Weddingbee boards

Are you busty?  Do you need straps to hold up the girls?  I think you can work whatever look you really want!  Strapless or halter a-line styles popped into my mind first.

I think that pretty much anyone can wear strapless if she has the right shape and the right tailoring.  If you're looking to define your waist, you should look for something with ruching or a wrap detail at the waist. 

If you aren't feeling the A-Line, go ahead and try some other shapes and see what you like.  I heard Clinton and Stacy say once that it's wrong to assume that everyone who is considered "plus sized" looks good in the same types of clothes.  No matter what your size, you have differences in your figure that you want to highlight.  I'd concentrate on the things you like about your figure and try to accentuate those. Try a bunch of different sillohuettes and see what you like best.  I actually think that too much volume (i.e. a big ball gown or box pleating) can make you look heavier than you are, in any size.  Something more fitted might show off your body better.

Just to share one thing from my dress shopping experience.  I knew I didn't want a ball gown, but I thought for a minute about a mermaid/trumpet style.  However, because I didn't fit into the sample sizes (I'm a 12 in real life, obviously bigger in bridal sizes), I wasn't able to tell how any of those dresses would actually look on me.  I pretty much had to dismiss the entire style, because I didn't want to buy something I hadn't tried on.  That's not to say that will be your experience, but that's just what happened to me.  Honestly, I wonder if that's why the consultants want to put you into an A-line or ball gown--because the sample mermaid/trumpets don't always fit if you're larger than a sample and they can't be pinned/clipped the same way.