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Original poster

Wedding booked, no dress, please help me

123 replies

Pleasehelpmefindmydress · 01/05/2023 19:59

In desperate need of help please!

Wedding booked for end of August, and I am nowhere close to even knowing what I will wear.

I'm a 16/18 and in my late 30s, I'm toying with non-traditional (so colours or even black/silver/grey) I don't ever wear white and can't imagine wearing it. I'd want sleeves and that's all I really know. Wedding is registry office then reception at a village hall.

I'm so stressed and the sizing of wedding dresses is making me feel even worse. Can you please help me?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
27
excelledyourself · 01/05/2023 22:39

Can't link this one

Wedding booked, no dress, please help me
millymae · 01/05/2023 22:51

Not sure where you are in the Midlands and if you are really wanting a ‘proper’ wedding dress, but if you are and are willing to make the journey up to Congleton in Cheshire Swan Brides has a really good selection of sample and sale wedding dresses to take away all beautifully presented at bargain prices, and their seamstress is excellent too, should you want to use her for any adjustments.
A look at the sale section of their website will show what they have available with prices.
I have no connection to the shop at all other than I went with a family member when she saw a dress she liked advertised at a very much reduced price. She did buy the one she had gone to see but not before trying on several others that were available. We were amazed at the selection they had available

Original poster
Pleasehelpmefindmydress · 01/05/2023 22:57

The JJS House one I've been looking at but it's see through. I may just order it and see if it could be altered and a slip added maybe?
I can't do light or floral - just wouldn't look right on me unfortunately.

OP posts:
Original poster
Pleasehelpmefindmydress · 01/05/2023 23:02

millymae · 01/05/2023 22:51

Not sure where you are in the Midlands and if you are really wanting a ‘proper’ wedding dress, but if you are and are willing to make the journey up to Congleton in Cheshire Swan Brides has a really good selection of sample and sale wedding dresses to take away all beautifully presented at bargain prices, and their seamstress is excellent too, should you want to use her for any adjustments.
A look at the sale section of their website will show what they have available with prices.
I have no connection to the shop at all other than I went with a family member when she saw a dress she liked advertised at a very much reduced price. She did buy the one she had gone to see but not before trying on several others that were available. We were amazed at the selection they had available

I'll take a look thank you so much.

OP posts:
Enko · 01/05/2023 23:05

hollyuilo · 01/05/2023 20:37

This dress is insanely beautiful

www.thandth.com/gowns/aurora-in-ombre

Ohh that's gorgeous

Cherry2456 · 01/05/2023 23:25

Hi I ordered from jjshouse for bridesmaids of your size, as I couldn’t find anything suitable in the UK. They are made to measure and are really nice. I did have to pay import taxes but overall they were good value and beautiful. Also empire line dresses are especially flattering for size 16+

Itsanotherhreatday · 01/05/2023 23:38

Order a size up and get them altered?

Dont dismiss a dress as most come up small.

Original poster
Pleasehelpmefindmydress · 01/05/2023 23:56

Usernamenotavailabletryanother · 01/05/2023 23:08

A hard no on that one, sorry.

Will consider ordering from JJsHouse and/or an appointment at Wed2Be - I'm hoping I may be surprised and end up liking a more traditional dress!

OP posts:
katscamel · 02/05/2023 04:27

https://www.johnlewis.com/brand/adrianna-papell/_/N-1z13u5h

Adrianna Papell does amazing dresses. I have a very long shopping list for when/if I'm ever invited to a swanky dress event.

sapphiredrago · 02/05/2023 06:21

Check out Etsy, OP. I got my dress from there and took it to a seamstress to alter. It was beautiful. (Order a size bigger because it can be taken in to your body shape).

Aliensrus · 02/05/2023 08:56

I was in exactly your position 3 months ago! I got great advice on here: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/style_and_beauty/4720827-plus-size-evening-gown-to-get-married-in

In particular Adriana Papell has some very nice stuff (which I learnt about from my thread). I did look at Marina Rinaldi as they have some amazing plus size evening gowns too, but they are expensive and everything would have needed altering or intense shapewear.

In the end I went to a local dress maker and had something made - £650 plus material costs - £500 for fabric as I went for expensive fabric and a lot of it. I am London based.

I hated trying on wedding dresses. But a friend at work who makes clothes as a hobby advised me to go and try on lots of dresses at different shops to get an idea of styles and fabrics and cuts, and that was actually great advice. I went to 3 shops, 2 of which were plus size specific. Off the back of that I was able to narrow down what I wanted in a dress and created a Pinterest board to show the dressmaker. I also went to a few different fabric shops and found a great lady who held up different fabrics to my face so I could see what colours looked best on me.

I am picking up (fingers crossed) a dark red wedding dress with sleeves and a built in corset (hide flabby tum) later today.

good luck OP!

Plus size evening gown to get married in? | Mumsnet

Another poster recently got some great advice on wedding dresses so wonder if the Mumsnet hive mind could help me! I am eloping in May and need an am...

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/style_and_beauty/4720827-plus-size-evening-gown-to-get-married-in

Outdamnspot23 · 02/05/2023 09:02

I also had a dress made, it was a friend of a friend who does it as a bit of a hobby alongside another job so wasn’t expensive but was lovely. I chose the colours and honestly I loved the result. Maybe just sit down with a pen and paper and draw what you would like?

MaltedCow · 02/05/2023 09:16

My daughters' flower girl dresses were from Wed2be and they looked so much more expensive than we'd paid for them, go mid week if you can, we went midweek to try my eldest's on and it was lovely and quiet but we had to go to a bigger store on a Saturday to pick up my youngest's and it was really busy and a bit less of a bridal feel in there.

Although I do think the JJS House one linked in black is amazing, I think given you have the budget to get it altered I think it's worth ordering it, finding a good seamstress and then making it look perfect. They may need to look at the lining, and possibly a hoop or something to puff the dress out properly but a seamstress could tell you what can be done with it when they look at it.

FartSock5000 · 02/05/2023 11:15

@Pleasehelpmefindmydress if you do a search online for bridal shops who sell off the rack, you should find local shops where you can try on and then buy to take home same day.

Don't do yourself out of the experience of trying on gowns. It really helps you find what styles you love and more often than not, you end up with a dress you didn't even think about.

You deserve to be fussed over and should have that experience. As long as you are clear up front that you only want 'off the rack', you'll be fine.

Outdamnspot23 · 02/05/2023 11:33

just to go against the grain a bit I didn't really enjoy trying on wedding dresses in bridal shops - I didn't want white either and they generally only have two sizes in so they obviously don't fit and looked crap!

CoffeeBeansGalore · 02/05/2023 12:00

My daughter has this in the red from www.sexyher.co.uk.

You can get a matching bolero jacket.

Quality is lovely & you can get it made in any of their colours.

Wedding booked, no dress, please help me