Question about losing weight and bridesmaid dress alterations

ghouli
ghouli Posts: 207 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hi all, been seeing a lot of threads about upcoming summer weddings and I'm hoping someone can help me out here. I'm a bridesmaid/maid of honor for my sister's wedding in July. This is my first time actually being IN a wedding, not just attending as a guest, so I have no idea how this dress stuff works.

A couple months ago we all picked out the dress we'll be wearing and got them ordered. When the girl at David's Bridal measured me, she told me I was a size 6 and at the moment it fits like a glove. I'll have to get it altered for length and to get the area by the boobs adjusted and whatever, but how do alterations work when you're actively losing weight/inches?

One of the other bridesmaids said she's been losing weight and will probably be smaller by the wedding and the girl who was helping us at David's said "well you'll have to lose like 30 pounds to go down a size, the difference between sizes is a lot more than people think it is." Which, idk, to me seems like a pretty broad generalization since some people drop a size after losing 10 lbs, 15 lbs, some people don't go down any sizes, bodies are different, etc. BUT I don't know anything about dresses so there's that haha. I also don't know who we're going through for alterations yet so I don't really have a person I can call atm and ask about this.

What would be the best plan of action? I don't really want to put my weight loss on hold from now until after the wedding but I don't want to complicate things, either. Get it altered as close to the wedding as possible?

Replies

  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    Dresses can usually be taken in quite a bit. However, once you are fitted for the alterations, you should focus on maintenance.
  • ghouli
    ghouli Posts: 207 Member
    concordancia wrote: »
    Dresses can usually be taken in quite a bit. However, once you are fitted for the alterations, you should focus on maintenance.

    Alright, that sounds doable. Thanks!
  • williams969
    williams969 Posts: 2,528 Member
    concordancia wrote: »
    Dresses can usually be taken in quite a bit. However, once you are fitted for the alterations, you should focus on maintenance.

    Yep, a couple sizes down is very doable for a skilled seamstress. Just make sure to take your dress for alterations about 4 weeks before the date (3 weeks prior at the very latest). Double this time frame if it's the bride's gown or very elaborate style (many layers to shorten, beading/appliques that require moving, etc).

    Seamstresses can get back logged on work. Plus, it gives time in case some tweaking/extra altering needs to be done to make it perfect. And once you're fitting for alterations, it's maintenance eating time.
  • ghouli
    ghouli Posts: 207 Member
    williams969 wrote: »
    concordancia wrote: »
    Dresses can usually be taken in quite a bit. However, once you are fitted for the alterations, you should focus on maintenance.

    Yep, a couple sizes down is very doable for a skilled seamstress. Just make sure to take your dress for alterations about 4 weeks before the date (3 weeks prior at the very latest). Double this time frame if it's the bride's gown or very elaborate style (many layers to shorten, beading/appliques that require moving, etc).

    Seamstresses can get back logged on work. Plus, it gives time in case some tweaking/extra altering needs to be done to make it perfect. And once you're fitting for alterations, it's maintenance eating time.

    Thank you! I wasn't sure how much a dress could be taken in, or how long those things take, so thanks for the time frame as well.
  • HeidiThe9
    HeidiThe9 Posts: 48 Member
    I used to work sales at a David's Bridal. General rule of thumb is ANY dress can be brought in 2 sizes. A simple silhouette may be able to go as high as 4. Any thing beyond that will most likely ruin the dress, so exchange it for a smaller size. They can usually only be let out about a half size bigger. And while, yes, you may not meet a true off the rack size 4 by the summer, you most likely will need to nip in the waist or bust. The seamstresses I worked with were amazing, and have access to the exact match of thread, fabric, beading etc. But they can be a bit pricey. If you do decide to shop around for a cheaper alteration, be aware that if the dress gets messed up on David's property, they will take responsibility and replace it, if you go elsewhere you will not be covered.

Categories