Losing a lot of weight after buying dress

sarah0725

I'm in kind of an odd position. All fall, I was putting off getting my dress because I wanted to lose weight first. I finally decided that it wasn't happening, and bought my dress in early January. Then I joined WW, and as of my Week 12 weigh-in, I am down 17.8 lbs, and I still have another 13 weeks until the wedding, so I could potentially double that amount of weight loss, if I keep going the way I'm going. To put this in perspective a little bit, I'm 5'8", so weight kind of spreads out on me a bit more - the pounds lost so far translate to 3.5 inches from my bust, 2.5 from the waist, and 4 from the hips.

Am I completely nuts? And am I completely screwing myself up when it comes to having a dress than fits me the day of the wedding? The dress has a corset back, so that may give me a little bit of extra leeway.

Ironically, I probably would have been better off if I'd just bought the stupid thing in September rather than waiting, because the weight I'm losing now is largely the product of being sad, alone, and freezing cold all winter in Wisconsin. I definitely do not belong in the Midwest.

georgia_bride09

Is your dress such that alterations can be made so it'll fit your new shape?

ETA: I can't see your bio from work, so that's why I have to ask without seeing it.

FutureMrsTR

Just keep on keepin' on   I don't know anything about sewing or dress construction, but it will be worth whatever the cost of alterations to feel the best you can about yourself on the day of!

annakb8

Do you know where you plan on getting alterations? If you do I might call and ask them what they think. I would think having a corset back would help a lot.

Celles

Congrats again on the weight loss!  It's truly inspirational. 

And don't worry: the dress can be taken in if necessary.  I'd see a seamstress at the one-month mark to figure out the absolute latest that you can schedule alterations and still have the dress ready for the wedding.  Then, I would consider going into maintenance mode on WW between that point and the wedding.  The corset back will definitely give you some wiggle room, but you'll feel better with a professional opinon and a plan, I'm sure.

Beachy730

Did you order the size that fit you at the time, or did you order by your measurements?  When I bought mine, I knew I was going to lose weight.  My measurements put me between 2 sizes, so I ordered the smaller of the 2.  I lost over 20 pounds from the time I ordered my dress to my wedding day, and it fit great.  They altered it to my size at the time.  If I were you though, once you go in for your first fitting, i would slow down the weight loss and try to maintain instead.

sarah0725

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_losing-lot-of-weight-after-buying-dress?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:de47ce96-8ec1-41f1-a292-ba77c20a3a23Post:d96baf9f-c6b6-429d-bfee-ee719c61298f">Re: Losing a lot of weight after buying dress</a>:
[QUOTE]Is your dress such that alterations can be made so it'll fit your new shape?
Posted by georgia_bride09[/QUOTE]

Well, here it is with me in it:

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I don't know much about seamstressy stuff, so I don't know whether it's a good dress for altering or not. One good thing, though, is that it doesnt have a lot of beading detail or anything, so that wouldn't have to be moved. I'm guessing I'm going to be paying a bit for alterations, and that's okay with me because I figure it's my reward for losing the weight.

SarahPLiz

I think that being healthier is never screwing yourself. It worth more than your dress. FWIW, the guy at my dress shop said he had recently altered a dress from a 12 to a 2, and it was amazing, and very doable. A corset back should help a LOT. 

So keep on keeping on!

Beachy730

Your dress is gorgeous!  The corset back will definitely help, and they can do tucks along the seams and the boobs.  You'll be fine, and you'll look great!

sarah0725

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_losing-lot-of-weight-after-buying-dress?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:de47ce96-8ec1-41f1-a292-ba77c20a3a23Post:6cef4752-bf17-432c-b0e7-fd411f4219c1">Re: Losing a lot of weight after buying dress</a>:
[QUOTE]Did you order the size that fit you at the time, or did you order by your measurements?  When I bought mine, I knew I was going to lose weight.  My measurements put me between 2 sizes, so I ordered the smaller of the 2.  I lost over 20 pounds from the time I ordered my dress to my wedding day, and it fit great.  They altered it to my size at the time.  If I were you though, once you go in for your first fitting, i would slow down the weight loss and try to maintain instead.
Posted by dnbeach12[/QUOTE]

This is good to know. We ordered by measurements, and I think she picked the size that fit my largest measurement, which was my hips at the time.

shaydenise

Congrats on the weight loss!  At the time I bought my dress I was down 20 pounds and by the time the wedding rolled around I was down another 20.  My dress was a corset and even all the the way tightened it was too big, luckily my seamstress was able to take out 6 inches from the ribcage down through my hips.  I'm not sure what your dress looks like but I know that mine was a pain with the rouching and rosettes and everything, but even so it was still possible to do.

Edit: Oops you posted your dress as I was typing!  I would think you could take your dress in as necessary, but would check with your alterations place JIC.

sarah0725

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_losing-lot-of-weight-after-buying-dress?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:de47ce96-8ec1-41f1-a292-ba77c20a3a23Post:b7666d49-67a4-42a7-8d25-94a4ee6b8587">Re: Losing a lot of weight after buying dress</a>:
[QUOTE]Congrats again on the weight loss!  It's truly inspirational.  :) And don't worry: the dress can be taken in if necessary.  I'd see a seamstress at the one-month mark to figure out the absolute latest that you can schedule alterations and still have the dress ready for the wedding.  Then, I would consider going into maintenance mode on WW between that point and the wedding.  The corset back will definitely give you some wiggle room, but you'll feel better with a professional opinon and a plan, I'm sure.
Posted by Celles[/QUOTE]

Going on maintenance shouldn't be too hard! I'm one of those people who responds to stress by eating cheese and baked goods, and I'm sure both will be consumed amply the week of the wedding. :)

FutureMrsTR

On a losing weight note: 100 calories of mini fudge covered pretzels is a ridiculously small amount.

sarah0725

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_losing-lot-of-weight-after-buying-dress?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:de47ce96-8ec1-41f1-a292-ba77c20a3a23Post:71d46dea-0660-473d-966d-357c8ad0f5c5">Re: Losing a lot of weight after buying dress</a>:
[QUOTE]I think that being healthier is never screwing yourself. It worth more than your dress. FWIW, the guy at my dress shop said he had recently altered a dress from a 12 to a 2, and it was amazing, and very doable. A corset back should help a LOT.  So keep on keeping on!
Posted by SarahPLiz[/QUOTE]

Haha, good point. I'm feeling pretty healthy and happy these days. And that's amazing about the alterations! It probably helps that I'll be doing this with a private seamstress at a private shop rather than DB.

georgia_bride09

The dress looks like it would be no problem to alter, from what I can tell, especially with a corset back.

Go on with your bad self! You and Charlie will be looking super athletic together in the pink elephant!

sarah0725

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_losing-lot-of-weight-after-buying-dress?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:de47ce96-8ec1-41f1-a292-ba77c20a3a23Post:5344b30a-f92b-428b-a6fb-3277277c1d07">Re: Losing a lot of weight after buying dress</a>:
[QUOTE]The dress looks like it would be no problem to alter, from what I can tell, especially with a corset back. Go on with your bad self! You and Charlie will be looking super athletic together in the pink elephant! :)
Posted by georgia_bride09[/QUOTE]

Oy, Charlie. We went to Men's Wearhouse the other day so he could buy tux pants and a wingtip shirt, and he borrowed a tailcoat, vest, tie, and top hat from them so he could throw it all together and see how the whole thing would look, and he is going to be one tall drink of water at the wedding. I'm glad all the weight is coming off me since I'm going to have to stand next to him in pictures all day. :)

The Mel and Todd Show

I don't have anything else to add, except
1) Congrats on the weight loss.  That's awesome!
2) Your dress.  I love it.  That is so beautiful, and it looks amazing on you. 

mgem8

Congrats on your weight loss!

FWIW my seamstress is completely confident that she can take my gown down 4ish sizes (see pip). I have it pretty easy for the back of the dress too. But, I did a mock fitting with her 7 months out just to make sure that the alterations are possible.



A good seamstress can work complete miracles. If the first one you go to is not confident, get a second opinion.

hlq2011

That dress looks easier to alter than mine, and mine is currently, with the corset as tight as it can go, too big.  I told her when I went for my fitting that I was still trying to lose, so she's taking it in a bit more than necessary - but because of the corset, if I don't lose anymore, it will still fit me well.

Don't worry, but if it'll help, call whoever is doing your alterations now and tell them what you've lost, and ask them what they think of the alter-ability of the dress.  My thought is they should be able to tell you just by looking.

andy71781

My only advice is to try and stop the two weeks or so before.  I kept on losing and my seamstress couldn't fix it during my final fitting.

Brandiewine11

It depends on the designer, but most dresses can be taken in an average of 2 sizes or more. Your seamstress will know exactly what to do. Just, as PP said, don't try to lose in the last 2-3 weeks.

mkrupar

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_losing-lot-of-weight-after-buying-dress?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:de47ce96-8ec1-41f1-a292-ba77c20a3a23Post:04750d32-27ad-40f2-ad11-9757d6ae1c23">Re: Losing a lot of weight after buying dress</a>:
[QUOTE]On a losing weight note: 100 calories of mini fudge covered pretzels is a ridiculously small amount.
Posted by FutureMrsTR[/QUOTE]

All of those little 100 calorie packs have a depressing amount of items in them.

specialk84

Sarah, your dress is beautiful!  Congratulations on the weight loss.

polichik

I don't think I saw your dress before, and I LOVE it! It's so beautiful (as are you!). I know it's much easier to take a dress in than let it out, and as a pp mentioned I've heard of professionals altering down a dress by 6 sizes or more. I'd say keep doing what you're doing and consult with your alterations person soon to give him/her a head's up so that they can start working on a game plan.

Congrats again on the weight loss!

missy68

Sarah, you rock.

That is all.

sarah0725

Thanks everybody for saying such nice things!

Anybody who says these boards are mean and unsupportive is clearly doing it wrong.