Wedding Dress Nightmares

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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

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

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.

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!!!

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.

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