It's such a pleasure to have Shafonne Myers of Pretty Pear Bride guest posting today.
Shafonne is a wedding and event planner who longed for bridal inspiration that looked like her so she created Pretty Pear Bride – the world's only website and magazine that brings bridal inspiration to plus size brides. She also does speaking engagements educating the world about plus size brides and self confidence.
Long have I lamented the lack of fashion forward, chic plus sized wedding dresses.
Every time I started my search for gorgeous plus sized wedding dresses to feature on Bridal Musings I came up short. Often it seemed that established bridal lines created their plus sized collections as an after thought while plus sized wedding dress retailers seemed to be stuck in the early 90s. Surely there had to be more options for curvy brides than frumpy A line dresses?!
So I called on Shafonne for her help and, I was thrilled to discover there are lots of beautiful and diverse wedding dress options – if you know where to look!
Top 10 Plus Size Wedding Dress Designers
Being a a plus size or curvy bride just plain sucks sometimes, there are so many things to worry be about while planning one of your biggest days of your life. And one of the biggest obstacles for curvy brides is finding a gorgeous and fashionable plus size wedding gown. I know it seems like such an unbearable task, trust me I know how you feel, I was once there.
So why don’t you go ahead scream and shout, holla' at the top of your lungs…about how pissed you are and how there are absolutely NO options out there…I’ll pause and wait for you!
You done? Now, let’s get down to business!
You probably won’t believe me when I tell you but there is a light at the end of the wedding gown tunnel because the plus size bridal industry has come a long way from the drab wedding gowns of the yester years. Yes, it doesn’t seem like it but honestly the yester years are more like yester months because they aren’t as far gone as you think. Plus size wedding gowns have just recently taken a turn for the best.
Why, you ask?
Because there has been an explosion of designers who are taking a keen interest in the curvy bridal industry. They are striving to make plus size brides feel as amazing and beautiful as their counterparts. I’ve seen first hand, the genius and impeccable design sense that these designers have for creating wedding gowns that make curvy brides look and feel stunning. I’ve created a collection of the Top 10 Plus Size Wedding Gown Designers to illustrate the fabulous options available to us plus size and curvy brides.
Watters – Wtoo Curve Collection
This new collection by Watters called the Wtoo Curve Collection is featured on Wtoo.com to give plus size brides a comprehensive idea of how their styles look on curvier brides. This feature showcases current and signature styles that were designed with these brides in mind. Beautifully proportioned up to size 32W for curves, comfort, and compliments.
It's worth noting that ALL Watters and Wtoo wedding dresses are available in sizes 0-24. Also, that fabulous pink, ruffly number in the photo above is part of the Wtoo Curve Collection too!
Watters – hot off the New York Bridal Fashion Week catwalk
David’s Bridal
The majority of women's clothing lines, including bridal collections, are based on a size 8 sample that is graded to create a full range of sizes. The David's Bridal Woman collection is designed differently: their plus size fit model is a size 18 and each pattern is based on research gathered from real customer's measurements. This unique focus on fit and sizing is the reason their plus size wedding gowns fit and flatter like no other.
David's Bridal Woman – Style 9T3299
Sydney’s Closet
Over the last decade, Sydney's Closet has dressed up of tens of thousands plus-size teens and women across the U.S. from Alaska to Florida and around the world in countries like Denmark, Germany, Canada, England and Italy. Their glam designs have been seen on the dance floor at high school gyms for Prom and Homecoming, on celebrities walking the red-carpet in Hollywood and going down the aisle of churches and beaches.
The wedding dress collection is perfect for plus sized brides with petite budgets.
Alfred Angelo
Every dress in the Alfred Angelo collection is available in plus sizes and there's no extra charge! Begin your Happily Ever After in an Alfred Angelo bridal gown designed with your curves in mind.
Mori Lee – Julietta Collection
For over 17 years, Madeline Gardner has been designing dresses for MoriLee. When her son asked why she does her job, she replied ‘Because I love doing it, and I love making girls look pretty and feel good.' That includes girls of all sizes! The Julietta Collection is filled with elegant wedding dresses.
Igigi
Igigi strives to provide women of curves with smart, stylish and sophisticated collections that accentuate and celebrate their bodies. Their collections reflect the latest trends in fashion, including their affordable wedding dress collection. Plus they ship to over 70 countries!
Bellerose Plus Size Wedding Gown
Roz la Kelin – Glamour Plus Collection
Roz la Kelin is an Australian bridal gown designer who is hitting the states by storm with her dresses being featured at Bridal Week Fall 2014 and arriving in numerous US plus size bridal salons.
Bridal to me is the highest form of wearable art, scruptured to minimise and emphasise a woman’s body.
Glamour plus Collection – Style 5545T
Kiyonna
Kiyonna‘s founder Kim Camarella-Khanbeigi sums up her plus size brand perfectly with this quote:
We’re in business still, after all these years, because we’ve always sold a feeling, not a product. I’ve always believed in the idea that curvy women deserved to look and feel stylish and amazing. Why not?
They have a great range of budget friendly short wedding dresses or reception dress options.
Allure Bridals
In 2003, Allure introduced the Allure Construction. This patented built-in corset provides the signature fit and structure you can only find with Allure. With a perfectly constructed gown made with luxurious fabrics in a modern silhouette, every Allure bride walks down the aisle in confident style.
As you can see there are a vast number of options for plus size brides to wear something other than the bland and plain A-line dresses that we are so often characterized by. Designers are standing up and taking notice that curvy brides want AND deserve to look as well as feel chic and elegant as our smaller peers. So no more should we hear that there aren’t any options available for plus size brides because there are designers who care and have stepped up to the plate to ensure that curvy brides are recognized!
Thanks so much to Shafonne for stopping by. If you're a curvy bride, I do hope you've found this post helpful. Be sure to check out Pretty Pear Bride for lots more curvalicious wedding inspiration! Follow along on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram too.
Find more wedding inspiration in the photo gallery and on my 100+ Pinterest boards
