When do you get the bridesmaids dresses?

futuremrshp

Hi ladies---

I was curious.  I got my dress about 2 weeks ago (my wedding is late April of next year).  I have an idea of what dresses I'd like for the bridesmaids to wear -- should we get on top of that ASAP or do we have a few weeks to spare (Thanksgiving and all)?  I wanted to get them through the same bridal place I got my dress.  I wanted to hear from you all before I call up and ask the bridal place (they're a tiny bit pushy with all the fixings and stuff... so I want to be informed).  

Thank you! 

southernbelle0915

I think you can wait until after thanksgiving. Call the shop, tell them when your wedding is,et them know you're shopping for BM dresses and ask when you should make an appointment. They should be able to tell you when you go in how long it will take to get the dresses.

Of course if you go with something not as bridal, it doesn't take as long. My girls dot dresses from Ann Taylor and it took 1-2 weeks. Plus they didn't need to get them altered so that was a big plus.

artbyallie

futuremrshp said:

Hi ladies---

I was curious.  I got my dress about 2 weeks ago (my wedding is late April of next year).  I have an idea of what dresses I'd like for the bridesmaids to wear -- should we get on top of that ASAP or do we have a few weeks to spare (Thanksgiving and all)?  I wanted to get them through the same bridal place I got my dress.  I wanted to hear from you all before I call up and ask the bridal place (they're a tiny bit pushy with all the fixings and stuff... so I want to be informed).  

Thank you! 

Have you asked your bridesmaids individually and privately what their budget for a dress is? If that's all taken care of, I'd say the timing depends on how long it really takes for the dresses to come in (keeping in mind that some salespeople will lie to you to close the sale--David's Bridal typically only takes 2-3 weeks, for example). If you can, I would let them wait until after the holidays because people are often spending more money this time of year already.

annakay511

I think you should get on that ASAP. I am getting married July 25 and we are going next weekend to pick out bridesmaid dresses!

labro

annakay511 said:

I think you should get on that ASAP. I am getting married July 25 and we are going next weekend to pick out bridesmaid dresses!

I kind of agree with annakay DEPENDING on where you plan to get your dresses from. David's Bridal, or a "non-tradtional" store like Ann Taylor Loft, Nordstrom, Modcloth won't take very long (David's will tell you it will but honestly, they tend to have most color/sizes/styles in the store and even then it doesn't take more than a few weeks for a dress you order to arrive). If you're ordering from a bridal boutique then you may be approaching their deadline of when you need to order dresses by without having to put a rush on them. We ordered dresses for my mid-October wedding at the beginning of July and just barely came in under the boutiques deadline. They said they needed four months. The dresses all came in right near the end of September so it honestly wasn't too far off from their max estimate for how long the dresses would take. If you know everyone's budget I'd start shopping now so you don't have to pay any sort of rush fee.

lalapalooza2222

I am early sept and we ordered through my boutique last weekend. I didn't want my girls to feel rushed with alterations.

artbyallie

amandaelizabeth22 said:

I am early sept and we ordered through my boutique last weekend. I didn't want my girls to feel rushed with alterations.

While I certainly hope this ends up working out for you, it was way too soon. That's more than enough time for someone to end up (for example) very pregnant or just plain gain/lose a dress size or two.

pearlluo

Will the bridal place where you got your dress be on sale around Thansgiving?Maybe you can buy your bridesmaid dresses when it on discount!

atlastmrsg

About five months before because that's when the dress went on sale at Neiman Marcus.  

I didn't want bridesmaid-y dresses.  I went for designer LBD that could be worn again, and bought it for my one bridesmaid as a thank you for being in the wedding.  She's a very chic woman, so I couldn't see her in something tragic and satin from a bridal store.  She was really happy.  Moral of the story, and what PP said about Ann Taylor dresses--don't limit to bridal store.  You can probably find something prettier and easier to like outside of the bridal bubble.