Wideband designs of proximity fed regular shape microstrip antennas using bow-tie and H-shape ground plane profiles are proposed in the 1000 MHz frequency range. The modified ground plane alters the quality factor of the patch cavity which enhances the impedance bandwidth. In terms of the results obtained for the bandwidth and gain together, circular and square patches backed by bow-tie shape ground plane, followed by circular patch backed by H-shape ground plane yield optimum results. For substrate thickness of 0.097λ g , against the conventional ground plane, bow-tie shape gives 12% and 24% bandwidth increment for the circular and square patches, respectively, and H-shape ground plane yields bandwidth increment by 17% in the circular patch. All these wideband designs offer a peak gain around 6 dBi with a broadside radiation pattern. Further, a modified ground plane profile helps in optimizing the proximity fed antennas on lower substrate thicknesses. Amongst all the configurations, for ∼ 0.03λ g reduction in the substrate thickness, square microstrip antenna using bow-tie shape ground plane yields 19% increase in the impedance bandwidth against the equivalent thicker substrate design with a peak broadside gain of above 6 dBi. Thus, the proposed modified ground plane antennas yield bandwidth improvement but for a smaller substrate thickness.