Plus Size Bride Tania Jennings Spent Over 1000 Hours Crocheting Her Dream Wedding Dress
We hear the stories and see them on all of the wedding TV shows: Women who are willing to do anything, travel any distance, and pay any amount for their dream wedding dress. A plus size crocheted wedding dress is going viral for taking that to the extreme. Tania Jennings from Chesham, England spent over 1000 hours creating the 150 pieces for her unique, offbeat wedding gown.
Using various shades of purples and white, the pieces making up the overlay and train took Jennings seven months to create — including the last few hours before the wedding. “The photographer asked me, ‘Tania, do you think you might actually finish the dress today?’” she told WHAS-11. “I just laughed and said, ‘Yes, I will finish at three o’clock.’ They asked how I knew and I just said, ‘Look, that’s when I have to get my hair and makeup done so I can go marry my best friend.’”
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The various pieces of the dress took between two and 80 hours to complete, depending on the size. Jennings said she has been crocheting since she was three years old, but she had never crocheted lace before — which posed some challenges and made her question her decision. “There were a lot of tears along the way as I tried to learn new techniques, ripped out pieces that just weren’t working right, and tried to envision what it was going to look like,” she said.
The final result not only allowed this bride to wear something uniquely suited to her tastes and needs, but it also celebrated her family and the people in attendance. Jennings said that she added different little pieces that were meaningful to people in her life like “an elephant for my younger daughter Bridgette, a tulip for my daughter Gabby, my husband wanted a martini glass on the dress, a friend of my daughter’s requested a giraffe, another a turtle, and so on… It became a bit of a game at the reception for everyone to find ‘their’ piece.”
While dress choices are overwhelming for most, plus size women can have a harder time finding a gown due to the diminished selection over a bridal size 14. Never mind that bridal sizes typically run two to three sizes smaller than standard sizing! The majority of gowns at your average shop, and even more size inclusive wedding retailers like David’s, are going to be for a size 14 or under. It’s hard out there for a plus size bride!
Whether Jennings struggled to find something that she felt suited her perfectly or whether she was just choosing to opt out of a mountain of ivory taffeta and “bling,” her customized dress is pretty perfect. Although it’s not for every bride, it seems so fitting that Jennings chose to create something that was meaningful to her, her family, and that she connected with so deeply over a course of seven months. On a day about celebrating love, commitment, and family, there couldn’t be another dress more perfect.
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