Shopping for BM dresses

laurad75 · April 2015

I am getting married next May. When does it makes sense to start shopping with my girls for Bridesmaid Dresses. If we should go during the summer I feel like I should start coordinating a date now since schedules get so busy that time of year. I know we shouldn't start too early or styles will be discontinued. Thoughts? Thanks for your advice!

minttobemrsb · April 2015

That's over a year away. Not only should you wait to shop, but you should wait to ask your BM to be in your wedding.

My girls bought their dresses in Jan for a May wedding.

Maggie0829 · April 2015

I think it really depends where you plan on getting the dresses from. From a local bridal salon you may want to check when certain designers need to be ordered. From a place like Davids or Alfred Angelo you can wait until closer since getting dresses in doesn't (usually) take nearly as long.

If you are planning on allowing your girls to pick whatever dress they want in X color and Y fabric, well then you really don't need to set a time to go shopping because they can shop whenever they have time.

But personally I think summer is a bit soon. I think 6 months out max should be plenty of time.

lachattefatale · April 2015

We're also getting married next May, and while I'm shopping for my dress now, we won't be shopping for the bridesmaids' dresses until we have my dress, the venue, and the time of day nailed down. We're probably looking at late summer or early fall.

I wouldn't worry too much about discontinued styles; just make sure they're prepared to order their dresses any time you go shopping, and don't put off making a decision.

klk111415 · April 2015

My girls picked out and ordered their dresses 11 months out. The only problem I've had so far is that one now needs to return her dress for a maternity dress. I purchased my dress a little over a year out so I already knew what I had in mind for BM dresses. Could we have waited a little longer? Yes. But everyone agreed on the dress and they figured, why wait? You can wait longer than I did and there will be no issues. The benefit to waiting is that more styles will come out so you will have more options.

Fortuantely we used David's Bridal so when they ordered their dresses they were informed that the dress could be exchanged for a smaller or larger size at no additional cost. They were also very understanding about my MOH who needs to return her dress for a maternity dress. Very easy to work with, which I didn't expect from them at all!

Knottie1425417188 · April 2015

I think it takes 4 months to get bridesmaids from almost all companies. I have been in a number of weddings and they were ordered from Pearlsplace.com, everything went well. We had bridesmaids from all over, some even out of the country. They had great prices and they delivered fast, just to let you know.

cheeseburgers11 · April 2015

We got our dresses at Bella Bridesmaids and were told 4 months. I'm happy with our experience so far but I've read some bad reviews on Yelp about some specific stores in different cities. Regardless of where you go I'd wait until 5-6 months before your day to seriously start looking at dresses with your bridesmaids, your taste (and bridal party) might change between now and then.

BrinkyDink16 · April 2015

Our wedding is on Halloween. We chose our bridesmaids dresses in February and had them in hand by April. We went with $32 infinity dresses from a great Etsy shop. We wanted to get them early so the girls could build their costumes around them and experiment with tying them different ways. My thought it it's never too early to get something done!

laurad75 · April 2015

Thanks all! I just wanted to make sure I wasn't waiting too long if we put this off until the fall after the business of summer. I want to be flexible with the girls' schedules.

Knottie92548810 · May 2015

My bridesmaids ordered their dresses in the beggining of Feburary and they wont be in until around the end of May for my August wedding. Some of them are going to be altered and since I didnt order the dress in the sample color, I have no idea what it looks like and we cant go pick our the groomsmens suits until they come in. The worst part is it wouldnt be a problem except the designers website color change function for the dress doesnt work (works on all of the other dresses though). It can take a long time for them to come in so don't wait to long if anyone has to order a dress.

TheArtemisMoon · May 2015

Bridesmaid dresses can vary a lot from one season to the next not only in style but also color. My dream colors were turquoise and purple but purple isn't really the hip color this year. You might find that your original colors aren't the style next year and you might have a hard time finding the colors you want. Plus, if one of your maids gains or loses a lot of weight over the next year, that could be a seriously issue later on. I'd personally wait.

kasasr1024 · May 2015

I don't necessarily agree with waiting to ask your bridesmaids to be in the wedding since you are a year away...I asked mine about 2 years ago (LOOOOONG engagement). My girls ordered their dresses around the beginning of March and we still don't have them in yet for my October wedding. We ordered from a local wedding shop though. If you order from David's bridal they'll come in way sooner

laurad75 · May 2015

@kschaefer90 I agree with you. I will have three women in my bridal party and each of them has been a dear friend for over 25 years. I am confident this will still be the case in a year. That being said, I do think that is good advice for some brides if they are younger or more fickle. Everyone is going to have a different situation.

While I was dress shopping this weekend we looked through some Bill Levkoff BM dresses. I like the idea of picking three coordinating colors and inviting them to choose a style they are most comfortable in.

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