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((HUGS)) You aren't plus sized!! you're normal sized!! i bet the dress will look gorgeous on you, but i'm not a bride (yet) and as a plus sized woman, 14-16, i am going to strut my stuff!! i have been above a size 10 my entire life and guess what i LOVE my curves i have never felt sexier!!! my belly needs a little less pudge but so what it just means that i eat good :D.... btw here is one of my all time favorite pictures of a plus size bride flaunting her sexiness!!!
full_figure_mermaid.jpg (37.6 KB, 126 downloads) 2 years old 
First of all, don't worry. The dress will be breathtaking when it's on you.
Second, I bought a sample dress that fit me perfectly, and I'm bigger than you! If you had to do it all over again, I'd tell you to call around and see which places have however many dresses for you to try on in your size--that way, you KNOW what it looks like.
Don't be bummed, you'll be beautiful, and your dress will fit you fantastically. Alterations can work miracles for dresses. If it really stresses you out, don't try to lose a lot of weight, but eat healthy, drink lots of water and do some exercise! As long as you feel your best, you'll look your best. Good luck!
I couldn't agree with you more. Its very frustrating to go into a bridal salon and the girls show me the 5 "full figure" dresses that they have, and then proceed to tell you all the dresses are avaible in larger sizes. If I hear another store tell me "we can just hold it up to you" one more time I am going to scream.
It is the part of my wedding that I am frustrated the most!
I'm also a size 14, and it was a real bummer not to have dress samples to try on. (On my first shopping trip, a friend modeled them for me.... after that I was shopping solo, so it was a total, total guessing game about what might look right. Bummer.) The thing I find particularly annoying is that even many actual, genuine, top designers sell things off the rack in a 12 or 14 -- but the bridal market? We're pariahs?
By the way, my dress is Watters, too, but according to their size charts, I am indeed almost precisely a 14 in Watters, too. (As in, my waist is 32.5", and that's a 14 on both a "normal" US retail size chart and the Watters chart.) I believe their sizing is more like normal/modern sizing, not so much bridal sizing. So I suspect that maybe --? -- your salon ordered big for you, so that it can be tailored for an exact fit..... (?) I know they prefer to have the dress too big, and to trim it down, rather than vice versa.
Thanks, ladies, I really do appreciate all the kind comments. :)
I am a bit bigger these days, but what you said Crebre80 is SO true for me---I have been a size 10 or a bit larger my entire adult life. I actually have never had major problems with my weight, love my curves, but the dress shopping/wedding planning journey has made me stress about my weight a bit.
Sleepylittlesailor---The size question is the other thing freaking me out! The bridal salon took my measurements and told me that I was a 16, but they thought the 18 would be best for my hip measurement. I plan to lose some weight, so I really hope I don't end up putting on a huge sack of a dress in February. The bridal salon told me I could lose 25 pounds...wish I had that in writing now, haha I keep telling myself that they probably deal with all kinds or weight loss (and some gain) everyday so they should be able to handle me:)
Why the hell do they make wedding dress size five times too big. I'm a 14 and some of the dress sizes were waaaaayyyyy larger than 14. Don't these people know that the number is so important. Why do they do that to us. GRRRRRRRR
It makes me sad too... I wear a size which is too large for the "squeeze into it/hold it up to you" salons. After crying at 2 salons which promised to have dresses I could try on but didn't, or having trouble trying on the 1 dress available while girl after girl sauntered by in their beautiful choices, I just dropped out of it altogether and am having my dress made. But I love fashion, and that "dress shopping experience" was something I was hoping to have.
hmmm... i haven't gone dress shopping in about eight or nine years and i was much smaller then, but i am actually not looking forward to it this go around after reading everyone's posts. i know exactly what i will want and well if i have to get it made so be it because um yeah i'm a diva :D and i am going to flaunt it... btw i found the most absolutely perfect dress by happenstance today, too bad i'm not engaged lol!! i may just have had to go and make an appt to try it on.
I wanted to post a picture of myself in my dress, but it isn't working, sorry! Any suggestions?
Okay, here is the Watters size chart. I found it useful to know what the manufacturer considers size 12, or size 14, or size 16, etc., when I was ordering. Watters doesn't have the same system as most wedding-dress-makers, it appears. Because on this -- as I mentioned above -- I was still a 14, as I am in "real life." Tho I do understand if they feel the need to bump it up a size and then tailor it to an exact fit.... Still, sometimes it seems like they go a little nuts with this "ordering big" thing.
PS: having trouble posting the size chart. Hang on a minute.
watters-watters-dresses.gif (11 KB, 93 downloads) 2 years old
Can I throw in here that I think it really depends on bust size as to how many sizes you have to go up and designers are totally GRRR for that? I have like, nega-boobs for a plus size girl so I could fit into gowns a size smaller than I wear street size, but for you busty girls, it sucks. I mean, some of these gowns even in my size BARELY FIT MY CHEST! I wear a small B cup!
sleeplittlesailor---thanks for posting that! I looked at my dress receipt and for bust and waist I am a size 16 on the watters chart. My hips fit into their 18 size range. The whole thing is kind of confusing because I am sitting here wearing a size 14 jeans right now, I swear! :)
Cinemaparadiso- From my experience they try to order based on your largest measurement. I have a friend who is a mega pear shape (big bootay :)) and she couldn't fit dresses over hips when she went dress shopping, so they had to majorly take in the top of the dress. Thank goodness for alterations!
See, that's what I thought except that I have REALLY wide hips. The hips in most of the dresses I tried on were fine, but the tops would have been super small in most girls over a c cup! I think a lot of times, for plus sizes, the measurements can be scaled wrong.
I'm glad your dress will fit you though! So breathe easy and you're going to look beautiful!
isn't it maddening??? and you know what? my watters dress is only arriving about five days before i fly off to my destination wedding. i have a seamstress lined up to alter it; she claims it will be no problem, we'll be able to handle it. (and i do have a backup dress. my backup, actually, being the original dress. which i felt like a big ole marshmallow in. but, hey, at least it fits.)
HEY: it's you with the amazing Drew veil, on the other thread? i adore your veil choice. totally go for getting one custom-made on Etsy.
It's okay girl, I'm gonna be in the same boat!! I have a major hourglass shape and am usually an XL or 1x on top, but I wear size 18 pants because I have mega hips! I am actively losing weight so I'm not dress shopping until about November, but I am NERVOUS!! Remember you're gorgeous no matter what.. but I know how you feel!
I feel your pain. I went into several dress shops that did not have a single dress for me to try on but they could of course order it in my size...LOL. I refused to order something that I hadn't seen myself in. I ended up going to Davids Bridal and was able to actually TRY ON dresses and was able to make a selection fairly quickly. I absolutely love my dress...I love what it does for my curves. I wish more bridal shops would realize the goldmine they would be sitting on if they offered a wider selection of dresses in larger sizes to try on. Oh well...their loss...Davids Bridals gain.
I am a plus-sized girl (size 14 in real like 16-18 in bridal world) ... I phoned ahead to make sure there were samples in > size 14 available before I even stepped foot into a store ... I could be squeezed into a size 14 with a corset back in most cases. I found this beauty, it was a bit snug, but it gave me the idea. I am going to order it in ivory embroidery on ivory.
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I totally know how you feel! I felt a bit better prepared having just gone bridesmaid dress shopping the year earlier so knew what I was in for in terms of nothing fitting! But I guess I lucked out at some shops and some of the dresses were only a size or two smaller... I also avoided a certain area of town, knowing they'd carry only smaller samples (and have snotty salespeople!) *lol*
I found my dress via a magazine, and even though I look nothing like the model in the picture, I still love my dress! It definitely helps though to know what styles you look good (and feel good!) in. I'm sure when you get your dress-in you'll love it!
I feel you corrc7131, the whole "we can just hold it up to you" was SO annyoying! I am a size 14 and most sample dresses here in Dallas were a 10 or 8!! Which in bridal means like a street 6. It was fustrating becasue there are so many dresses I think would of looked awesome on me, if I could actually get it on properly. What happened is most dresses wouldn't go over my butt/ thighs and therefore the top of the dress would be all bunched, I couldn't tell what the dress looked like at all.
And when I did find a dress that fit, it was always a boring one :( Luckily enough I was able to try on a dress that I had been dreaming about & even though it was a size 10 the way the back was open it allowed me to actually put it on & give me a realisitc look at how the dress would actually look on me & I loved it!
My dress is actually two big for me I'm going to have to get it altered but it is a cathedral length ballroom style and yes ladies I got it for $200 on sale it was regular 1000. I do not have pic becaue fi is super nosy.
I sympathize ladies!!! I will second what a pp poster said, in corset back dresses (Maggies usually) I could get into a Bridal size 12/14. I am a street size 16 with a verrrry large ribcage (38D bra size) and I HAD TO TRY ON A SIZE 20 DRESS!
A SIZE 20.
Let that sink in. And how many size 20's do you think they had in stock? Like 2. Sigh. Lol.
@msmini: LOVE THE DRESS!! I swear I thought you were like an 8 in that dress!!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you, ladies! I have been searching posts for a few hours now to find this exact topic!!! After putting dress shopping off as long as I possibly could, I finally started trying on dresses at the boutiques and a 14 seems to be the size that fits the best. I'm facing the same issue ...there are so few available dresses in my size ...most are a wedding dress size 10 (I'm told it's because they only have one sample per dress style)! Some of them I've been able to squeeze into (I've had the most luck with Maggie corset dresses but I have to guess what the actual dress will look like when it fits properly! Some just looked plain ridiculous. There has to be a place, somewhere that has more choices in the double digits!
I'm normally a size 18 put landed in a size 24 wedding dress...and it's a bit too big everywhere! For me the most frustrating part of wedding sizing is that there is such a large gap between plus sizes. A 24 is 3 inches bigger everywhere than a 22. Now I know I didn't lose any weight (possibly the opposite), and a 22 wouldn't have fitted, but still! If they had a 22 1/2 I wouldn't need any alterations :( oh well.
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Just wondering if anyone else has felt/feels this way...
I see so many pictures of girls on the wedding boards in their dresses and it's sometimes tough for me because the dresses fit these girls so well. I worry that I may have made a mistake choosing my dress because none of the dresses I tried on zipped all the way up or really fit me well.
I am a size 12/14...the bridal size ordered was an 18 for my watters Harmony dress. It seems like the dress buying experience was so exciting for a lot women, but I always felt like I was trying on dresses that were too small and I was just trying to determine if something would look decent on me. The wedding dress experience made me feel like the fat bride.
Don't get me wrong I love my dress, but I worry that when I finally try the dress on in my size I will hate it!
Sorry for this pity party post, but this has been on my mind recently and I worry that my dress will look horrible on me! I also wish I didn't have another 4-5 months to worry about this, lol!