Women come in different size and shaped bodies and so we built the shop accordingly.
That shouldn't be a controversial statement. And yet, for far too many women, shopping for a wedding dress has historically made them feel as though their body is somehow the problem.
At South Coast Brides, we refuse to be part of that.
From the beginning, we have been determined to create a bridal store where women of all sizes can walk through the door feeling welcome, excited and deserving of the full bridal experience.
Not embarrassed.
Not apologetic.
Not anxious about whether anything will fit.
And definitely not made to feel like shit about their body.
We banned "just imagine it in your size"
There is a phrase that has been used in bridal stores for years:
"Just imagine it in your size."
We hate it.
Because trying on a wedding dress isn't supposed to be an exercise in imagination.
A bride shouldn't have to stand in front of a mirror with a gown pinned, clipped or held against her body while someone asks her to imagine what it might look like if the store actually stocked something that fitted her.
So we made a very simple decision.
We bought the sizes.
Lots of them.
We invested in a genuinely broad size range because inclusivity means very little if it only exists in your advertising.
It needs to exist on the racks.
Your body isn't an inconvenience
Bodies are different.
Women have boobs, hips, tummies, thighs, broad shoulders, narrow shoulders, long torsos, short torsos, curves and no curves.
Some women are a size 6. Some are a size 16. Some are a size 26.
None of those women is more deserving of a beautiful wedding dress than another.
And none should receive a lesser experience because of the number written on a clothing label.
We don't believe a woman should have to lose weight before she's "allowed" to enjoy wedding dress shopping.
We don't believe she should be relegated to three dresses at the back of the shop.
And we don't believe she should spend her appointment being reminded of her size.
We want this to feel like a safe space for women
Wedding dress shopping can make even incredibly confident women feel vulnerable.
You're standing in a change room in your underwear with someone you've only just met. You're trying on one of the most emotionally significant outfits you'll ever buy. You may have family and friends watching. And you're looking at your body from every possible angle.
We understand the responsibility that comes with that.
Our job isn't simply to sell you a dress.
It's to protect your confidence while we help you find one.
That means treating your body with respect. It means choosing gowns that make you feel incredible. It means listening to what you like about yourself rather than immediately pointing out what you might want to hide.
And it means creating an environment where you don't have to brace yourself before you walk through the door.
Plus-size friendly isn't a marketing category to us
We don't particularly love the idea that a bride above a certain clothing size suddenly becomes a different category of woman.
She's just a bride.
That's why our goal has never been to create a little "plus-size section" and congratulate ourselves on being inclusive.
We want different silhouettes, designers, fabrics, price points and styles represented across our size range.
Because a size 24 bride can be romantic, minimalist, sexy, traditional, fashion-forward, bohemian or completely undecided - exactly like a size 10 bride.
Your dress size doesn't determine your style.
Representation matters too
Having the sizes on our racks is only part of the picture.
Over the years, we've also advocated with our designers for greater representation of plus-size women in their campaign imagery.
Because women deserve to see themselves reflected in bridal marketing.
It's difficult to tell a bride that a gown will look incredible on her curves when every photograph she's ever seen of that gown is on the same very slim body type.
We want our designers to show their gowns on different bodies. We want brides scrolling through our website or social media to see beautiful women with bodies that look like theirs.
And we want the bridal industry as a whole to understand that representation isn't simply about making people feel included - although that matters enormously.
It helps women actually visualise themselves as the bride.
When a designer photographs a gown on a plus-size model, a bride doesn't have to wonder, "But what would that look like on someone like me?"
She can see it.
We have asked for that representation, encouraged it and advocated for it with the brands we work with because we believe the responsibility for making bridal more inclusive extends beyond the four walls of our store.
The women buying these gowns are diverse.
The women selling them in campaigns should be too.
You deserve to be excited
Perhaps this is the part we care about most.
Nobody should arrive at their wedding dress appointment already worried that they won't fit into anything.
You should be thinking about dresses.
About your wedding.
About whether you're going to fall in love with something completely different from what you expected.
About how exciting it is that you're getting married.
So yes, we have deliberately invested in carrying gowns across a broad range of sizes.
It costs us more. It takes more stock. It requires more thought when we're buying collections.
And we will keep doing it.
Because women come in all shapes and sizes.
Because we refuse to discriminate between them.
And because every woman who walks through our doors deserves exactly the same thing:
To feel welcome.
To feel safe.
To feel beautiful.
And to be excited to find her wedding dress.
That's what bridal shopping should feel like.
