The Truth About The Nation's First Plus-Size Designer Bridal Shop

Sisters Yukia and Yuneisia Walker are the co-founders of Curvaceous Couture, or CCBC, and their passion for their company comes from their own experiences as curvy women interested in high fashion. Yukia admits that she was "laughed out" of salons for requesting a size 16 wedding dress for herself. "Stores didn't have much bigger than a size 10 for me to try on," she tells Vows Magazine. Despite an unpleasant shopping experience, the unhappy bride-to-be ended up buying her dress from the department store chain Filene's Basement. Yukia remembers, "they were squeezing me into dresses, throwing dresses around my neck and asking if I liked them" (via NPR).

Nearly two years later, with unhappy dress shopping memories in her head and a slew of similar anecdotes from other curvy friends, Yukia called up Yuneisia. "I have an idea," she told her sister. "There's a Grand Canyon-sized gap in the marketplace, nothing compelling or couture for the plus-sized, curvy bride. We can do this."