Best Breasts Forward ~ Happy Anniversary to Me: the Wedding Gown Edition

It will be my 12 year wedding anniversary on the 24th, and I just realized that I never talked about my wedding dress adventures as a big-busted woman. One thing I must admit is that having a seamstress as a grandma left me with a $100,000 taste and a $2000 budget. Being that I was planning a Michigan wedding all the way from NYC, I ended up doing most of my purchasing online.

My now husband is a bit of a fashionisto (yeah, I just made that word up!), so I knew for him to be happy with my wedding gown I’d have to have his input. I was too old fashioned to have him actually shop for a dress with me, so I bought a bazillion wedding magazines. He loved one dress the most. A Reem Acra with a bust that was completely UNflattering to my large bust. The strange thing was that, besides the bust, it was my dream gown.

(I spent the last week scouring the internet for the original photo of my gown from the bridal magazines, but I couldn’t find one.)

I had to have that dress–or at least the parts of it we loved the most. The gown was a gorgeous, rich satin, dropped waist, a sheer back embellished with beading that reminded me of Middle Eastern royalty and the back of the A line skirt flowed into layer after layer of bustling.  I searched for weeks for a gown that was similar in fabric and shape to the gown we’d fallen in love with, but it was so unique at that time that I was having no luck. I happened upon a small website that sold sample gowns and would check it from time to time. One morning, I looked up and there it was! The Reem Acra gown was on the sample site, in my size, like new condition for $1500!!!!!! I snatched it up and it was in my hands a week later.

I knew when I bought the gown the things I needed to change and thankfully my grandma is a miracle seamstress because she made my dream dress a reality. Being large-busted, the high neckline made my neck look shorter and squished my girls in a strange way. I wanted solid straps in the front with the sheer, beaded overlay removed. Of course I didn’t stop there. Who could NOT make use of such stunning beading? I wanted the beading moved to the bust of the gown so that the front of the dress wouldn’t be completely plain.

Oh, and did I mention this conversation took place a week before my wedding and that she hadn’t even seen a photo of the gown?

Looking back, I am quite sure that most seamstresses would have rolled their eyes at me and said “keep dreaming sister,” but not my grandma. As her first granddaughter to get married, she was going to give me what I wanted even if it meant hours of painstakingly cutting out beadwork.

I ordered a longline strapless bra to wear with my petticoat.  Of course, the bra did not fit properly.  I was still wearing the wrong size at the time and if my memory is correct ordered a 34DDD.  Looking back on it, I was probably a 32G.

The bra did not cover my boobs properly or sit up as high as in the front as I would’ve liked but because my dress fit so well, it wasn’t that much of a problem. Once I put on my gown I didn’t think about my breasts falling out.  My grandmother, in her wisdom, had also added a sheer poof of fabric to serve as a modesty panel of sorts just in case the girls tried to steal the show with an impromptu appearance.

I know how lucky I was when it came to my wedding gown.  I wanted a gown that was a show stopper from the back, A line, stunning fabric, at least an inch wide straps that would show off my bustling without being offensive.  I was lucky to find a dress I knew my husband would love.  I was lucky to find it on line for less than half price.  I was lucky to have my grandma, who gave me the gown of my dreams and then some!