Wedding dress drama

[Chuckitinthefuckitbucket]

I get married at the end of November this year. I'm currently losing a lot of weight, I'm currently 18.10 stone and have lost 2 stone in the past 2 months (im on a vlcd and being monitored by my doctor).
Everyone's telling me I have to get myself to a bridal shop asap because I've got to give them 6 months notice, but what's the point of I'm losing on average a stone a month?
I'm now panicking, where can I get my dress from?
Monsoon, phase eight and John Lewis have some nice ones but they tend to be aimed at rather slim ladies and although I'll be less heavy than I am now, I'm going to be far from skinny.
Do any bridal shops have sample dresses etc that don't need to be ordered, how long would I need to get ones of these?
And could I buy a second hand dress from somewhere like "still white" and get it altered?
I realised I've asked a whole lot of questions there but I really would appreciate some help :)

Chuckit I'm don't have an answer, I'm afraid, but just spotted that no one has answered your post. It might be worth reposting in Style and Beauty.

People love finding wedding dresses...

I'm a size 24, bought a sample size dress and could have walked away with it that day (but I got them store it for 9 months until the wedding). Look for plus size bridal stockists and make sure they stock actual plus size ranges, so you are buying something designed for 16+, rather than just a scaled up size 10. Go and look now and try some stuff on to get an idea of what you like. I had an idea in my head of what I wanted and ended up with almost the complete opposite!

Oh and I still got alterations done as I also lost weight, it only took a week. Some stores have in-house alteration people and they can tell you how much a dress can be taken in. My step DIL bought a size 18 sale dress and had it altered to a 12/14 just before the wedding.

Go to a dress maker, tell them your plan and see if they can help and give you an idea of timelines. You can choose the style, pattern, fabric and the have the dress made maybe 6 weeks before hand, if it's on their schedule they can plan round it.

Debenhams and BHS have some nice dresses, or some shops will have sample dresses in 'plus sizes' (anything over a 10 is a plus in their world), or of course you can do ebay where there are loads of lovely dresses.

To allow for alterations, you'll need to have bought a dress 2 months ahead of the wedding, so it might be worth thinking of a dress with a corset back which gives you a bit more adjustment than a zip

Thanks everyone. I've been thinking about buying a sample dress a couple of months before the wedding, like suggested a corset so I can carry in losing weight. I've found one company called house of mooshki who can make dresses in 1 month, they do look lovely too.
A big part of me wants to go into a bridal shop just to see what id look like but I'm too nervous. It's shallow and sad but I'm worried I'll look hideous and be embarrassed because nothing fits. I've found one dress shop locally I know someone who's in the larger side got hers from, I'm just being pathetic!

I got mine at an outlet, just south of Leicester. Wedding dress factory outlet or something like that. Straight forward, took it home that day. Cheaper too!

youll be able to find one nearer the date, no problem.

Maybe get an 'off the rack' dress. I bought mine with 6 months to go - but only because I was impatient. She let me take the dress away that day! The bonus was it was only £490!

I live abroad and on a trip back to UK went to a bridal shop which stocked larger sizes. I chose a dress off the rail, they pinned the length, had it taken up, my mum collected it and few weeks later and that was it. I had already found a pair of shoes, this is important so that they know how long the dress should be. good luck!

Lots of people lose weight before their wedding, you'll have several fittings before the big day and alterations can be made.

I agree indie dress maker is your best bet. Hopefully they can find styles you like.

This 6-8 month malarky only makes sense when items need to be sent off for batch altering or you've got very exacting ideas about precise colours & styles.

Im getting married on 31st july and havent looked at dresses yet... Ive got an appointment for this wednesday at a bridal shop that sells off-the-rack dresses (im dreading it!!!) My friend bought her dress 3 weeks before her wedding from the same shop and looked stunning.

I went wedding dress shopping 9 months pregnant and was 5 months post partum at my wedding. They can work around weight loss, the most important thing is to find the style you like.