How long do bm dresses REALLY take to arrive?

avolker1

TK ate my post, so apologies if this comes up twice.

My wedding is July 2013, and I have 5 bridesmaids in NJ who went to a salon to look at Bill Levkoff chiffon and charmeuse (sp?) dresses.  They are each picking what neck line they feel most comfortable in.  The NJ salon told them to order it 6 months out to account for ordering and alteration time.  To me this seems too early since my wedding dress is taking 6 months.

My friends are pretty insistent on ordering them in January, which I suppose is fine if they want to do that.  However, I have 2 other bridesmaids in California, one who is now 8 months pregnant and due in January.  I thought it would be best to wait until after the baby arrives to have her measured and order the dress.  Is February or March too late?

I just don't know if the sales people are trying to get their commission or 6 months is normal.  Any advice?

gabriel0915

I know that before my girls went to DB I was working with the same girl at a bridal store and she did tell me that 4 was pretty much the shortest amount of time that we had to order. I think it also depends on how popular the design and color is in the dress. Even when we did go to DB, my color wasn't super popular so it took my girls a little longer to get their dresses than if they were a more common color.

HobokensFury

It depends on many variables.  We ordered in May for a March wedding. AA said the dresses would be in in August. All ordered on the same day. 1 of the dresses arrived in June (a size 14), 2 arrived in July ( size 2 and 12) and one arrived in September (size 16 extra long).  If the size in in stock they arrive more quickly, if it's not they take longer. 

QueerFemme

Ordering in March for a July wedding is likely going to be pushing it, unless you were ordering from David's Bridal.   I would say Feb at the latest.

SLC5885

I would try to find out from other people who went to the same store what the standard timing is. My girls went to David's bridal last month and were told it would be 8-15 weeks, but they all came in within 3 weeks. I'd still get them as soon as possible, but January should be ok for a July wedding.

avolker1

Thanks everyone! My bridesmaid who is pregnant just told me she would like to get measured before the baby because she will likely be stressed and super busy once he arrives.  So we are going to go after the holidays to get her measurements in and then if it needs to be taken in when it arrives we will do that. 

SLC5885

Good call. Remember you can always take a dress in, but you can't add fabric! I was in a wedding where the MOH ordered a dress 3 sizes too small as motivation to lose weight. But she didn't fit into it come wedding time, and had to have someone totally cut the dress and add a corset back 2 days before the wedding. Needless to say the bride was NOT happy.

avolker1

Yes exactly! My friend who is pregnant used to work at David's Bridal so she knows it's better to size up rather than down. 

avolker1

Yeah that's the other thing. My friend mentioned that many manufacturers take about a month off around this time.

nursing2u

hello miss... Well I am actually getting married July 12th.. and I just had the conversation with the salon owner since I have a bm that is procrastinating... Because of the chinese new year and their time off it takes longer because of the time off..

Since I want to make sure that my dresses come in by the end of April and they have enough time for alterations they are ordering by the end of December..

from the designer... if the dress was ordered this week... the dress would be in by the end of march.. Soooo... at the end of this month will be the end of April..  I would rather the dress come in early than late.. and u cant always rush alterations.. Worrying about a BM dress coming in... is NOT what I want to be stressing about in June.. imo