Saying Yes to the Dress

dreamsinpink

So I have been reading all these timelines in bridal magazines (if you have an anxious personality I suggest you do not look at them) and have been surprised to find that most say to order your dress 9 months before the wedding... We are planning an April 2016 wedding, so we have a bit of time. My question is, realistically, what is the timeline of ordering a dress?? I tried on dresses for the first time this past Saturday just to see what I am leaning towards, but won't have time to try on again for another month. Of course, I am doing the whole "I can lose 10 pounds before I buy my dress!" and sadly, do not want to purchase one until I have toned up a bit.

I am really worried that if I buy it this far in advance (roughly 10 months, I think is a long time apparently its not in wedding world), when we get closer to the wedding date I will end up hating it. A nightmare I had the night after I tried on dresses. So again, when did everyone purchase their dresses?

Maggie0829

dreamsinpink said:

So I have been reading all these timelines in bridal magazines (if you have an anxious personality I suggest you do not look at them) and have been surprised to find that most say to order your dress 9 months before the wedding... We are planning an April 2016 wedding, so we have a bit of time. My question is, realistically, what is the timeline of ordering a dress?? I tried on dresses for the first time this past Saturday just to see what I am leaning towards, but won't have time to try on again for another month. Of course, I am doing the whole "I can lose 10 pounds before I buy my dress!" and sadly, do not want to purchase one until I have toned up a bit.

I am really worried that if I buy it this far in advance (roughly 10 months, I think is a long time apparently its not in wedding world), when we get closer to the wedding date I will end up hating it. A nightmare I had the night after I tried on dresses. So again, when did everyone purchase their dresses?

You should buy a dress that fits you now, not wait to see if you lose weight.  Dresses can be altered, but to hold off buying a dress just because you want to lose 10 pounds could result in you having a much more limited selection then you would want.

And typically designer dresses can take anywhere from 6-12 months to come in (all depends on the designer).  And you want to leave enough time for alterations, which is usually started about 1.5 months prior to your wedding.

The best thing to do is to ask the bridal salons how long certain designers take to come in.  But yeah, you should be looking and buying soon.  A lot of brides have the fear that if they buy a dress now they may hate it when it gets closer.  But when you buy a dress you have to make sure that you love it.  That you have no doubts and that you are buying it because it is what you want and not what anyone else wants.  Also, after you buy you stop looking at other dresses. There are thousands of dresses to choose from.  You can easily love many dresses, but in the end you have to pick one that you will be happy with.  If you fell pretty in it and are happy in it then that is your dress.

As for me, I bought my dress at the end of September and it came in, ahead of schedule, in February.  So about 5 months.

lovemesomemonster

I agree with the PP, talk to the places about the timeline for getting particular dresses in. The dress I bought has a timeline of 6 months, could be earlier, could be later but I'm looking at around 6 months. You can get some earlier but then you run into the possibility that you fall in love with something that takes longer and it's not an option.

Also, don't fall into the idea that you have to have some kind of amazing reaction to a dress. When I found mine it was the one that I felt the most "me" in and because of that I know I will love it day of. Also, stop looking once you do find it, there are many amazing gowns out there to pick from and can make it confusing. If you like the way you feel in it and it fits the idea you have of your wedding then you will still love it on the day of your wedding.

pinupbride6189

dreamsinpink said:

So I have been reading all these timelines in bridal magazines (if you have an anxious personality I suggest you do not look at them) and have been surprised to find that most say to order your dress 9 months before the wedding... We are planning an April 2016 wedding, so we have a bit of time. My question is, realistically, what is the timeline of ordering a dress?? I tried on dresses for the first time this past Saturday just to see what I am leaning towards, but won't have time to try on again for another month. Of course, I am doing the whole "I can lose 10 pounds before I buy my dress!" and sadly, do not want to purchase one until I have toned up a bit.

I am really worried that if I buy it this far in advance (roughly 10 months, I think is a long time apparently its not in wedding world), when we get closer to the wedding date I will end up hating it. A nightmare I had the night after I tried on dresses. So again, when did everyone purchase their dresses?

My wedding is also in April of 2016, and I just bought my dress a week and half ago. My sister is getting married about 5 weeks before me in March and she bought her dress the same day I did, and the consultant told her, in actually a very professional and non-pushy manner, that she really needed to choose a dress soon because of how long they take to come in and the time needed for fittings and alterations. I understand wanting to lose weight, and yes, 10 months is a good amount of time to do that, but find a dress that you love now, and you'll love how you look in it even more 10 pounds down. Also, order the size that fits you now. I know it's tempting to order a size down as motivation to lose the weight, but it's a lot easier to take a bigger gown in than it is to let a smaller gown out.

CMGragain

Unless you are buying from David's Bridal, your dress does not yet exist.  When you order it, the order will be forwarded to the factory (usually in China) that is used by the designer.  The dress will be cut to a standard dress size and sewn, inspected, then shipped to the USA to your bridal shop. This is why there is usually no return on wedding dresses.   This can take a lot of time.  It isn't like ordering a dress from a catalog, where they have a warehouse full of dresses waiting to ship out.
My daughter's dress (Demetrios) took 7 months.  Alterations took another two weeks.

lizz0915

My dress took 6 months to come in but they said it could take up to 8 months and I am starting alterations 8 weeks out. I would not worrying about toning up before shopping, most dresses can be taken in 2 sizes without any issues.

klk111415

I agree with others.  Don't wait to tone up.  I said the same thing at first but bought my dress (and took it home the same day) 13 months out.  It fit perfectly in store (David's Bridal) and I've tried it on a few times since.  I actually gained weight over the winter and the dress no longer fits "perfect" but I'm getting there.  I have a little over 5 months to go and the weight is coming off faster, but I bought the dress knowing that I would need alterations.  Unless you are going to lose a significant amount of weight that would change your body shape, toning up a bit won't make a difference in what will look good on you.  Plus, when you put on the dress to get alterations, you are going to be super proud of your weight loss results and knowing it will have to be taken in a bit.  But 10 pounds isn't drastic enough to cause any complications.

lachattefatale

I'm trying to lose 20+ pounds, not just 10, and I have already purchased a dress that fits now. I will probably only lose 1 size in the coming year, and the dress can be taken in 2 if I'm more successful than I anticipate, and if I lose 3, I will be so excited to be skinny that I will gleefully go buy a different dress off the rack in a hurry. (I bought a sample off the rack, though, so I don't have input on the wait time for ordering one.)

lovesclimbing

dreamsinpink said:

So I have been reading all these timelines in bridal magazines (if you have an anxious personality I suggest you do not look at them) and have been surprised to find that most say to order your dress 9 months before the wedding... We are planning an April 2016 wedding, so we have a bit of time. My question is, realistically, what is the timeline of ordering a dress?? I tried on dresses for the first time this past Saturday just to see what I am leaning towards, but won't have time to try on again for another month. Of course, I am doing the whole "I can lose 10 pounds before I buy my dress!" and sadly, do not want to purchase one until I have toned up a bit.

I am really worried that if I buy it this far in advance (roughly 10 months, I think is a long time apparently its not in wedding world), when we get closer to the wedding date I will end up hating it. A nightmare I had the night after I tried on dresses. So again, when did everyone purchase their dresses?

It really depends on where you buy from.  As previous posters have said, some dresses take months to come in. It largely depends on if you're getting a designer gown as opposed to one from a retailer like David's Bridal or Simply Bridal (where I ordered mine) or off the rack. 

There are thousands of women who have engagements less than 9 months who have no problems finding dresses. I had a six-month engagement and ordered my dress about four months out.  I have a friend who had a ... three-week? engagement, if I remember correctly. (I know it was well under a month) and she found a dress without difficulty.

blabla89

It really depends on the designer and where you buy from. If you buy off the rack, I'd say allow 3 months or so for alterations, shopping for accessories and whatnot. If you order from David's, they'll tell you it's going to take however many months but it usually arrives sooner than that. Some designers do actually take 6+ months to prepare and ship like CMG said.

If you want to save yourself some stress, don't try to plan around your weight loss. Buy a dress that fits whatever size you are when you feel ready to shop. You can always get it taken in.

beautyofdreams

My dress took 6 months to come in and you have to count time for alterations once it comes in.

alhaley88

My dress is taking 10 months. I ordered it towards the end of February and got an email from the salon saying that it's on track to be delivered near the end of December. Don't wait!