is where I got mine.

http://www.alfredangelo.com/collections/productdisplay.aspx?productID=3657750d-5422-419e-9dc2-174724b0a06e&categoryID=1af402e9-205f-4b7b-9d22-6fec77b3d187&pg=1&colorId1=

I loved it.. Wish you luck in finding "the" dress

karenjoy

This was my dress, it was custom made for me, I was very pleased with it as I was a lot bigger at the time.









and this is my Daughter, who got married last month

bebreli

First off congratulations!!

Wedding dress shopping is supposed to be fun. I have a couple of recommendations from what I read. I looked at your profile and it looks like you are dropping the pounds and definitely have a goal for your big day. You said you are a year and a half away. That is actually quite a long time to find a dress. It is also a long time to lose a significant amount of weight. YAY! If you have a wedding dress specialty made it will definitely take longer but your size is going to keep going down which is going to mean a lot of alterations. This holds true also if you were to buy a dress you fell in love with tomorrow unless you bought it a certain size down and hoped it will fit. This is good motivation but adds stress. You went into David's Bridal and it didn't work out, I completely understand. I didn't like anything they had to offer either. If you are set on trying on dresses now I would say do it to have fun but you may not want to commit until you get closer to your wedding date. Something you may have hated now may look fabulous in 6 months. I started looking in August for my dress and found it by the end of August. My wedding was the following May. I purchased it 9 months in advance. This gave me time to do the alterations myself (bustle, and shorten the dress.).

Also, you said you didn't like that your consultant brought you items you hated. I am not sure if you have ever watched Say Yes to the Dress? I think I have seen every episode. The consultants are there to help the bride look their best on their wedding day. I have seen women on the show go in and only want a mermaid or ball gown and walk out buying the complete opposite. Sometimes something on the hanger look so much more beautiful on you than you could have ever imagined. With that I say, have an open mind unless you absolutely hate something. My dress was not the color I thought I would ever buy (champagne) and it had a frilly bottom. When I tried it on it was love at first sight and fit perfect!

Have fun and Best Wishes.

mab33

My gown had gold in it and everybody thought it was vintage. My nightmare was that I'd gained 17 pounds from the time I bought it to the time I wore it and had to have it resized for a whopping $300

CBranson0503

wedding dress shopping was the worst. It was seriously the most stressful part of planning my wedding. I ended up settling on a dress that I liked, but I didn't love just to be done with the whole thing. DON'T SETTLE! Especially if your parents are willing to pay for a custom gown, get exactly what you want.

Jolenebib

David's Bridal is a good place to START looking for a dress - they have a lot of options and fits, so you can weed out the fits and styles you definitely don't like. Such as, mermaid fit, all bad for my body. Then I went to a bridal boutique and tried on gowns. The dresses are made SO much better and they usually have some more "Traditional" options as well as the ones that match today's styles. I ended up buying what was considered "informal" but it was amazing, elegant, and simple. They can also tailor the dress to your liking, such as adding different sleeve options, etc. They also make all sorts of sleeved cover ups for dresses.

But, you also have a year and a half, so take your time. Its out there just waiting for you.

glowbuggy

I wont ever tell someone to goto Davids Bridal. I did, and it was soo bad! I finally found a dress, well sorta settled for one. Wish I would not have. Totally regret that!

Went back one week before my wedding for my fitting and they LOST MY DRESS!!!!!! Did not have it, anywhere! Come to find out, they put it back on the rack and SOLD IT AGAIN!!!! They called all over looking for a replacement for my dress. COULD NOT FIND ONE!!! Finally they found one in another state. They wanted ME to pay to have it overnighted to them!! WTF!?!! We refused.

So they did pay to have it overnighted to them, but it was a damaged dress!! The would not discount the cost to us at all, BS, but I was down to 2 days before the wedding, and I just wanted my dress. They "fixed" it to where I could use it and I was able to wear it for the wedding. But I WILL NEVER reccomend Davids to ANYONE!!

Mom and Pop are the way to go. More personal. Careing. One on one. And your helping out a local biz. Good luck on your search. And hope your wedding is just as magical as u are wanting!

MrsRipdizzle

I, like many others, *started* at David's Bridal. I was so frustrated when I left that place because NOTHING looked good on me. I also had a very specific idea of what I wanted...yet never found it there. I was resistant to trying on anything NOT matching my initial vision. At any rate...I started shopping some local boutiques and trying on things (again, fitting my vision). Nothing was working. One day we were at a street fair and there was a bridal boutique along the street so I figured, what the hell, I'll stop in and see what they have.

I saw a dress that I just adored on a mannequin...loved the flow of it...the princess look...everything. BUT...it was SO FAR from my visualized dress that I didn't look at it a second time (it was strapless and I had VOWED not to wear strapless - I really wasn't happy with my body). Well, my husband (to-be) had been browsing with me (yes, I know, but I don't do anything according to tradition it seems) and also loved the look of the dress. He convinced me to just try it on (never mind that it was FOUR sizes smaller than what I'd end up buying). I did it just for him, rather, for me, to prove my point that strapless was NO GOOD and definitely NO GOOD on my flabby arms.

Well, hmph. Imagine my sheer surprise when I pulled that sucker on (never got it fully done up in the back but didn't need to) and the d@mn thing looked AMAZING on me, even at my size!!! It flattered me in so many ways that it drew attention AWAY from my arms and I felt beautiful for the first time in years. I think I may have even cried a little.

So...all this to say...don't discount strapless or some other form of dress that you don't think would look good on you. There are good designers out there...who know a thing or two more than those David's Bridal designers...and can make an off-limits dress look fan-freakin-tastic. If I had not tried that dress on (again, just to shut my husband up), I never would've found *my* dress.

Also, just to mention - it was a Maggie Sottero dress. It had a corset back (with a panel) which made it SUPER comfortable and adjustable (save money on less alterations!). In fact, the only alteration I needed was to make the dress just a wee bit shorter because I'm only 5'4" and wouldn't be wearing very high heels. The day I got married - my family and friends were amazed at how slender I looked overall in this dress due to the boning at the waist and the attention grabbing details. My large bust looked nice (modest but sexy enough) and I just looked like a hottt curvalicious mama (the bottom of the dress kinda flounced out with the plastic hoops so it hid my thunder thighs, ample hips and bottom).

Don't settle for big box bridal stores...get to a boutique and set aside any closed-minded ideals you have...just try stuff on. You just never know what will sweep you away! And for sure you are gonna to lose a bunch of weight in 18 months so don't commit to a dress just yet. You will be amazed how much your body will change in that period of time!!!

Janerf1

If it's any consolation I bought mine online... took a risk but not much off one as the dress was only £120, it was perfect I spent about another £150 getting it dry cleaned and tailored (the shoulder straps need lengthening) but as you can see from my profile pic it turned out lovely! I also got my evening dress from the same company and again spent very little having it tailored to me!

For a few pounds it can be worth the risk! So take a look online, there's generally much more choice and not just catwalk inspired designs!

Lup120

Congrats on your wedding! Just to offer a bit of perspective of why the salespeople may have shown you things you were not looking for sometimes clothing items especially wedding dresses have absolutely no hanger appeal and they look like crap on a hanger but once actually on a human body they can look great on an actual person. They may have also thought while it may not be something you were thinking of but they thought it would look good on you because they saw it on someone else of a similar body type.

That being said places like David's Bridal are not good for picky brides. David's Bridal are good for non-picky brides or ones who know EXACTLY what they want. For picky brides they can make good starting off points to give you ideas of what looks good and what does not.

Another thing to keep in mind is that if you know of a good seamstress or tailor they can add things like sleeves or straps and they can also remove things like extra layers of tulle, fabric and various beads/sequins. So if you found a dress you like but it is just missing something or too floofy you can take it to your person or an in-house seamstress and ask their opinion if they alter it to your specifications while keeping the integrity and wear-ability of the dress.

DLDzioba

I never reject dresses on hangers, but I do not like the way I look in a strapless dress and halter tops hurt my neck. I dont really want to show that much skin and it isn't about my weight, it is not my style. I am tyring to locate non-chain shops but most of the local places here have shut down so it requires some planning and driving.

DLDzioba

Was I born in the wrong decade?!

...I want to feel like a Goddamned princess on MY big day.

Yes.

Nowadays weddings are about both of you. Quit acting like a demanding child

I am sorry if you feel I am being childish, but that was pretty rude. I very rarely am so picky particularly over clothing but I feel like if there ever was a time to go for what I want it would be now.

dhencel

first of all, ask when is the last day you can order your gown. Usually 6 months before the wedding day... Then set a weight goal for that day. Look at bridal books and see what the styles are for that time of year.. I let my mother-in-law "help" me pick out my dress. I wanted something plain but nice... I wasn't the typical fancy, frilly type either. The one I bought was not appropriate for July---long sleeves and instead of a veil, it had a "hood" type head covering. The price was right, that's about all.... I hated it every time I look at wedding pictures....My daughter calls it the "Virgin Mary" and(my husband,) "John Travolta"... 1977.. He wore a light blue tux with ruffled shirt. Again, the man at the tux shop talked him into that.... You get the idea.....So make your decision of what you want and then don't let anyone talk you out of it...... or into anything you don't want......Remember it is your day and make it what you want..

havingitall

I bought my wedding dress in a plus size women's clothing store. It was on sale and was beautiful. I paid $80 for it. It was a cream colour and strapless full length gown but had a shawl with it. My Mom covered the shawl with some beautiful gold lace and it fit perfectly.

That was all my stars lining up that day....doesn't happen too often

Mrs_TrimWaistFatWallet

You had a bad experience because you went to Davids Bridal. Enough said... Go somewhere else

DLDzioba

You had a bad experience because you went to Davids Bridal. Enough said... Go somewhere else

It was my jumping off point.

DLDzioba

On the bright side my future mother and sister in law want to go with me to the place my future sister in law got her gown. Apparently the seamstress there does amazing things.