How far in advance to order dress?

[pixie08]

I was wondering what everyone's experience was with ordering dresses?

I have a while (1 year 5 months) until the wedding but I was wondering when to GET the dress. I have seen a few I like but I just lost 10 lbs or so and I am in the process of hopefully losing 20 or 30 more so I don't want to rush it but I don't want to wait to long and then not be able to get the dress I want. Any advice or comments about your experiences would be greatly appreciated.

 

[twojo21]

depends on the dress/designer you want, most can take 3-6 months to be ordered/come in. i started dress hunting in august & bought my dress then. it just came in in decemeber. getting it altered in february, wedding this march.

 

[Chrissie-riel]

When brides come into my shop who have weddings a long way out (over a year for example), I always fully explain the process. It usually takes 4-7 months for a dress to be ordered and you want an additional 6-8 weeks for alterations. So 8 months is not out of the question for ordering....

Most important is that the bridal shops have NO CONTROL over when a dress will be discontinued - the manufacturers do that. The manufacturers also do not give us any advance notice when they decide to discontinue, just a week or so. Sometimes the dress isn't selling well (nationally) and then they pull it. Or, perhaps the special lace, trim, fabric (whatever) is no longer available so they can't make any more. Whatever their reason, it just happens!

So, if there is a special dress that you have your heart set on, by all means just order it!! You wouldn't want to get all excited , put your dress up as your screensaver and everything, then go back to the store in 4 months and it's not there!! We store the dresses at my shop (many make you take them home when they come in) and last night in the storage area I saw a dress for October of 2007, must have been ordered in the summer of 2005. It's never too early when it is "the one", plus that is one more thing to check off on that giant wedding to-do list. Good luck in your decision making!

Oh, and don't worry about the sizing. Tell your consultant that you want to actually see the manufacturer's sizing chart. Have her take your measurements and do a thorough comparison. Order the size that YOU WANT based on your measurments and the chart. Remember that you will have alterations done and it is easier to alter a dress smaller than to open the seams and make it bigger. But ultimately order what you want!! Feel free to PM me when you figure out which one you want and I can help talk you through the sizing issue!!

 

[hmgolden]

I ordered my dress 8 months out, and was told it would take 6 months for the dress to come in. It ended up comming in MUCH earlier (only 2 months), but I wouldn't have wanted to have ordered it any later. As it was at 8 months I was worried I was going to be pushing it of something had gone wrong and it had taken longer for the dress to come in.

 

[cryssi]

My dress came in right on schedule...they told me 14-16 weeks, and it was 14 weeks, I believe. I ordered at the last possible minute, due to circumstances beyond my control (surgery)...ordered end of April for my September wedding!!! Crazy. Anyway, my alterations took a couple of weeks, and I picked up my dress on the way to the rehearsal! I don't recommend THAT! LOL Plus I had lost a lot of weight due to the stress diet, and the whole thing had to be taken in! Ridiculous.

The only way I would recommend waiting is if your dream dress is at Davids Bridal...the one I almost ordered would only have taken 2 months at the most...

good luck!

 

[melmel]

I ordered mine 11 months out even though I went with David's and had it in about 6 weeks. It made me feel better to know that I had it and I didn't have to worry. Alterations on the other hand became an issue. After my first fitting I had surgery and my second and third fittings ended up not being until about 3 weeks before the wedding. That was not part of my plan. But I have to say they got it done in time, just with a LOT of worry. So make sure you do your fittings with plenty of time too.

Melissa

 

[JandJ]

I ordered mine in March for my October wedding and it came into the bridal boutique in July. They had said 6 months. A friend ordered hers from David's Bridal and it came in only 6 weeks later and she couldn't understand why mine took 4 months. So, I guess it depends on where you go.

 

[M.K. Poppins]

I ordered mine from David's the week after Christmas, and it is supposed to be in by the end of the month. It is a style that is being discontinued, so I didn't want to take any chances - besides, it was a huge relief to have that decision made. My wedding isn't until '07, by the way.

 

[princessblueeyzes]

I ordered mine from David's the week after Christmas, and it is supposed to be in by the end of the month. It is a style that is being discontinued, so I didn't want to take any chances - besides, it was a huge relief to have that decision made. My wedding isn't until '07, by the way.

If you don't mind me asking what style is it?

 

[allisonswonderland]

Sometimes you may be lucky and they will have one in stock so it would ship immediately...I am not sure how Davids operates. My shop always said 3 monthes from the time you place to get it in. I always told people 6months. My Amsale that I like, they said 4 months and I plan to order in Mid March for a Nov wedding....

 

[Chrissie-riel]

The way I describe it to my brides is....unless you are talking about David's bridal, there isn't a big warehouse full of wedding gowns. At a traditional bridal shop, an order is taken. The shop calls the manufacturer and says, OK Susie Q would like style 456 in ivory with rum pink embroidery in a size 8. Manufacturer calls the factory to start cutting fabric in that size/color. It takes a while to make the dress, then ship usually from the Far East. They can come in early but you never know!!!

 

[Gabrielle0625]

Hey there:

Well...I bought my dress the day after thanksgiving of this year. Davids Bridal was able to locate my dress at another location and had it shipped within 2 weeks in time for my wedding on December 16th.
Pretty cool huh?
If its davids bridal...they can find it anywhere in the country and have it shipped.
Or you can special order and have it in 15 weeks or less.
I tried on tons of dresses....at small shops all over orlando and at Davids Bridal.
For some reason...the dresses at Davids Bridal just looked better taken care of and cleaner.
My dress came in one day late.....and they ended up giving me all of my alterations for FREE!
It came out to $267! ALL FOR FREE! I thought that was awesome.
I am only 5 foot 3 so there was a lot to do and I lost 10 pounds during the 2 weeks I had to wait for the dress. So they had to bring it in a lot.
Everything came out so beautiful.
Couldn't be happier.
It all depends on what you want.
Hope that helps.
Gabrielle

 

[sajetto]

Hi there! I just asked this same question earlier. My wedding is almost a whole year away but I'm going to go ahead and order mine b/c I'm afraid that the design could be discontinued.

 

[PoohBear8481]

My wedding date is April 15. When FDH and I set the date I had started looking. I know there are a ton of styles and it would take me forever to decided on what I would want. You can always go out and "window shop" try on some dresses and narrow down the styles that you like and the ones you don't like. Most bridal shops will have a ton of new designs coming out between spring and winter. If your wedding isn't until next year, just take you time that way you can find something that you will definalty love

Good luck and let us know when you find one

 

[Laurafoster]

My wedding is about 10months away and i havent got my dress yet, but i am planning on doing it shortly!

Congrats on the weight loss by the way!

 

[Rustyflwr3]

Our wedding is just a little under a year away and eventhough I had been looking at dresses for a while, I just started trying them! While I was just looking on the internet, I fell in love with one gown, but found out a couple of months later it had been discontinued! So I say that if you start looking now and find one that you really love, buy it just incase it gets discontinued!!

Jessica

 

[sajetto]

A piece of advice: If you find one you truly love buy it If you wait most likely you will find that it is discontinued. Chain stores like Davids are notorious for that. Even if you take a picture of the dress to a dress maker they most likely won't be able to make it look the same or charge you a fourtune if it has a lot of embrodiery and beading.