Did some last minute dress shopping this afternoon..


Went to Abb@y, Brid@l C@ntr@ and B@lla D@nna..

Brid@l C@ntr@ was pretty pushy.. and kept trying to put me in the 'fat dresses' Oh.. that looks nice.. (whisper whisper) Thats an excellent fit (snigger Scoff). I got the prices and conditions of sale.. then left feeling like they had totally wasted my time.. I wanted to explain to them that I wasnt treated like a bride, just someone who would pay money and then get out. I know it seems harsh.. but they were fake friendly i felt.. which is worse then being rude sometimes.. Oh.. and dont get me started on that FRICKING corset they asked me to wear.. This is not the 1800's you know!

B@lla D@nna was fantastic, had a friendly girl who was really pleasant.. talked to me like an equal and showed me flattering dresses.. Large range and interesting options if your wanting something different colour or detail wise. I left feeling like i was heading in the right direction.. Just got to pick between the two dresses i saw there.. and Abb@y

Abb@y was also fantastic. I must admit that i have heard some seriously negative feedback about them.. but i was treated with respect, humour and what seemed like genuine interest. I spent about an hour in the same dress.. its lace up back made eveything sit exactly where it should.. (read love handles, back rolls and bottom) and once tightened properly.. I never wanted to take it off.. hehe got to love the lift and seperate I loved their red tip veils too.. Very tempting.. Also they had packages.. which i liked the sound of.. You buy the wedding dress.. and for about $500 more you get two bridesmaid dresses, a veil AND tiara.. heheh I loved all the options for bridesmaid dress designs upstairs too..

But seriously I could go on and on about this..

But the bottom line is dont let anyone tell you that just because your not a size 8-14 that you dont have the right to be excited or shown a RANGE of dresses.. If you go somewhere and they only have a size 8 dress in the style you like.. give it a go.. (i did.. funny funny stuff)

I am full of curves and DAMN proud of them.. They took many years of eating YUMMY things to build.. and I will be damned if some scary winn@ wench is going to make me feel bad for having a arse shelf..

I am still totally frustrated that the lovely larger bride section seems to have turned into a DIET clinic.. or a Got to lose weight place.. I thought we were in this world to be happy.. not stress about that.. By all means come and ask how to flatter your figure.. but dont try and change yourself for some silly ideal of what we should look like. Heck.. I am not saying i am perfect.. or that i am happy all the time.. but i have decided that I am loved by my fiance.. No one can be as spunktacular as me when i put my mind too it.. and most importantly.. wedding stress is eating me alive.. so .. ENOUGH.. No more listening to people who only exist to bring me/others down.. I am a fricking goddess damn it!!

*grin*

Good night curvy women of earth.. Time I got SOME sleep

Amen Sister!!

I learnt too late that I am who I am on the inside, and thats what H2B fell in love with.

I am curvy woman, and proud of it!!

Jane, I think we are PHAT!! Yeah baby!! PHAT WENCHES!!

Luv ya babe

Belinda.

As a fellow.. FFB, I have to say one thing. So long as u know who u are, and what ur about thats all that matters.

I have been as big as a size 28, now an 18-20.. I love who I am, my children adore me.. and my h2b does too.

I did a modelling course as a teenager... and I will never forget the words my teacher told me at graduation time..

She said " You maybe twice the size my girl, but u have twice the class and twice the personality"... those words have stuck with me forever.

and another little joke a group of friends and I used to have....

"thin maybe in, but fats where its at".... just a bit of fun!

Just because we are bigger brides, doesnt mean we cant too be a princess for the day!

Waiting4thesun; reading your message made me smile one of the first genuine smiles all day. You totally rock girl!!

And that time you got a full-blown laugh.

Although right now, it's not Toblerone beside me, it's C@dbury Snack... Let's hear it for all the chocolate sisters!!!

Oh, and congrats on the dress shopping! Sorry, didn't reply to that.

One shouldn't deviate too much - unless there's some Lindt hidden in another room....

Well.. today I went to the best bridal gown store.. she was just wonderful and treated me with utmost respect and dignity!

They had a good range of gowns and gave me HEAPS to try on.

In the end I got my dress and my bridesmaids dresses from this store, and found them very reasonably priced.

for those in Sydney.. its a bit far out.. at Lumeah. I didnt have any idea.. a friend took me there on recommendation from someone else.. BEST advice ever!

This shop is called Be@ut!ful Br!deS in the above suburb for anyone who is interested. AND they have a heater so its nice and warm.. FAR beats all those cold places I have visitied in the last few wks.

Hee hee, this thread made me giggle - phat wenches! I love it!

However this is not a Toblerone castle. (that made me laugh out loud, not so good while I'm at work!) This is a Sm1ths Thin Cut Original Flavour Palace.

Funny to see another 'celebrating ourselves, not dieting' thread here today ... I found a pic of myself last night when I was at my thinnest two years ago, at 66kg. (My 'healthy weight range', if you believe all that, is 55 to 69.) Boy am I gaunt in that photo. Freaky! Chubby = much better-looking, and H2B agrees.

So glad the dress shopping went well, too! How exciting...

Girls, you all rock!

I am SOOOOOO Happy to see this thread in here - its been a while coming.

I am a very very proud phat wench! And my hubby is one happy man too. Thanks for bringing this feeling of joy in here waiting4thesun

Amen to all of that girls!

I need to learn to embrace my curves and accept all of my fat wobbly bits H2B tells me every day that I'm gorgeous, I just need to start believing him

If anybody is still doing dress shopping and Parramatta isn't far to go for you, go and see Julie at P@rk @venue Brid@l, she is one of those people who can pick out the dress to be the most flattering for you almost as soon as you walk through the front door. She has a lovely "dressing room manner" IYKWIM and many years of experience in the bridal business.

Love the post, nice to have a laugh every now and then....

and just think without the curves I would not have my bust ... and h2b keeps telling me I have "great tits"

Would not want to lose them, and I think my dress looks a lot better with them
(link in sig if any one wants a peek)

love the dress afecay!......hail to the curvy women of the world we will not be knocked down, we fell in love and we are getting married! curves, love handles and all...hey i might sneak a few mini chockie bars or two in my bag hehe. BE LOUD AND PROUD LADIES i am

JO

*BUMP*

Thought I might remind everybody that there is nothing wrong with embracing your inner chocolate wench and enjoying your curves.

Hope my suggestions about Brisbane wedding gown shops also helps someone..

xox

Jane

Didn't we make gorgeous brides Jane?

waiting4thesun - I have admired you ever since I first saw that red wedding dress of yours and now you have given me the best laugh and pick me up today.
My first experience at "frock" shopping was awful and I actually wrote a letter of complaint to the store and some words of advice to the young lady who had no idea in trying to squeeze me into some very innapropriate frocks. Wake up world! We are here and we are not going to go away!
At my latest fitting, one of my girlfriends commented that I had a Jessica Rabbit figure and my other friend said she was thinking more of Marilyn Monroe. I can handle that

Shelly:
Oohh.. I like those friends comments
Jessica rabbit's got one hell of a figure!


Megz:
We made totally spunk'tac'ular brides
I leeerve your photographs babe!!
Your such a gourgous gurl!

This thread was just the one i needed to read today!!

Thankyou

I'm so sick of seeing pics of dresses in models that are sticks **ggrrrr** I haven't even been brave enough to enter a frock-shop for fear of humiliation, how sad am i?? And because i'm not looking for a 'traditional gown' i've just avoided them.

Anyways, i've found a dress in the US that i think is the one for moi -



We're having a morning garden wedding.

I'm so uplifted to read your post......and i've eaten a choccie frog in the process!!

Sam

Sam - Beautiful dress!!

Good luck with you your wedding plans gourgous!
There is always someone on here 24/7 who can lend an ear or opinion about anything and everything.

I am here if you ever need to vent about societys commitment to the tinnny

and last but not least

*cuddle*

welcome to I'do and impending marriage.

xoxo

Jane

Waiting4thesun, what an inspirational thread !! It's exactly what I needed in the midst of all my stressing.

I too had shocking experiences when I initially started dress shopping. I can range anywhere from a 28 - 32. Most bridal sales assistants wouldnt assist me at all ! hmmm the irony in their position name ! I got looks, I got stares and sniggers. I held my head up high and thought I dont need you ! In the end I was just lookin at styles as I wanted to have my dress made.

Then I met my lovely dress maker and let me assure you ladies there was light at the end of the tunnel ! Some dressmakers were charging me ridiculous amounts and they put it down to my "size" ! Get over it luvvy, a metre or two extra in fabric ( satin & Chiffon ) is not going to cost two to three thousand extra !!! My dressmaker is a gem, well now she is ... we had a little "misunderstanding" but I was merely beign a Bridezilla ! Have never felt more comfortable with anyone, we've formed a great friendship, one that I dearly treasure.

OOps Ive rambled again !

But yes, curvaceous girls of I-Do unite ! We are a force to be reckoned with

I had the attidude 'he loves me for what I am' in the lead up to the wedding.
He didn't fall in love with the larger girl that I am - A medical condition saw me put lots of weight on in the course of our relationship... I decided not to stress about the weight prior to our wedding, as the lead up should be enjoyable and fun - and not about medications and counting calories.

I have no regreats being a lovely larger bride, however, now I am in a position where my health is in a very bad state due to weight gain.

If you are happy and healthy as a larger bride, then don't bother changing a thing!

Even with my doctors 'weight loss' plan - I don't want to be any smaller than a 14-16! I loved the curves when I first got them, and was at my happiest at that size.

I guess what I am rambling about is be proud and happy of the body you have. Flaunt it. Larger ladies can dress very well and have the softest and prettiest faces.

Ladies and Gents

I would like to pass on some very important imformation for everyone woman in the world.

Embrace your inner chocolate wench or perish sweater monkeys

You know what?
We should start a business that specialises in bridal frocks for the curvier women!!! There's clearly such a need for women to be able to go somewhere that understands what it's like not to be a size 10!!! (No offence intended to size 10 girls )

I read MrsF's post and got really cross ****grrr to those nastie pasties not serving you****

My H2B love me exactly the way i am......curves, stretchmarks, the whole lot!!!

Sam

Damn it's good to read that! I was determined not to get trapped in the 'I'm getting married, must lose weight' trap. I love my curves - they make me look healthy and my man loves every single one of them, so why should I want to lose them?

As for the family? Oh, they mean well, but it's annoying!

Curiously, in the last three months, I've discovered I'm gluten intolerant, and the forced dietary changes have actually made me lose approximately 10kg. This has shut the family up, but it looks like I've fallen into the 'lose weight for wedding day' trap - and I haven't, dammit!

(Yes, there's a half-eaten blocked of gluten-free chocolate in my drawers, waiting to be consumed.... )

love this thread!

thank you so much for you post as a bigger girl i was hesitatant about buying my wedding dress and going into certain stores and now you have told me about @bbey Brid@l im ready to go in there with confidence you rock thanks for the heads up

Your welcome

Obviously there will be off days and different attendants at any bridal store..

But as we all know/or are hearing .. there are some places that do not welcome the love handles

So I say 'REBEL GIRLS'

Come and frolick in my fridge

We can eat that new cadbury 'rocky road' chocolate and talk about the silly things our men/family/friends say

*CUDDLES TO ALL THE PHAT WENCHES*

Amen to that *TESTIFY***

Hope that bumping this thread might help someone planning their dress shopping.

Or at the very least show them that you do not have to be tiny to be GOURGOUS

Hope that all my fav spunky larger then life wives and bride's to be are all alright.

I think we all need a GIANT cuddle for being spunk'tac'ular.

Now I'll return you to your regular programming

Omg... you rock!!!

You girls are all just great...

I have 13 days till I marry my prince...and thank god I have the most adorable mum...who sewed me my medieval wedding dress, so I didn't have to walk into one nasty dress shop...there's only one in this town anyway and I'm sure theres nothing over a size 12 in there...I'm a 22- 24 depending on were you buy...my H2B loves every darn lump bump and curve.....
or as he calls them my luvverly jubberlies! It's cute when he says it!!! LOL

It supposed to be the best day of your life...whether you're a 12 or a 30...and if it wasn't for ALL us brides a lot of those sales assistants wouldn't have jobs!

Curves rock!