Help...Need to buy wedding dress, but not at goal weight

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Replies

  • ILuv2help
    ILuv2help Posts: 5
    Don't worry you say you have 7 months. How is your nutrition? Are you going to the gym? What have you tried to help your situation?
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Why do you need to buy it 7 months in advance??????? If you are losing weight it woould be better to try on dresses to find the style and shape you want but leave the buying until nearer the time ask at the store you plan on getting the dress how long you would need to leave for alterations to be on the safe side. I am getting married in June and havent tried on one single dress yet .

    unless you buy one off the rack, a wedding dress will take 6 months to be made... thats why you should start looking 9 months before.....
  • bf43005
    bf43005 Posts: 287
    I bought a dress that laced up the back for this exact reason. I heard too many stories of woman who couldn't fit in their dress on the day of their wedding. So I bought a dress that fit well and then had the option of lacing it up a little tighter/loser on the wedding day.
  • sssgilber
    sssgilber Posts: 90 Member
    If you buy your dress now, ask the store's seamstress's advice on the ease of alterations for weight loss. Some designs are simple to alter, regardless of where your weight loss occurs; others are a nightmare and will be costly and time-consuming. You can easily spend hundreds of dollars altering a dress.
  • lauren3101
    lauren3101 Posts: 1,853 Member
    I am also getting married in 7 months! :smile:

    My advice to you is find the dress you want, and explain your situation to the shop. They see this all the time; let's face it, a lot of brides want to lose a bit before their wedding day.

    The shop I bought my dress from has booked me in to take the measurements 12 weeks before the wedding. It takes 10 weeks to make, then 2 weeks before the wedding I will go in and have the fitting, then any adjustments can be made then. It's cutting it fine, but I know I'm going to get a good fit.

    Most shops should be able to accomodate you, but start searching (and paying) for your dress now.

    ETA: A corset back is also a good buy rather than a zip, as they can be easily adjusted on the day.
  • NavyKnightAh13
    NavyKnightAh13 Posts: 1,394 Member
    I don't have much advice on the matter. The reason being that when I got my wedding dress, it was 24w, but I lost weight between the time I had bought it up until the wedding day. I was also pregnant at the time, and they tried to take it in, but were afraid of taking it in by a lot in case I started to show (mind you, I didn't start showing until a week after. Also before anyone judges, my husband and I at that point had been together for 3 years, engaged for 2 and had been planning the wedding for 2 years. We have now been married for 2 years, been together for 5).

    Save yourself the stress and buy the size you are now and if need be have it altered later.
  • NickeeCoco
    NickeeCoco Posts: 130
    So...my wedding is 7 months away. I am 160 lbs. I want to be in the 130s by the wedding. Very doable! But... I need to get my dress soon! What size do I buy? I know it's a bad idea to buy a dress too small and hope to fit it. Do I buy one size smaller because that's realistic?


    First off, CONGRATS!

    I got married last summer. I, too, was 160lbs when I chose my dress, and I, too, wanted to be in my 130s for the wedding. I ordered my dress one size smaller.

    DO NOT wait to order your dress. Most dresses can take months to come in. They are often made to order. My dress took five and a half months to come in.

    A good seamstress can take it in for you. You should have alterations done anyway. Unless you're having it specially made, wedding dresses come in pattern sizes, and no woman's body is exactly like the pattern. In the end, my seamstress had to take it in quite considerably. Went from a size ten wedding dress to a size four. (I got down to 134lbs for the wedding, and I'm only 5'3") It cost me $350 for the alterations. My final fitting was a week and a half before the wedding, I picked up my dress from the seamstress three days before the wedding.

    That said, DO NOT ORDER A SMALLER SIZE IF YOU ARE NOT ONE HUNDRED PER CENT COMMITTED TO LOSING THE WEIGHT. I was. I worked out seven days a week. No rest days. I followed a strict diet. I planned all of my meals in advance. I did my grocery shopping based on it. It's been said before in this thread, it is very hard to make a dress bigger. A lot of dresses you can't, and that's because the only way to do it is to let out seams, but most seams are only 1/4 inch, so as you can see, that doesn't give you a lot of extra room. Some dresses can have extra panels added to let it out, but it has to match the dress. The only way to get the exact fabric is to order it at extra cost from the company who made the dress, and that can takes weeks and even months to be delivered as well. There's no such thing as rushes in the wedding dress business.
  • cuinboston2014
    cuinboston2014 Posts: 848 Member
    Congratulations!! Please do not order your dress smaller than what you are now. Many brides get stressed out planning their own wedding and with life that it becomes hard to keep losing weight at the rate you want. Not to say that you can't or won't but it would be one more hting for you to stress out over.

    I had a friend who ordered her dress a size smaller as she was determined to lose weight and was training for a marathon. The dress didn't fit, she had to have a corset back put in, and it's not a pleasant feeling.

    If you lose 30 pounds and have to have it taken in you can do that without losing the integrity and style of the dress.

    I would double check with the boutique you order it with but unless you are already between sizes (in that case, go ahead and take your pick) I would not recommend a size down. It's SO EASY to take a dress ina nd you will feel soooo amazing knowing you have to do that.

    Wedding planning is stressful - and time consumign - especially near the end. Don't add to it :)
  • CarolynKlum
    CarolynKlum Posts: 48
    I did the same thing: I just lost a little weight and had it taken in! Look at how it turned out!: https://player.vimeo.com/video/76241117
    (our highlight video)

    You can do it too!!! Don't worry!
  • SisterC
    SisterC Posts: 121 Member
    I have worked in the alterations department of a wedding store. Please buy the size you are now; but, keep a few things in mind. The more beading on the dress, especially in the bodice on the side seams, the more time it will take to alter. Those beads have to be removed one by one, the seams altered, and then the beads sewn back on, one by one. There are also many layers to a wedding dress, the bodice can have at least three layers, all of them need to be altered. Between fittings, alterations, bustling and hemming, you could be looking at $200-500 in extra costs. If your dress is too small, those cost can raise greatly. There would need to be extra fabric added, and then to find a way to cover that extra fabric, so it doesn't scream to the world that your dress was too small and pieces had to be added to make it fit.

    One of the ways to enlarge a wedding dress, that is too small, is to add a corsett back...even if your dress isn't designed that way, most wedding gowns can have one added. As long as your dress is not an unusual color, a seamstress will be able to find fabric to match your dress pretty closely. If you have any other concerns, just let me know. Good luck on your weight loss and may your wedding day be beautiful!
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    Why do you need to buy your dress now for a May wedding ??

    Unless you buy off the rack, 6-9 months ahead is common for ordering, making and alterations to the dress.

    I see....! Thanks for clarity.

    I bought mine off the rack 2 weeks before and they were able to make simple alterations in a quick time with no Up-charge. But then, I wanted to save my money for my house and not a dress :laugh:
    Do know that several sizes in alterations is really a "Do Over" for seamstresses.

    I am so glad I'm not the only hillbilly over here like "Just get it 2 weeks before" haha ;-P

    My first wedding, I wore a friend's expensive full-frills bridal gown and didn't get it altered. She was about 1/2 size larger than me and the dress gaped a bit in the back and arms but it did the trick just fine and photos looked good lol. The second time I married it was in an off-the-rack Ralph Lauren cocktail dress bought for 90% off...so I am clearly not a wedding gown expert.

    A friend of mine recently got married, though, and she bought her dress 2 months early online for $100 (HUGE clearance) but the alterations (to make it smaller) cost nearly $300.

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