As proud sponsors of the Fuller Woman Expo, we were blown away by the amount of amazing people we had the chance to brush shoulders with throughout the weekend. Despite the expo being over, we still feel a sense of inspiration and positivity that we just can’t seem to shake – and we love it!

It was a unique experience to be immersed in an environment full of powerful and inspiring women that had dedicated their lives to making a difference in their communities. With so many different personalities packed into one room, what amazed us the most was the unsaid unifying theme that lingered in the air – they were all there for the sole purpose of supporting one another. It was this sense of community that resonated with us the most and what left us with an unshakable feeling of positive vibes.

No BS Boat Cruise

We kicked off the weekend with the No BS (Body Shame) Boat Cruise on Friday evening, hosted by the amazing Whitney Way Thore from TLC’s hit show “My Big Fat Fabulous Life.” The night featured dancing, speeches, food, fun and so much more, and we had such a fabulous time throughout the night.

Find out what happened at the Fuller Woman Expo on the Henkaa blog!

Some of the speeches given by featured guests were hilarious, and some were touching, and all of them truly blew the crowd away. Hearing these women discuss why we should love ourselves and why we should be happy with our body was an eye-opening experience that left us with a whole new perspective on the way we see what body positivity truly means.

Talent Show + Miss Fuller Woman Competition

 

The second day featured a talent show and the highly anticipated Miss Fuller Competition! We were so excited to see the opening number with all of the contestants looking fabulous in our Magenta Purple Sakura Midi Dress. They started the show off with a dance number to Beyonce’s song “Formation” and we just have to say, they killed it!

 

After the opening number came the talent show where contestants had a chance to flaunt what they got and show off their most impressive traits. There was singing, laughing, dancing, and most importantly support among each other to do the best they could. The ladies did such a great job with all of their acts that we couldn’t even imagine what is what like for the judges to decide which one of these talented ladies was going to take home the gold!

During the talent show, there was a question and answer segment where each contestant had to speak about the topic given to them by the host. Their answers were so inspiring since all of the contestants focused on how important it is to be confident and love your body.

We adored Fallon Lawrence’s answer to her question, what do you hope for younger generations? “Young girls need to know you don’t need to show your body to feel beautiful,” Fallon said. “You can be beautiful while being covered up. Make sure that guys don’t want you for just your body.”

 

Jewelz, our new Henkaa Brand Ambassador, also gave a great answer to her question, what would you say the biggest surprise people see with those that are plus size and why? Jewelz explained that being confident is what surprises people the most about the plus size community. “As a fat girl, people assume you don’t have confidence and that you should hate yourself. When they see us loving who we are and what we look like, it really surprises them.” Well said, Jewelz! Make sure to follow Jewelz Journey on Instagram for tons of fun and inspiring content.

 

From the first time I wore my @henkaa royal blue Blume Convertible Dress as a pantsuit, I knew I would be rocking it the same way to @thefullerwomanexpo . I am so happy I did because so many people were raving about how versatile it was, and I felt oh so fly, and with these amazing braids by @ch0913ex to top it all off, made this outfit perfect. This is NO DOUBT my favorite article of clothing in my wardrobe, thanks @henkaa for producing comfy, stylish, versatile clothes. #bigandblunt #fatshion #fashionforwardplus #nobs #torontostyle #torontofashion #effyourbeautystandards #plussizeblogger #plussizemodel #honormycurves #sorryimnotsorry #bopo #beautyisnotgeneric #celebratemysize #bigarmnoharm #jumpers #pantsuit #henkaa #alternativecurves #pizzasisters4lyfe #allbodiesaregoodbodies #bodypositive #plussize #plusfashion #plussizefashion #imnoangel #plussizemeplz #girlswithcurves #sexyandiknowit #plusisequal

A photo posted by Jewelz M (@jewelzjourney) on

At the end of the show, Andrea Gal was given the award for Best Talent! We were totally blown away by Andrea’s performance where she sang her own version of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love” while playing along on the piano! Make sure to check out the snippet of her performance below. Congrats Andrea!

 

Wrapping up the Miss Fuller Competition, Vanessa Nash-Gale was awarded Miss Fuller Woman 2016 and got to wear the beautiful crystal crown made by Crystal Countess! Vanessa performed a dance for the talent show and also gave us some great advice during her Q and A segment! “Women need to be more spontaneous” she said, “we spend too much time in our heads, we need to be more in the moment!”

Amen to that. Congratulations Vanessa!

 

Also, a very big congratulations to Alexandra Giovenco for winning Miss Congeniality! We were fortunate enough to work closely with Alex throughout the weekend and she was such a peach! All of the girls were so amazing and welcoming, the energy was contagious.

 

The Fuller Woman Health & Beauty Expo

 

On Sunday we closed off the weekend with the Miss Fuller Health and Beauty Expo which included a fashion show where we featured our hottest looks for the summer. The Miss Fuller contestants strut their stuff down the runway and made our dresses look FAB-U-LOUS! Things definitely got hot, hot, HOT in there!

Congratulations to all of the Miss Fuller contestants once again. It took so much to share their message of inspiration and we are so thankful to have been a part of the Miss Fuller experience. Whitney did a fabulous job at bringing the community together and looked beautiful in our Turquoise Teal Sakura Midi Dress which she rocked down the fashion runway! She really kept all of us going for the whole weekend with her amazing energy, it was a treat to get to know her.

 


Photographed by Rebecca Northcott Photography

Were you at the Miss Fuller Woman Expo? What was your favorite part of the weekend? Tell us in the comments below, we’d love to hear from you!