I too am short, busty, and at the time I shopped for my wedding dress, at my heaviest due to PCOS. It was a rotten experience. I wasnt spending several grand on a dress either, so no "Say Yes to the dress" individual attention. 

Its great you are looking to alternatives to the traditional dress. You WILL find something you feel beautiful in.  If you were in the US, I'd say look at ModCloth.com (maybe they ship abroad?). Vintage inspired and lots of cute things.

Lindy Bop dresses seem to work with larger busts. Not sure where you're based though.

I'm glad you're going to be there for your friend. She's lucky to have a friend like you. 

My difficulties with wedding dress shopping weren't the same as yours (I'm not busty; I'm a pear), but finances were my biggest problem. I had multiple dreams about my frustration over finding a dress. I hope you find a happy resolution and end up with a dress you love. 

19 hours ago, WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo? said:

I'm glad you're going to be there for your friend. She's lucky to have a friend like you. 

My difficulties with wedding dress shopping weren't the same as yours (I'm not busty; I'm a pear), but finances were my biggest problem. I had multiple dreams about my frustration over finding a dress. I hope you find a happy resolution and end up with a dress you love. 

Thank you (:

I told her that I want to help her out however I can (like helping her with errands and babysitting). She's been such a good friend to me so I want to return the favour.

Thanks to everyone for your comments about dresses. It's a shame that it's hard for lots of people. I'm not looking for a traditional wedding dress so it's a bit tricky. I'm looking for something a bit like the bridesmaid's dresses the girls wore at Jinger's wedding in royal or peacock blue, but with a shorter skirt that flares out.

That sounds like it will be a very pretty dress! I love peacock blue and royal blue. (They both look pretty good on me, IMO.  I'm supposing they look great on you. )

My dress problems went on for a few weeks, then suddenly I found a shop with a dozen or so "model-worn" dresses for very reasonable prices. I tried them all and found 2 I really liked. I was so relieved I almost cried. The only other dress that had come close was a long sleeved one from the 70's (long sleeves would have been miserable on that hot day) and even it was ripped when we went back for a second look.

I'm hoping good things for you and your fiancé. The best things! 

2 hours ago, WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo? said:

That sounds like it will be a very pretty dress! I love peacock blue and royal blue. (They both look pretty good on me, IMO.  I'm supposing they look great on you. )

My dress problems went on for a few weeks, then suddenly I found a shop with a dozen or so "model-worn" dresses for very reasonable prices. I tried them all and found 2 I really liked. I was so relieved I almost cried. The only other dress that had come close was a long sleeved one from the 70's (long sleeves would have been miserable on that hot day) and even it was ripped when we went back for a second look.

I'm hoping good things for you and your fiancé. The best things! 

I hope it looks nice! I feel like those kinds of blues are my colour. I've told my fiance to get a dark charcoal suit so that should flatter whatever shade I wind up going with. I can imagine what a relief it must have been to find your dress. I'm hoping the one I ordered online will be high enough quality and close enough to my body size that I can take it to a dressmaker to do get a perfect fit and some alterations (it's a full skirt and I want one slightly below my knees). I found a really fun peacock blue pair of heels in the vintage store that I came so close to buying. I'm still considering going back for them, although they'd need to be altered to remove the elastic from the slingback. I have very small and very slender feet so they're a pain to find a fit for too.

If you don't love it I bet you could find someone in the US to ship you a dress... I've ordered stuff on Etsy from Australia before and shipping wasn't cheap but it wasn't totally insane. A tea-length dress is way under 4 lbs, I'd think.

ETA: I think this is darling- http://www.modcloth.com/shop/dresses/fleurs-truly-fit-and-flare-dress-in-teal-garden

ETA2: My aunt has extra-narrow feet. She's got inserts for some of her shoes to get them from narrow to extra (since she wears a 9.5 it's hard to find extra-narrow). Maybe you could do that?

4 hours ago, lawfulevil said:

If you don't love it I bet you could find someone in the US to ship you a dress... I've ordered stuff on Etsy from Australia before and shipping wasn't cheap but it wasn't totally insane. A tea-length dress is way under 4 lbs, I'd think.

ETA: I think this is darling- http://www.modcloth.com/shop/dresses/fleurs-truly-fit-and-flare-dress-in-teal-garden

 

ETA2: My aunt has extra-narrow feet. She's got inserts for some of her shoes to get them from narrow to extra (since she wears a 9.5 it's hard to find extra-narrow). Maybe you could do that?

That is a gorgeous dress! I'm looking for something with 3/4 length or full length lace sleeves, though. I might just wind up doing that, but I'd prefer to find something here if possible so I can try it on (even though I despise trying on clothes with a passion).

I can't believe I didn't think of the inserts - thank you! I'd still need them to be altered because with the elastic of the slingback there there's no way I could keep my foot inside the shoe even with inserts, but that's as east as snipping them out and gluing the seams for a shoe repair person. I really, really appreciate that suggestion!

ETA: I found my dress! Thank you for sending me to modcloth, I found this here and immediately knew it was the one for me, even if it's not blue. I'll get it tailored and hopefully it will be the dress of my dreams in person just as it is online. I'm forever indebted to you (:

I'll wear it with my peacock blue shoes if they're wearable! Definitely going for blue shoes.