when to buy a dress?

[penlanspice]

How far inadvance has everyone bought their wedding dress?

sam

 

[Wildernessbride2005]

my wedding is may 21 2005 and i got my dress in march.

 

[ellieb]

penlanspice, it really depends on what type of dress you are wanting to buy. If you are going to purchase one that is already in the store then all you would need is a couple of months just to give time for the alteration, however if you are looking for a designer dress many times the bridal shops only carry one or 2 different sizes in a specific design as well as maybe one or two differnt colors (e.g ivory verses white) and if it is not your size or color you are looking for then the bridal shop needs to make a special order for you.
My dress took 3 months to come in and then the alterations took another 4 weeks because the time of year I was getting married, which was MAY. May is a very busy month for bridal shops. I would start to look approximately 7-6 months in advance so you can get some ideas. This way if you know you want a designer dress and they tell you it will take 3 months to come in, you will have plenty of time to get it in time for your wedding. Plus you will have 3 months to pay for it.

 

[Davids-Coco]

I "found" my gown in January of 2002, and made the deposit about a month later. It was custom though and we bagan building it in Nov. 2002... I was married July of 2003.

It depends on the order load of the manufacturer... Maggie Sottero dresses can take 8-9 months in heavy wedding season... and then you need time for alterations. Check with the bridal shops and give yourself at least a month of extra leway just in case.

 

[ellieb]

Davids-Coco- You are correct about Maggie dresses. My wedding dress was a Maggie dress (Davina). I ordered it in the beginning of November and it arrived in late Feb. By the time I went into the store to get my fittings and then to have the final alterations it wasnt until mid April that I recieved my dress. It was in perfect time for my wedding on May 3rd.


I dont think there is such a thing as shopping too early for a wedding dress Unless you are one to change your mind alot

 

[LUVTGR]

I got mine last Saturday (59 days before the wedding) at Davids Bridal, but I got a dress off the rack that only needs small alterations.

 

[Fantasia Sam]

Sam, I chose my dress in October '03 for my May '04 wedding. I had fittings done in March and got to bring my dress home in April in time for the wedding.

 

[hmgolden]

I started shopping for my dress in early September '03, for my June '04 wedding. I ordered the dress at the end of September, and was told it wouldn't be in until February. It was in before Christmas, but we didnt start the alterations till April, they were done by mid-may, but I didnt pick my dress up until a week before I was leaving for Disney, since I didn't really have the room to store it.

For me the bigger issue was my veil. The original veil I wanted kept being backordered, until a month before the wedding the company said that it had been discontinued.

 

[Nolegrl]

I ordered my Maggie dress a couple weeks ago and they said it wouldn't be in until November and my wedding is in December!!! But I think it will be coming in October, maybe my bridal shop went back and got them to change the ship date? If you know what you want it is never too early to order but it is hard if you keep changing your mind : )

 

[CharityLynn]

I bought my dress in early March. My wedding is October 2nd. I bought this early because I had the money and was able to buy everything (shoes, veil, tiara, and everything else the bride needs

 

[colormouse]

I started looking through magazines and online when I got engaged in Mar 03. I knew what I wanted when I went to the bridal shop in Sept 03. I looked around more and went back and ordered my gown in Oct 03. My wedding is in Sept 04. In April 04 my gown was in. My gown was perfect but my bridesmaids dresses were different than the sample dress. My dresses have caviar beading that was supposed to be tone on tone, but instead the designer changed the beading color. One of my four bridesmaids dresses was a very noticable different shade. It only took Alfred Angelo a week to replace this dress, but the beads can't be changed, so I had enough time to change my mind about the dresses if I chose to. The bridal shop is keeping my dresses until I want to pick them up. I would start looking to see what you like and ask the bridal shop how long does this designer take to ship? I think it depends on the time of year. Even at places like Davids, they will ask if you would like to order a gown rather than taking one off the rack. This will take a couple of months. I'd rather be safe and order early than to wait and panic when the wedding gets closer and you have no dress or worse, the wrong dress.

Colormouse

 

[angey77]

I ordered my dress in June (three weeks after we decided to get married) and our wedding is in December. I was told there will be no problem having it shipped and altered in time.
Note: The dress shop I did go to did tell me a large percentage of bridal gowns come from China and many are getting held up in customs with the tighter security measures. So make sure you do order your gown in a nice cushion before the wedding.

 

[totalia]

Buy it whenever you want to. Just make sure that its not only a couple weeks before the wedding. it needs time to arrive and for any adjustments to be done. You should get it at least a month ahead of time. if not longer.

 

[Laura]

I ordered a Jim Hjelm gown 7 months ahead of time and it arrived 4 months after I ordered it--3 months before the big day!

I had a split overskirt added to it, so I had 4 fittings. That took about a month.