Plus-Size Wedding Dresses: How to Shop for the Best Styles

I was frustrated enough by it that I paused my dress ­hunting for a hot second to do a little more research, and I found that the whole surcharge thing didn’t sit well with Stone Fox Bride co-founder and creative director Molly Guy, either. “It’s really outrageous,” she says. “A dress is a dress is a dress.” With her unconventional, bohemian designs, Guy is a leader in the indie bridal scene. Still, her company is small and independent, and early on, she struggled with the logistics of serving plus-size ­clientele. “I had to apologetically explain a lot, ‘I’m so sorry, our samples are in a size 6,’ ” she says. “If I felt comfortable, I would throw in the caveat ‘because we’re a start-up.’ ” Producing a new collection complete with bigger samples wasn’t financially feasible, but after three years, tired of making “these anemic excuses,” she reached out to plus-size label Eloquii. Collaborating with them, she created a collection of her designs up to size 24—no surcharges in sight.

Some more traditional wedding brands are following suit, like designer Anne Barge, who recently debuted her Curve Couture line. Like Guy, she’d always made plus dresses; “we just didn’t have a name for it,” she says. But openly marketing to plus-size shoppers is important. When designers make one-time-only plus collections, it can sometimes feel patronizing: Here you go, four pieces you can buy! For a limited time! You’re welcome! Campaigns like Curve Couture send the signal that plus-size brides will be able to not just buy dresses but also browse, try on, and zip the damn things up.

In the end, how did I find my dress? I considered a custom gown. At The Cotton Bride (thecottonbride.com) I could tweak one of their existing designs to suit my taste—raise a neckline, drop a waist, swap a tulle skirt for chiffon—or create a whole new design with them completely from scratch. The service was great, but I found it difficult to visualize the final product. (You can also try custom places like Grace Bridal Couture in Los Angeles, Mignonette Bridal in Chicago, or KMKDesigns in St. Paul, Minnesota.)

Then I stepped into Schone Bride (schonebride.com) by Rebecca Schoneveld (rebeccaschoneveld.com). The samples were mostly 6s and 10s, but the brand’s plus-sizes debut this spring, with size 18 and 22 samples in its Brooklyn boutique. If you're not in New York, Schoneveld’s designs are carried at boutiques across the country, including The Senti­mentalist in Atlanta, Detroit Bridal House in Detroit, and A & Bé Bridal Shop in Denver. All her dresses could be made in my size and were customizable—I could add sleeves or swap one skirt for another.