Wedding dress

Try on a bunch of different silhouettes and styles, even the ones you thought you might not like...it may surprise you

Depending on your "assets", some styles/dresses will provide more support than others. My daughter has fairly significant "assets," so she decided against a strapless dress (didn't want to be worried about needing to hike her dress up all night). She found a beautiful a-line dress with thin jeweled straps that were mostly decorative; however, the bodice of her dress had significant built in "structure" -- including stays, well structured cups, etc. A well-fitted dress can/should provide support needed. During alterations, it became clear daughter needed TWO sets of padded cups sewn into the dress's structure. Given her "natural assets," the last thing she thought she might need was additional padding, but once the cups were sewn in perfectly, the dress fit her life a glove and she was "locked and loaded" all night. Work with your bridal salon sales consultant and their in-house alterations staff to find a dress that works perfectly for you. Realize that most any dress can be altered to work, but some styles and designs will be better suited and easier to adjust. Good luck!

I understand the struggle! I love the shape of corset-type dresses and a strapless, but being a triple D... it's rough.

Luckily, there are a ton of designers nowadays that create dresses with detachable straps. My dress is quite fitted and I'm doing the strapless look for the ceremony, then adding straps for the reception/dancing so I'm not hiking the dress up all night (been there so many times, it'd such an annoying hassle).

If you're not into a sleeved dress, I'd highly recommend looking for a designer that does removable-strap dresses!

View Quoted Comment Thank you for explaining that so well in detail. My biggest fear is falling out of my dress, or finding one that wont fit my chest. Having 2 daughters, my chest has definitely grown and I feel quite ignorant when it comes to different styles or what is available for me.

View Quoted Comment Yes! My biggest fear is falling out of my dress and exposing myself to everyone! Thank you for letting me know as I start my search soon.

Try everything on. Call ahead and ask if the shops carry larger sizes.

View Quoted Comment Ok, thank you!

I am on the larger side too and didn't want to worry about having to hoik the dress up, so I chose a strapped dress. That said, go in with an open mind and try many things!

I think if you have a sufficiently structured/boned corset style top, you could definitely wear a strapless, and the right alterations person or bridal consultant is going to be able to make recommendations to accommodate your bust.

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If you tend to be more comfortable wearing a supportive bra, let your salon consultant know that and she can help you find dresses with straps and bodice designs that will allow you do to so. That was daughter's original plan, but it turned out that a dress with a lot of structure was enough that she didn't even need to wear any bra. (She never expected to be able to go braless, but with the right dress it was perfect!) Good luck and have fun trying dresses on!

View Quoted Comment Oh that's an option? That's great to know too, thank you.

View Quoted Comment So you understand me! I would like to try strapless, but in the past it has never worked out well.

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Oh, totally! I was also very worried about it being too low in the front - often at a wedding when you are walking around you are leaning over a table, and I really didn't want to give people an eyeful! If the dress is sufficiently tailored to your figure and has the right boning and padding, it should offer enough support, but if it's going to make you anxious on the day you don't have to do it! There are plenty of lovely dresses with straps and sleeves! And, apparently it is very common for brides to lose weight between the final fitting and the day due to stress - which is fine if it's a corset back as you can just yank it in a little more, but you can't do that with a strapless zip up.

View Quoted Comment Oh ok, thank you!

Your bridal stylist will help you! I would stay to generally stay away from those illusion tops/backs because they don’t have support and it can’t be built in. Strapless is great support and you can have sleeves built on if you wish.

I have very large assets and I was so surprised at the support inside some of the dresses I tried on. I went in with a strapless bra on but by the time I found my dress I didn't even need it! Definitely look for boning and support in the bodice of the dress. And try different things on! Talk to the people who do alterations as well... They are magical!

Your seamstress will be your best friend! I bought off the rack, so I had to pick a dress that was a couple sizes too big in order to accommodate the "girls". My seamstress was able to take the dress in, as well as sew in a corset for extra support! Now I feel comfortable dancing all night without worry that I'll be falling out of the dress!

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Yes, definitely line up a good seamstress or make sure you buy from a salon that has good reviews for their in-house alterations (I think I've heard sometimes there is a big markup associated with doing this in-house at a bridal salon, but in my case I'm doing it because I really trust the shop, they have a great reputation and I'm willing to pay for that). I know a few people who've had extra support sewn into their dresses with great results (in fact I'm planning to see if someone can do it for some of my low cut summer dresses that are a pain to wear a strapless bra with!). I'm on the chesty side too so I picked a dress with straps (V neck) and a lot of structure already built into the bust. I may not need anything else beyond that, but I am definitely keeping the sewn-in bra option in mind in case I do feel unsupported after we start fittings. I never ever go braless, I need something holding these ladies up. :-)

I've got a small frame and a large natural chest. When i went to try dresses on I knew I wanted straps on my dress but also know straps could be added to almost any dress. So definitely try on all dress styles and if you end up finding "the dress" that happens to be strapless most salons have straps you can try. My dress is strapless I liked it, but wasn't "the dress" until the salon assistant added straps. . and instant tears!!

Good luck finding "the dress"

View Quoted Comment Good to know, thank you!