I asked myself this question a million times after I stopped jumping around, happy-crying and talking a million miles an hour. So we are engaged, now what do we do? There is no simple answer to this, but here are some guidelines of some of the things that were on my priority list, and how I have spaced it all out over our wedding timeline.

10-12 Months Before Your Wedding

5-8 Months Before Your Wedding

4-6 Months Before Your Wedding

1-2 Months Before Your Wedding

1 Week Before Your Wedding

For all of those big and beautiful ladies out there in search of their perfect dress, this one is for you. Whether you have been struggling to find a size that fits or have been in and out of bridal stores feeling down and out about not being able to find a dress to suit your figure, look no further!

I want to share with you my dress journey, and that no matter what size, shape, height or ethnicity you WILL find the perfect dress for you and you WILL look amazing on your special day.

I am sure there are other posts that I could start off with but this one to me was a big part of my wedding prep journey and was by far the most frustrating.

My partner and I had been together for 10 months when he popped the question. I was still coming to terms with the fact that somehow, somewhere there is someone that directed this man to me and you know, he actually loved me. So I am sure you can imagine how hard it was for me when my partner popped the question. I was still in shock and awe that he wanted to date me, let alone marry me. Of course I said yes, I knew I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life. But then I was presented with all of these questions and doubts. The biggest for me was “Will I look bad on my wedding day?”

Now I know that this may seem vain, but that is far from the truth. I was so afraid that I would feel like a hideous beast on my wedding day. It was further drilled in to me when I started to look at wedding dresses and found that plus size dresses were not only three times more expensive but they were not flattering at all and seemed as though they had been ‘stretched’ to fit a larger figure without taking any real body shape in to consideration.

I took to the internet to see if I could find some plus size bloggers that had shared their dress experiences and was not surprised to see that they had found the same issues that I had. I started to become distressed. None of my friends that had been married recently were plus sized, the internet left me confused with all the talk of princess cut, a-line and mermaid cut. My head was spinning. I will be doing a blog post just on the confusion that is dress types!

So I decided to bite the bullet and turned to eBay. Well! There was so many choices and I was over the moon. I thought for sure I would find a dress that I thought would look good on me. Sure enough, I found several that I liked, and finally settled on one, which I found out later to be a princess cut. It was very reasonably priced and that suited me well because you know, I am working on a budget here.

The seller that I purchased from had the option for customer sizing which was fantastic. I measured myself four times before I sent off the numbers to the seller. Everything was great. I was happy, my fiancé was happy because I wasn’t a raving lunatic speaking in tongues, and the dress was being made.

I am sure you can imagine how disappointed I was when I received it a month later to find…that the material was amazing and the craftsmanship of the dress was beautiful! I rushed to try it on, I was too excited to wait. I twirled around and admired the length of the train, and the detailing on the bodice. Slowly the excitement dissipated, then the disappointment set in. As I stared at myself in the mirror at my supposed wedding dress all I saw was a giant lump of fabric.

It was not flattering at all. My breasts were non-existent, the shoulders were too tight and I just felt like an ugly BEAST. I resigned myself to the idea that this is just how my body was going to look in any dress I tried and that was the end of it. So for months I sat on this dress, trying it on and trying to convince myself that this is what I am going to be walking down the isle in.

It wasn’t until one of my bridesmaids, and closest friends chimed in and said “Why settle?” She also told me that my breasts were great and I shouldn’t wear a dress that hides this, but lets not go in to this, shall we?

So we, and when I say we I mean she, decided that we would be going to look in some bridal stores to find a dress type that suited me the best. We had no intentions to purchase in a bridal store because I was trying to stick to a strict budget and was so sure I could find something online.

Oh my god what an absolute nightmare. The few stores that I went in to the store assistants were so rude. They took one look at me and told me that, because of my size, they couldn’t help me. One point blank told me to lose weight so that I would be able to find a dress that was flattering. I was so distraught, and convinced that I would never find something that I would ever feel comfortable in. I was going to be a Bridal Beast on my wedding day.

I had lost a great measure of hope, but my dear friend kept reassuring me and she took me to one more store. Now I didn’t have much to compare it to considering my experiences during the day had been appalling but Rosey’s Bridal was amazing!!! The store was quaint but comforting, and the owner of the store was absolutely lovely. We browsed for a small time before she asked if she could help. I sheepishly told her I was looking for a wedding dress and she was so excited, and so energetic. It was a relief to meet someone that did not shun me for my weight or my appearance but was just genuinely happy to have a bridal customer, and was excited for their special day.

She directed me to her plus size gowns and oh my goodness the selection! I was overwhelmed but so delighted! I found several that I liked, and also asked the store owner if she would pick some that she thought would look good on me. All in all I only tried three on. One was a mermaid cut that I found to be too unflattering, the second was too over the top. There was rhinestones in places I didn’t think rhinestones needed to be!

The third dress. Oh my goodness, I fell in love with it the moment that I saw myself in it. My friend shed a tear. This was the dress type, no, the dress that I needed to have. The price tag was formidable though. I deflated knowing that I would not be able to afford the $2100 price tag on the dress. However the store owner informed me due to the dress being last season’s stock it was on sale. She calculated the new price and it came down to $1000. My friend took one look at me and before I had the chance to say otherwise the dress was being bought and paid for.

Now while this was all being done, the store owner also informed me that for every bride that purchases dresses in her store she likes to give them a small token as a gift. She gave me a gorgeous horseshoe to carry on my big day, and a gorgeous garter.  I was so impressed with the level of customer service I received, and finally felt like a human being and not some monster trying to be something she wasn’t. This perfect dress of perfectness is now strung up in my cupboard in it’s bag, waiting for the day I get to jam it on again and be a princess.

Mind you, not everyone is going to have the same experience that I did when it came to dress shopping. Everyone’s journey will be different, and I always hope that they will be positive. The biggest things I took away from the whole dresscapade experience were:

I will finish this off by saying this. Make sure you have amazing people around you that love you and will tell you the truth when it comes to your bridal dress. Sometimes we are very critical of ourselves and we need to see ourselves through someone else’s eyes to realise how truly stunning we are.

I would love to hear your dress horror or happy stories. Please leave a comment below! Let's be Beautiful Beasts together!

So…I guess I need to start explaining right? My name is Tracey, and I am a Graphic Designer, avid dog lover, weirdo, nerd, makeup lover, craft fanatic, movie connoisseur and an all-round every girl. I want to share my journey with you all, through life and love, and through how I overcame a great deal of stigma when it comes to being a Plus Size Bride. Mind you, not all of my posts with be a commentary on the difficulties of plus size bridedome. I want to share with you all my DIY tips for all things bridal, and all things life.

From a very early age I was a ‘big’ girl. I was teased and ridiculed all throughout primary education and high school. Even now at the ripe age of 27 I still get heckled for being overweight. With the stigma around plus size women ever growing it was hard to see myself as beautiful. If you are ‘fat’ you can’t be beautiful. It took me a long time to realise that I can’t rely on others to define my beauty and that I need to acknowledge within myself that in my own way, I am. I think that is one of the big reasons I wanted to start this blog, and share life experiences with all of you out there on the world wide web. I want all women to see themselves as beautiful, not matter what size, shape or ethnicity you may be. I want to help you to see that the flaws that you see in yourself are what makes you unique and a truly beautiful human being.

I also want to talk about trivial things like, getting the right table cloths for your bridal table and how to choose the right photographer, but we will get to that. I want to be here to share my journey and to hear about yours as well.

I will always have comments available on all of my posts for questions and queries, and even if you want to disagree with me when I bring up more amiable topics. I want to hear from you all, because there is not point talking to the world wide web, if it doesn’t talk back.

Let’s be Beautiful Beasts together