How long does it take to get a wedding dress?

strawberrypud

I need to/want to lose 3 stone by my wedding in September this year. I won't even start looking for dresses until I'm nearly at my goal weight which I reckon will be around July. Will this leave me enough time to buy a dress in time for the wedding at the beginning of Sept?

Mrs_Moore_To_Be

It depends if you are going to go for a dress 'off the rack' if you find a dress and it isnt your size and needs to be ordered in there wont be enough time.

Im getting married in April and ordered my dress in Sept. I have since lost 2 stone. It came in last week. It needs altering but its no problem, my fitting will be 5 weeks before the wedding.

I thought the same as you but be assured that you can still try dresses on now and get an idea of how they look and then get it ordered cause it CAN be altered. It would be horrid for you to find a dress you love but not be able to have it as you have only left 2 months xx

Primmer

I tried on, fell in love with and ordered my dress at beginning of October last year and it is due to arrive in the shop this April so will have time for 2-3 fittings before wedding at end of august.
I think you need to start looking for your dress now and let them know that you intend to lose weight. It is better that the dress is big and altered to fit than too small.

strawberrypud

Thanks for the replies, how much do the alterations cost?

Mrs_Moore_To_Be

My alterations will cost no more that £100
My dress was always going to be too long but that price includes alterations to bring the whole dress in several inches and redo the bust area x

Kittendreich

If you know what shops you are likely to get it from ask them. I got mine in December (got married in April) - some (snooty) shops laughed at me as they needed a minimum of six months to get anything (!), some just advised they didn't want to risk a rush order (!), but the lovely shop I got it from were clear it would be a tight timescale and advised me against a couple of designers they knew were slow, but mine arrived in time (although it got stuck in customs for a fortnight which was rather stressful!).

As for your weight change - advise them of your plans and be realistic about what you are likely to achieve. Better to have a dress too big then small, but some dresses are harder to alter than others and most can't be changed by more than a couple of dress sizes without losing some styling.

clearing_out_my_pockets

My alterations are costing £58 - £50 to take the hem up, £8 to add a bustle to the back. I bought a sample dress and fortunately it fit well when I bought it. The seamstress advised how much I could 'afford' to lose before I needed further alterations.