Wedding dress shopping is probably one of the most epic experiences in a woman’s life, well for me it is. Its a one time deal (supposedly, but life happens) that is meant to last so it should be done right. My shopping experience wasn’t a long, drawn out stressful situation like most gals and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I knew from the day I was getting married that finding a wedding dress was not going to bring me down, so I decided to share my experience and give you tips on how you can successfully find your dream wedding dress.

Bring your BEST Girls!

You don’t need an entourage. You don’t need every woman in your family and his. The more people you bring, the more chaos and confusion. Believe it or not, your entourage are what brings stress into your shopping experience, because you want to please them. This isn’t about them. I visited two bridal shops and I took two people each time. My first visit was with my future mother-in-law and my best friend, who is my maid of honor.

I picked people who are not only supportive, excited for me, but also have my best interest. They also believed I should try on the styles I loved and also styles I didn’t think I would like and gave their honest opinion.

Make Sure your desired Bridal Shop has your size and Try on Everything!

Now, when I say try on everything, not every dress in the store. I meant try on the ball gowns, the trumpet, the mermaid, the minimal, the extravagant dress, etc. I say this because I kept saying that my dress MUST have spunk and bling and character, everything!

Let me tell you, when I tried on a dress that was just that, I hated it. I felt like a huge disco ball. My girls laughed so hard! I tried on a mermaid, and didn’t like the way I was shaped in it. The first shop I went to only had a handful of plus size gowns so we didn’t have much of a selection, but I saw this gown.

I love the mermaid, and I felt like if I lost 30lbs, I would like it on me. To be honest, I didn’t want a dress that I had to kill myself to look a certain way in. Bye bye mermaid!

I tried on one with capped sleeves and bunches of lace and almost threw up lol! I told my fiancé this dress below is the winner and he gave me the worst look ever!

Have fun! There’s no pressure!

There’s no pressure in finding your dress. It’s supposed to be fun! My mother in law was so funny, she kept trying not to cry and I love how she kept bringing me back to earth. “Baby, make sure you get what you want and try the dress that you want.” I love her, she’s one of my best friends. My mommy will love her. My second trip, I brought my sister in law and my maid of honor again and we spent so much time laughing. They told me to try the dress that I wanted first. I will show that to you in a moment.

When we visited the second shop, New York Bride & Groom, we were immediately impressed. It was huge. If you don’t know they are located in Charlotte, NC and they’re selection was amazing. They also offer tuxedo rentals and bridesmaids dresses as well.

We had so much fun picking dresses and I was so excited that there were more than 4 plus size wedding gowns. Big girls deserve to have the same experience as little girls. So the first dress, I tried, was a dress that I wanted. A white, princess ball gown.

At first, we loved it. It had just the right amount of bling and I love the poofiness of it. Then after 20 minutes, I felt like white was too much and I wanted something softer and realistic looking. I looked like a cake topper. I tried several versions and I didn’t feel like a real life princess. Which brings me to my last tip:

Ask your stylist for their opinion!

Let me tell you something. It is okay to ask a bridal consultant what she/he thinks you would look great in. Face it, we don’t wear wedding gowns everyday and they have way more experience than we do. Besides, its gives them a chance to get creative because they spend their working hours giving us brides what we want. After exhausting my options I asked my consultants to pick their favorites and what they think would look good on me and I waited.

 

Y’all, let me tell you. I ended up with one of their selections and can you say, REAL LIFE PRINCESS? I was so pleased with the pick and my girls were excited. I waited 3 months, without looking at other dresses and went back to order it! For the sake of my fiancé (he reads my blog) I will not be showing the dress, but stay tuned!!

 

 

 

A huge thank you to New York Bride and Groom for the amazing experience and looking out for us Plus Size beauties! If you are looking for an awesome Bridal Boutique, stop by!