Dress shopping sucked!!

Wedding dresses are always made to be bigger sizes than what you would normally wear! Don't be discouraged! =( Take a deep breath and relax for a few days, and then you can try again. It can be very frustrating. I'm a size 12 in street size, and, because I have a bit of a bigger chest area, I had to get a size 18 dress and have it altered to fit! That was a bit discouraging to me, but once they took it in everywhere else, it turned out beautifully!!

I was also gonna ask if you went to davids bridal. sounds like it--- theyre dresses tend to be heavy---

and yes as other have said bridal sizes are not the same as street sizes/

My general thought is that if you think a fourteen is huge, you must think some of us wear circus tents.

Don't give up after one go. Go again and check out other stores. Even consider checking out the same ones on different days -- sometimes, the attendant can make all the difference.

Wedding dress sizes are perverse; an experience that is supposed to make you feel lovely and special ends up making you feel out of place in your own body; the body you liked when you walked in....

Go again, go to different stores, pay no attention to the numbers but what looks back at you in the mirror.

To mirror what the other ladies said, the size on the dress doesn't matter. I wear a 4/6 in street clothes and had to order a size 10 gown. Sadly, I measured an 8 through the bust and hips and a 10 through my tummy. That and knowing I would have to give up my nightly glass of wine to 'even things out' was was the most depressing part :-/

I wear a street size 10 (sometimes 12) and had to order my dress in a size 18 because of my hips. It doesn't mean anything; it's just a number. However, I will say that the dress shop and consultant can make or break how you feel during your appointment. I went to one shop where the consultant basically said she didn't have a lot of nice dresses for me to try on, because the "bigger samples are not as pretty." Huh?! I then went to a different shop with the sweetest consultant who totally made me feel great about my body, as I'm sure she does with all of her brides. Don't be discouraged, keep looking.

Dont care about the number. Just confus on the dress for your special day. I am also looking for the wedding gown.

Maybe you could try the online store. they have the custom size. I think i could totally go for it. i guess it could be fit more.

The problem I ran into was that when my dress came in and I put it on I didn't feel the same way I did when I tried it on the first time. I even looked at my SIL and said this isn't my dress! She told me I was being silly of course cuz it is the same exact dress I tried on months earlier and ordered. Everything just felt different and off with it. Oh and I am a size 4 and had to get a size 8 dress so don't stress over the size of the dress

My first experience was terrrrible too! I usually wear and 8 to a 10, recently more on the 10 side of things because of medication. So what is the first dress the consultant brought out? A size 6. Bridal.

So I felt like a cow because I couldn't get the damn thing on hardly, then I find out its basically a street size 2 /4. NO WONDER it wouldn't zip. Grrr.

Most women need to size up at least one, sometimes two. And, I have two dresses (reception and ceremony) they are two different sizes. They both fit.

So, yes, bridal sizing is totally random.

I certainly wasn't implying that size 14 is huge in general it just made me feel huge I should say because its 2 sizes bigger than I normally wear. I felt terrible about my body that I couldn't even attempt to get into certain dresses because I wouldn't fit almost making me feel like I'm not skinny enough for the pretty dresses or something. The whole experience from not being able to try on dresses I sought out, to having to try on dresses 2 and 3 sizes too big that still barely fit over my butt, made me feel less than excited about finding a dress...something I thought was going to be totally different. Not to mention the styles I like seemed to not be very flattering. I am going to wusah and go for it again in a couple weeks Everyone has definitely made me feel better, that other people can relate and had a happy ending

Most wedding dresses are made in European sizes I think and they run smaller. Usually 2 sizes is the average, don't feel fat, you're not fat. It may take you a few different places to find "the one" Just relax, sip on mimosas and enjoy the ride Lady! You're getting married and that's awesome!

*Makes a sad face and walks away slowly with her head down because she was proud of having lost enough weight to get down to a size 14W dress.*

@purplekitten I have a 14 dress and I wear a 10 in normal dresses......so why sad face? DO YOU THINK I'M FAT? LOL

I'm making a sad face because OP is like "OMG, I'm so fat! I take a dress size 14!" which is two sizes smaller than the size 14W that I was like "Yay! I can't believe I lost enough weight to get in to such a small size!"

Wedding dress sizes are mean, plain and simple. They tend to be at least 2 sizes bigger than what you normally wear, and some designers it is even more than that. The first place I went to it was like this, I was only able to "fit" into 2 dresses in their PLUS sized section where the samples were a bridal 16, so really more like a normal 12. I had to just hold them up in front of me, and it was very discouraging. I went to DB and they had stuff that fit, but I didn't find anything I loved. I ended up going to a plus size bridal store and everything not only fit but was too big (I'm a street size 20 btw). Don't worry about the number on the tag, worry about how you feel in the dress.

Pffffftttt....1st of all no sad face, you said you lost weight which is amazing....2nd who really gives a damn what someone else said? You will look absolutely beautiful, I know you will!

ETA:

Skinnier girls have weight problems too. Just because I think they look great it doesn't mean they like what they see in the mirror.

Yeah really don't worry about the number. I'm on the smaller side - usually a 2/4 in street clothes. My wedding dress is an 8, and it's a ballgown. I would have had to get a 12 in a mermaid style. So don't stress about how "big" the size seems!

Also, was it so drastically small in store that they couldn't even use clips so you could get an idea?

Anyways, I would try calling around to different boutique stores.

I'm glad you posted this! I was feeling really down after my first (and so far, only) visit to try on dresses. It helps to know and read that it wasn't magical for most of us on the first try.

I went to a shop that specialized in "plus size" dresses even though I'm a street size 12. The dresses fit and it flt nice to have them cinched in. It definitely saved me from the aggravation of not being able to fit into the dresses.