Wow wow wow!! That’s all I can say about the experience I had at Astra Bridal Wellington. I took my two sisters with me and this was the first bridal shop we went to. We had plans to see more that week as well. The Astra Bridal receptionist/assistant had brought over bubbles and nibbles for my guests to enjoy, which was lovely!

I had an appointment with the lovely Kryslin who ushered us to where I would be trying on dresses. We talked about my wedding day, what look I was envisioning, what patterns, length, fabrics I was drawn to. We went through the different dresses and I picked out what I thought would look good on me. I was desperately trying to avoid the more tight fitting dresses because I wasn’t feeling the most confident that day.

Kryslin listened, she gave her opinions, she mentioned what was in trend, what looks the different designers did and what she thought would suit me. I picked my choices and then Kryslin decided to pick two dresses she suggested I try on. I panicked because they were both more on the figure hugging side. I tried my choices first, I liked them but my sisters and I weren’t blown away.

Towards the end, it was only Kryslin’s choices left. I was so nervous to try them on. But wow!! Now I know why she’s the specialist and not me haha. My sisters and I instantly fell in love with the dress, it hugged in all the right places. It felt luxe and I felt so beautiful. I said YES to the dress that same day. Kryslin was an absolute gem!! She listened, was patient and made me feel super confident on the day. I can’t thank her enough, she’s an asset to Astra Bridal. Your entire team are a delight to deal with <3

Had a great experience at Astra Bridal picking my wedding dress! Lisa was amazing, and I had an idea of what I wanted, but I ended up picking a dress I fell in love with that she got me to try on. They have a lot of knowledge about the different gowns and are so good with recommendations.

The whole experience was super pleasant, and I was able to bring my close friends along to experience it with me! Mimosas and snacks were provided, which is also a plus. I was able to try the beautiful veils on with the dress to see the different looks too.

They were also able to provide recommendations for different tailors and dry cleaners. All in all, thank you so much! I said yes to the dress at Astra Bridal :)

Lisa at Astra is wonderful! I was dreading wedding dress shopping as a plus size bride, and I was right to be. My experiences at some other places weren’t great (i.e., they said they were inclusive but in reality only had one or two plus-size options in store, and a very optimistic idea of what stretch clips could do). I looked high and low in multiple cities and struggled to find something that I liked and that suited me.

I visited Astra three times before finding a dress I loved, and Lisa was my consultant the second and third time. She was amazing, extremely skilled at understanding fabric and silhouette, and able to quickly grasp what I was saying in terms of style and tone. She also never once said, “hmmm, bad idea,” if I wanted to try a silhouette plus size brides don’t usually wear. She was very body neutral, which I appreciated.

Lisa was awesome, and I will rave for ages about her expertise. By the end of my second visit with her, I would have tried on a paper bag if she told me to, because no doubt she would have found just the right paper bag, and it would have looked cute as heck. I am very excited for my (non paper bag) dress to arrive.