What to do about dresses?

FKS

I am newly engaged and need some advice on my dress and my BM dresses. My wedding is in May of 2011.  Questions I have are:

1. If I already found the dress I think is "the one" - should I go ahead and order it or should I shop around and see if I find one I like better? I love this dress but I just don't want to be sorry later if I find something better (I've only gone dress shopping once).

2. If I plan on trying to lose weight, should I still go ahead and order the dress now and have it altered later?  Or is it better to wait and see how much I really do lose?

3. I have always thought the color of BM dresses in large part determine what the colors of your wedding are. When shopping for BM dresses, is it better to shop for them by color? Or if I find a style that I love, should I just go with a color in that style that most closely resembles what I want?

I apologize for the long winded questions - I am new at this!  TIA for your advice!

jessNlane52804

1/2. I ordered my dress in June 09 for my Aug 10 wedding. It took 6 months to arrive, so I was very happy that I ordered it early because I was not stressed at all about it coming in at a certain time. The designer ended up shipping my dress a few weeks after they were supposed to, but since it was still so far from the wedding I could chill.  If you lose weight, the dress can always be taken in. The new spring styles should be out pretty soon (if they aren't already) so it's not like your options are really going to change for several months. I only went shopping twice and the second appointment was only for fun because I had booked it before I went shopping the first time and found "the one". If you are normally an indecisive person, then you might want to shop around a bit so you know all of your options- just be sure not to overwhelm yourself. If you are a decisive person, when you know, you know and you don't have to shop a lot.

3. As far as BM dresses go, I would determine the overall style and theme of your wedding first. Then pick a BM dress in a complementary color/style. Neutral colors also make great BM dresses. For example our colors are black, white and lime and the girls are wearing black dresses and they will have some green accessories.

FKS

Thanks so much for the great advice, Jess! This is incredibly helpful. I feel like I can breathe easier 

SocialWorker2B

I would personally recommend waiting to buy a dress. If you really love this dress than you will keep coming back to it over and over again in your viewing and trying on of dresses. I only had a 6 month engagement and yet I still had time to become a two dress bride. I got my dress in less than a month from DB. I couldn't afford to become a two dress bride and if you can't either, then I would definitiely wait and look around for a little bit more. Even if only a couple of months more.

Re: the BM dresses. Since DB and AA has almost dress in almost every color, I would pick a color and find a dress that comes in that color rather than picking a style and then picking a color. They both just have so many gorgeous dresses, it shouldn't be at all difficult to find a dress you and your girls both love in your desired color. I would pick your wedding color(s) and theme first and then do BM dresses. But, you do have a while before you actually have to pick the dresses out. Don't do it super early because you never know what will happen with your WP between now and then.

Oh, and ditto Jess - neutral colors (champagne,for example) make great BM dresses and your girls will love you because they would be more likely to be able to wear it again. You can always insert your chosen wedding color(s) by sashes, pashminas, flowers in their hair, etc.
GL and HTH! :-)

aerinpegadrak

You don't need to start shopping for bridesmaids dresses until about 8-9 months out at the earliest.  (You really don't need to even ask your bridesmaids until then; pop over to the Wedding Party board to see why.)  By then, you should have a pretty firm handle on the feel and color scheme of your wedding, and should have no problem deciding how you want the dresses to look.

FKS

Thanks ladies!!  This is all very helpful.