Nashville weddings

Plus-Size, Recent Nashville Bride Shares Her Journey to Find THE Wedding Dress

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Hillary is a Nashville newlywed and a wedding planner who owns Your Day of Fairy Tales. I was lucky to get honest insight on her struggle to find the perfect dress and shoes as a plus-size bride. I hope that her experience will help you as you plan and help those in the fashion / gown industry make the search for the dress a bit more easy and joyous for all!

Ashley/ABG: What is the experience for a plus-size bride looking for a wedding gown in Nashville?

Frustrating. Shopping for a dress as a girl who is not your typical size 6 can be a daunting task. Even shopping for my groom, who doesn’t have a 36” waist, was hard.

A lot of gown places are selling the same gown to plus-size brides so they all end up with the same dress. They just buy what's available because they do not have the confidence to take the risk and order a different sample dress in a larger size.



When I started the dress shopping process, I knew that I did not want the typical “David’s Bridal” type dress that every bride wears! I wanted something unique but not over the top and knew it had to have lace and be an A-line.

But as I began looking, I noticed that every dress was the same: beaded waist, A-line or halter top dress with beads. No thank you!

SO I began to explore different options. I went to various stores all around Middle Tennessee. We visited numerous stores in Nashville, Goodletsville, Murfreesboro, Lebanon, and Clarksville. The first store we visited was in Clarksville where I had purchased both of my prom dresses in high school. My mom and I went and just browsed through the dresses and found one I really liked but it wasn’t the right style. We decided to just look other places first and come back if we didn’t find anything. No other places had any dresses that even came close to what I wanted. They all fell into that David’s Bridal type or had no dresses I could actually try on.

This was the same problem with the dress I found at the Bride’s Boutique in Clarksville. The dress I fell in love with was a size 10 and wouldn’t even go over my hips to try for a semi look at the dress. Luckily, on that day I was determined to find a dress, the consultant informed me that Casablanca dresses can have a custom skirt! SCORE!!! But I still hadn’t tried this dress on. So I asked a random person to try the dress on for me. She did and I fell in LOVE even more. I went out on a total limb and bought my dress having never actually tried it on.

Fast forward 6 months to September when my dress came in. It was too short and not an A-line at all. The alteration guru, Edith, took extra care of me, ordered lace to make it longer and tulle to give it that bell shape I wanted. Ten alterations and trips to Clarksville later, my dress was perfect.

Shopping for a dress was the most difficult task of my wedding and I shed many tears over it. I would not have wanted a different dress even if I had gotten to try it on before hand.

My advice to others would be to not limit yourself to what you see in the store in your size. Look at other sizes and ask someone to try it on. Find a style (A-line, mermaid, ball gown) you like and then go from there.

~ Hillary in her gorgeous dress, after 10 alterations!! ~
 

How did you know the style that would look best on you?

I’d tried on a enough dresses to know what would work. I shopped for a top style that looked good, then shopped for a bottom style.

I knew from trying other dresses that I did not look good in a mermaid-style. The dressmaker was able to change the style, so I had them change it to an A-line ball gown.
 

Was there a fee for your custom order?

I didn’t have to pay a special order fee; most people are not aware that bridal shops/designers typically don’t charge a fee.
 

So, you could have maybe gotten your dress somewhere else but you choose Bride’s Boutique because they were so helpful?

Yes definitely. I ultimately ended up getting my dress at the Bride's Boutique in Clarksville; they did not have the best plus-size selection, but the best overall selection and were willing to help me most of all. I actually got scary looks from some stores when I went to try on dresses.

What else was difficult to find for you as a plus-size gal?

Oh yes! I wear a shoe size 12 wide in dress shoes. I went to every shoe store in Nashville, Murfreesboro, Clarksville; no place carried shoes in my size so I knew when it came to dress shoes I would have a problem.

After looking around town and online, I ended up getting them special ordered and dyed at the bridal salon where I got my dress.
 

Thank you Hillary for sharing your honest and helpful advice.

Ladies - Until we change the industry, here are some options based on Hillary’s experience: 1) shop around to find the style that works for you, 2) if you don't mind the limited inventory, buy what’s available, OR 3) give yourself ample time to shop to find the best style for your top and bottom looks - then, take a risk and special order the dress of your dreams!

In the meantime, please enjoy Pretty Pear Bride for great ideas and inspiration for your beautiful wedding. 

About the Author:

Ashley King

Hey - I'm Ashley! I started AshleysBrideGuide.com to give Nashville brides, or folks planning a Nashville wedding, a local resource for inspiration and resources. Hope to see you at a bridal show soon! Until then, Find me on Google+.

See more posts by Ashley King »

send   Posted on August 23, 2012 | Filed under: Advice & Planning, Bridal Gowns, Wedding Dresses & Accessories, Real Nashville Brides,