Let's talk wedding dresses.

So I feel bad - I announced my engagement and then dropped off the face of the planet. Happy 2010 everyone by the way! The last few weeks I've been cameraless and ill, which is a blog killing combination apparently. All better now though, and hopefully I can borrow a camera to show off some spring outfits sometime soon (especially since it's kind of embarassing now that my last outfit post was me dressed as a viking).

In the mean time, I thought since I'm now a fat bride to be, I'd share some plus-size wedding dress knowledge. My wedding dress is bought now, but I don't really want to say too much about it yet in case my future husband looks here (I'm not really superstitious but I do want it to be a surprise).

First off, if you're a fat bride like me, the first thing you should do is READ THIS ARTICLE by Natalie over at axis of fat. It's the fat bride's survival guide and every piece of advice in it is solid gold. Natalie opted for a dress maker instead of a bridal store, and if you look at that amazing dress, you can see it was a choice well made.

But personally, that option wasn't right for me. I have an aversion to being measured by other women ever since I was 11 years old and my mum took me to be measured for a bra at marks and spencers and the woman tutted and grumbled that a young girl really shouldn't have a 40" chest (I would love to go back in time and slap that woman). When it came to my wedding dress, I wanted hassle-free! I wanted to order online and send it back if it was no good.

So with that in mind, I'd like to show you some of the places you can order plus-size wedding dresses online. These were the top contenders when it came to buying my wedding dress.

PLUS-SIZE HASSLE FREE DRESS OPTIONS:
(all of these stores ship worldwide)
Honeypie Boutique
I'm a huge fan of 1950s tea dresses and the UK-based honeypie boutique specializes in just those. Their dresses go up to a size 24 and come in a variety of colours. They also carry all sorts of vintage accessories and petticoats to complete that retro-themed look. There is not a dress on that website that I haven't drooled over.

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Dolly Couture
These guys really only dip their toes in the plus sizes. Their top size is an 18, but a generous one; the measurements for that are a 46" bust and a 40" waist. Heck, I've got a couple UK22 size dress with those measurements! So it's not a fully-fledged plus-size option, but their designs are just breath-taking and that earns them a spot on my list.

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Zaftique
What struck me about Zaftique was how most of their dresses have sleeves. Almost everywhere I looked, plus-sized and straight-sized, the majority of dresses were strapless. I've talked before on this blog about my insecurity about my arms, and I know I'm not alone in the bingo-wing department. Now, while I'm definitely not saying we fat girls should hide our arms - it's kind of nice to have the option to if our confidence isn't quite there yet. (That said, I've ended up going strapless myself)

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Igigi
Igigi only have 7 dresses to choose from, but in a good range of different styles. Zaftique and Igigi both get bonus points from me for catering just to plus-sizes. Taking a design for smaller sizes and just making it bigger is never going to fit as well as a dress designed specifically for a larger body.

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DB Woman
Any American readers probably know more about Davids Bridal than I did before I was pushed in their direction by one of my bridesmaids. They're a massive chain with stores all over the place and they sell clothes for the whole bridal party, not just the bride. Their plus-size section, "DB Woman" may have a cringe-worthy name and the site might use the word "flattery" too much for my liking, but it's also got a huuuuuuuge selection, so I can't really complain.

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Finally, if you ever need inspiration from looking at fellow fat ladies being radiant brides, check out the flickr group: Here come the fat brides. You need to prove you're not a hater to join, but it's worth it!

So there's my report on plus-size wedding dresses.
I promise I'll show you my dress after the day!