Wedding Dress Conundrum

My cousin has recently had this problem.
She got a dress one size smaller and then just paid to have it altered =]

I would personally start shopping around so you know THE dress you want but I wouldn't order anything until January or February when you have a better idea of what size you will be .

Order a dress one or two sizes smaller and work hard to get there. Wedding dresses are not cheap....so there is your motivation!

start looking to see what u like dont order anything until closer to the date. Just ask when is the latest u can order it and still have alterations done in time. It would be a shame if u ordered it to small and it didnt fit and you can only size down to sizes they can be let out.

Yup same problem! My wedding is next April and I just ordered my dress in my current size. I am willing to pay to have it altered and I just let them know about my lifestyle change and that I'll hopefully be dropping close to 100lbs. They said no problem!

I don't have advise other than what's offered, I just wanted to offer that the general rule on how much a wedding dress can be altered is "Up 2, Down 4".

If it were me, I'd order it at the size I am when I place the order. Its always easier to take it in than to let it out. It may cost a little more in alterations, but I'll take that over having a dress that I don't fit in. Have fun dress shopping! And don't be discouraged if nothing fits. My experience was the stores only ever seemed to stock sizes 8 & 10 - maybe a 12 or 14 if I was lucky and if your bigger than that (mine ended up being a size 18) it can be frustrating.

Congrats!

I am havng a simmilar problem. I am getting married in 30 days and my dress is at the bridal shop now getting steamed and pressed. I didn't have any alterations done, so I was conflicted with pushing forward on my diet. I don't want to risk not being able to have alterations done because it's so close. I've finally decided to just keep trucking and pay the extra money for rush alterations.

My advice to you is just get sized for the dress the size you are now and then get the alterations done. Most bridal shops have a "rush" option for situations like this. And besides, with all of the stress that can come with planning a wedding and all of the food (bridal shower, rehersal dnner, bachelorette party, etc) your weight may fluctuate a little.

Feel free to add me BTW

Why do you have to pick out your dress nine mo before the wedding?

Yup same problem! My wedding is next April and I just ordered my dress in my current size. I am willing to pay to have it altered and I just let them know about my lifestyle change and that I'll hopefully be dropping close to 100lbs. They said no problem!

This. Get it in your current size and have it altered. Don't buy something that doesn't fit now. That's no fun.

Don't order a dress smaller than you already are! I agree that you should shop around and wait as long as you can to get the dress but don't order a smaller size. Dresses are made to be taken in but letting them out is a whole different thing. Any good tailor can alter it to look prefect on you. Save yourself the stress of having to worry about if it is going to fit or not. I'm sure you will have no problems losing any weight that you want but you don't need the added stress of them trying to take out a dress. Good luck and Congrats!!!!

Talk to the consultants at the bridal salon. I'm sure they see this all the time.

My niece got a gown from David's Bridal. Ordered it when she was a size 12, and was a size 4 by her wedding! They ordered a new gown at no extra charge, since it was too much of a difference to alter.

I wouldn't advice ordering something too small, because we don't often know exactly HOW our bodies are going to lose weight. It's not always uniform, especially if we're exercising, our proportions change. I know my silhouette is vastly different than they were last time I was this weight. I was always pear shaped, now I'm more balanced.

I honestly would not buy a dress that is smaller than what you are now. You are going to become stressed out as the wedding approaches and even though you're on track now, you don't need the added stress of worrying whether or not you'll make your goal weight by May.

I just got married in April this year. I bought my dress at a sale back in July of 2010. It was a size 14. It was tight on me when I bought it. I lost about 20 lbs between then and the wedding. I went in for my first fitting in January. Then, I had a fitting two weeks before the wedding. I reached my goal weight in time, and it helped that I knew the dress could be taken in.

Even then, as soon as I brought that dress home... even though it was only 1 week before the wedding... that last week, I thought I was gaining weight every day. Every morning I woke up thinking, "I'm not going to fit into this dress". You want to give yourself less to worry about. Not more. If you start with a dress that doesn't fit, you're going to be incredibly stressed and obsessed over your weight and it's going to make it harder, not easier to lose.

And a dress can be taken in much more easily than it can be let out. So shop around. Find something that fits you now, but ask about alterations. Find out how easily that style can be altered. If it's simple to do, don't worry. Buy it and get it taken in closer to the day.

Good luck!

I bought a dress 9 days before my wedding.

You can make it work somehow

I'm currently a size 16, getting married in June 2012. I have began dress shopping so that I know what style and cuts look good on me, what I'm really looking for in a dress, etc. I think I've found *the* dress at this point, but there is no way I'm going to know what size I'll be when it comes time to get the dress altered. If you get a smaller size and you don't lose the weight, you will not be able to alter it to a larger size. If you get the dress too big it will cost as much as a new dress (in some cases!) to alter it smaller.

I've been working with one salon in particular (you will find one that fits your speed, vibe, and budget), who has advised with me about the absolute latest date I can order the dress, and the drop-dead date for starting alterations. Basically I will have to order my dress in March, it will arrive in April, and I will have alterations done then. No matter what size I am, I will have to go in to maintenance mode from April to June for the dress to fit properly. (which means I have from now until March, April 1 at the VERY latest to get as close to goal as possible!!).

I really do think it's important to get a feel for the dresses that suit your personality best now, and make necessary adjustments as you go along. I will also be doing fittings every six weeks or so of the sample dress that is "THE" dress so that if I get to a much smaller size, and I really start to feel this dress isn't the right one, I'll have time to refocus.