Dreading dress shopping

Let me preface this by saying that I love to shop. One of the hardest parts of saving for the wedding is cutting down on shopping. But I'm really procrastinating on my dress shopping at the moment as it is completely depressing trying to squeeze into the sample sizes to *try* and visualise what the dress would look like if it actually fit.

I'm shopping for my dress in Australia where the average size of a sample dress seems to be an 8 (I'm a 12 - 14) and I'm just wondering if its the same in the US or not? I really want to get my dress here but I'm starting to think that I should have tried some on in the US so at least I could see what different styles looked like.

I'm a 10-12, and the samples I was trying on were all size 14. Some were huge on me, where other 14s fit nicely. The place I went shopping they had up through size 20 on the racks to try on.

yeah - im chunky at size 14 and only 5' tall... alot of the dresses i tried on were a 6 or 8 and so embarrassing but the lady had to use clips in the back (gag!!) but some of them were also larger...

i was about a size 10-12 when i started shopping and the dresses samples were about 8. some fit and others not so. the designers don't really have the same exact measurements as others, which is why some dresses will fit and others won't.

don't stress too much over it. hopefully the sales reps know what they are dong and will work with you so that you can visualize what the dress looks like one. you don't have to settle on just one shop too. look around for more.. some shops carry other sizes to try on.. you never know until you start looking.

no matter what, you have total control this decision. and you will look amazing in whatever dress you purchase in australia or in the US!

will you be able to come back to the US to look for some dresses though?

Thanks girls. This makes me feel somewhat better as I was felt like I was the only one having to try on dresses 2-3 sizes too small. I'll probably have already ordered my dress before I go to the states next time but I'm starting to feel a bit better about the process now that I've found at least one dress I like (and nearly fit)..