I will also be doing more Budget Bridal posts. You can see previous posts HERE
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January 2015. The marriage was at my church (St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church in Canton), and the reception at the Cardiff Cricket Stadium in Bute Park
Elaine & Simon
Cardiff
Where did you meet your Bride/Groom?
Internet dating! We met via plentyoffish
Internet dating! We met via plentyoffish
When did you get married and where?
January 2015. The marriage was at my church (St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church in Canton), and the reception at the Cardiff Cricket Stadium in Bute Park
What dress/suit size were you when you got married? (only answer if you want to)
28/30
28/30
What was your experience of finding a dress/suit?
Finding a wedding dress was the one and only time I have felt nervous about shopping! I decided against going to ordinary wedding shops, as I really wanted to actually try on dresses. So I went to Tia-Mae Bridal Boutique in Barry, who specialise in plus size brides. This was a great starting point, as I got to try on a variety of dresses in my size, and have a really body positive shopping experience. I didn’t end up buying a dress here, but it gave me confidence to keep looking!
I was concerned about spending a lot on a dress, as I planned to give it away after the wedding and felt silly spending a lot. Luckily one of my bridesmaids found the Wedding Dress Factory Outlet in Hinkley (near my home town of Coventry), who have a random selection of end of line dresses in all sizes on sale, plus their own low cost line of plus size dresses. It was here that I found the ideal dress – it looked great and only cost £450. I also got my petticoat, veil, tiara and an evening dress here and the total cost was just £800. Even better, the dress fitted me so exactly (I’m 6 ft) that I didn’t need to get any adjustments made.
Overall finding a dress was a daunting thought, but ended up being a positive and surprisingly enjoyable experience. It was much easier than finding a suitable dress for my five bridesmaids, who ranged from 5ft to 5ft11 and size 8 to size 26! I recently gave my wedding dress to a Cancer Research bridal boutique, so another plus size babe gets the chance to enjoy it like I did.
Describe your day.
Myself and Simon both have big families, so the wedding was a big joyful affair. We had about 160 guests, and a big Catholic ceremony followed by dinner and dancing. We had a “no speeches” rule, though my dad did say a few words (mainly to thank my mum who was basically my fantastic wedding planner). It was lovely to spend time with all our friends and family, though I spent most of the night on the dancefloor, as I had picked all the music myself! Our first dance was “Ever fallen in love (with someone you shouldn’t’ve)” by the Buzzcocks, as we decided we would only do a first dance if the song choice would make everyone laugh.
I tried to be as casual as possible adding our own touches, whilst having a big wedding – I wore my old cowboy boots with my dress, and we used my tiny car instead of paying for a fancy one. We did go big on the cake though – which featured my favourite insect as the bride (I work in ecology) and Simon’s favourite Pokemon as the groom!
One of my favourite moments was leaving the church, as I had secretly arranged for our exit music to be the Star Wars theme tune (my husband is a big geek, if you haven’t already guessed). It took everyone a few moments to realise what the music was!
Anything else you want to add.
Our photographer was excellent, we spent a long time finding
someone who was able to cope with a very large wedding party, and Xpect
Photography was a perfect fit. http://www.xpectphotography.com/
