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Original poster

Dress - When to buy?!

24 replies

RainyDayBear · 13/08/2017 18:11

DP and I are planning to get married at the end of next September. I'm pregnant and due at the start of February. I was planning to leave it until around June when I've shifted some baby weight, but I was speaking to two friends last night (one of who's currently planning a wedding) and both were horrified and said I should either start looking now (can't think of anything I want to do less at 14 weeks when I'm hideously bloated and am shattered) or go in March (again, no way will that be happening 4-8 weeks after I have a baby quite frankly!).

I'm going to ring a couple of local bridal shops and ask them, but surely 3.5 months should be enough time to get a dress ordered and get it altered, right? Or are my friends right, and I maybe reluctantly need to think about dress hunting sooner?

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Rioja123 · 13/08/2017 18:14

Dresses can take up to six months to come in so 3.5 is def not enough time.

Orangebird69 · 13/08/2017 18:14

It was a few years ago but my bridal shop needed 6 months to order... but that depends - will your dress be made to order or off the peg and altered etc?

Morewashingtodo · 13/08/2017 18:17

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Intransige · 13/08/2017 18:21

The problem is that everyone else orders their dresses miiiiles in advance, so the dress shop queue will be long. Same as venue bookings, caterers etc etc etc. Everything gets booked up.

You might be able to reserve a spot in the queue if you ask nicely and put down some kind of deposit in lieu of selecting a dress, although that would obviously mean choosing which shop.

That said, I would never have bought a wedding dress while pregnant for afterwards. My shape changed quite a lot as a result of pregnancy - my boobs were still huge when DD1 was seven months as I was still breastfeeding. My waist has sadly never quite returned to its pre-pregnancy size but my thighs and bottom are smaller than they used to be. Things that suited me pre-pregnancy don't suit me any more.

Original poster
RainyDayBear · 13/08/2017 18:23

Jesus, six months?! That's insane. I have no idea about off the peg or made to order (can you tell I've just started looking!) - what do most places do? Or is it generally a mix? There are a few nice bridal shops around here and I was just planning on going to one of those.

Thanks ladies, seems I may have to bite the bullet and go much earlier than I want to!

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ChorusLine69 · 13/08/2017 18:24

If you are open to buying one off the peg or a sample and get it altered that would be a solution. I agree with previous poster that your shape changes after pregnancy and so if you were to order it now you may not like it / it might not be right for you after you have had the baby

VivienneWestwoodsKnickers · 13/08/2017 18:31

Buy off the peg. Walk out with it under your arm. I got so pissed off with the gasps from bridal shops when I said I was getting arrived in 8 months and all the calculations for getting one in.

I bought mine from Wed2B in the end, much easier.

chantico · 13/08/2017 18:41

Do you have a good local seamstress?

If so, find out how long it would take them to do alterations - it's usually way quicker than arranging through the retailer.

Then you can shop: off-the-peg, second hand vintage, or just a fabulous dress you like that might not be marketed for weddings in the weeks before seamstress deadline. As you cannot predict what your post-partum body will be like, it seems counterproductive to look months in advance.

Original poster
RainyDayBear · 13/08/2017 18:43

Shape changing is a good point, this is my second pregnancy so no idea if it will be quite as drastic! But I do think looking now or looking soon after the birth would be a mistake. I would quite like to enjoy the process of choosing it and just don't think I would if I did it now or soon after the birth. Equally I'm not prepared to push back the wedding or anything over a bloody dress!

Off the peg is sounding like the most sensible choice to me. Do shops generally have a reasonable selection, or are most made to measure?

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Original poster
RainyDayBear · 13/08/2017 18:45

A friends grandmother is a seamstress, she's getting on a bit so need to find out if she's still taking work on. But if not there's a local shop that does alterations that I imagine I could book in advance to do them as a plan b!

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MaidenMotherCrone · 13/08/2017 19:17

Or you could have a dress made for you. Find a seamstress now, find a style/pics to show her and book to have one made.

I'm getting married next June and had a consultation last week. I have an appt with her to go and buy the fabrics next week. She will start making it in Feb which gives me lots of time to lose some weight and plenty of time for her to make it.

My dress will be made to measure and a one off. It is also much cheaper too.

It's been stress free so far and I haven't been anywhere near a bridal shop.

Original poster
RainyDayBear · 13/08/2017 21:30

Thanks all - really glad I asked this now. As a first port of call I've roped a friend into dress shopping with me this week, I don't think the pregnancy is quite showing enough to mean I won't get the overall effect of the dress . If not, you've given me a few other ideas. Thanks!

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Rioja123 · 13/08/2017 21:39

Where are you based? May be able to recommend dress shops

kel1234 · 13/08/2017 22:11

I was engaged for 3 months, and had literally 2 months from setting the date until the wedding day. And I was pregnant. I had to get a sample dress due to not enough time. (granted it was hardly tried on, and you'd never know it wasn't made for me, thanks to the absolutely brilliant bridal boutique seamstress). So I'd say no to it being enough time.

juneltae · 14/08/2017 03:00

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Graphista · 14/08/2017 03:42

I used to work in a bridal boutique. You can go high street/off the peg of course, but for it to fit well and be most flattering you need time and a bridal seamstress (most high street seamstresses let alone elderly people who are frail have little experience with the style or fabrics).

We had many brides come in at the last minute, sometimes out of naivety, but also because they had ordered online and received an ill-fitting monstrosity or an 'aunty' had screwed up the first dress they'd bought beyond rescue.

If you are wanting a very simple maxi style dress you can go high street. If you want anything resembling a traditional dress you have to go the proper route.

The reason it takes so long is because the dresses are usually made to order in the Far East and then shipped. Also the time you are getting married is just after peak wedding season (June - August) so. You'll be joining a long queue.

It doesn't sound as if you have anything really arrangèd. Celebrants, venues, reception venues, florists, stationers, entertainers, photographers etc the best ones can be booked up to 2 years in advance. The venue is the thing you have to get nailed down first so you have the date so you can book everything else.

Congratulations on both new baby and wedding Flowers

Original poster
RainyDayBear · 14/08/2017 10:42

Graphista Your comment about not really having anything arranged made me chuckle - you should see my colour coded spreadsheet!, it's a thing of beauty We have booked the venue so that's under control at least! I think we've arranged a lot considering I got engaged less than a month ago to be fair!

Based in West Yorkshire, a few places have already been recommended to me, but open to suggestions if anyone is local!

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Original poster
RainyDayBear · 14/08/2017 10:43

Apologies, apparently I can't use punctuation this morning, you can tell I've cut down on my caffeine since being pregnant!

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VivienneWestwoodsKnickers · 14/08/2017 10:46

www.wed2b.co.uk/locations/Yorkshire

Desperad0 · 14/08/2017 10:51

There is a big wedding dress shop in leeds that sell all end of line dresses. You let then know the names of a couple of styles you like and they have similar ones ready and then alter for you- that should be doable in your timeframe! I can't remeber the name but it's near the morrisons in armley

Desperad0 · 14/08/2017 10:52

actual sorry it's kirkstall- abbey brides or something I think

Sweetooth92 · 14/08/2017 10:53

I got married last August, Purchased my dress off the rail end of Feb, by June we were frantically contacting them to see if I could exchange for a size or two less as I'd lost weight and mine was beyond alteration. So I'd leave it late. Mine was also from wed2b. They were amazing and swapped it no problems and helped source it smaller. Fab service from them all the way through and I loved my dress, and was £400 rather than the £2000 others similar in other shops were and the experience was so much nicer for me (after leaving one dress shop having being told I was too large for a standard appointment and needed a plus size one! At a size 12)

Original poster
RainyDayBear · 14/08/2017 11:51

That's useful to know if I end up wanting to wait - will see how horrific it is trying on wedding dresses while pregnant this week!

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Original poster
RainyDayBear · 19/08/2017 19:23

Update: Dress shopping was actually a huge success, felt slightly like a lacy whale in a couple of them, but ended up finding a beautiful dress that I fell in love with, dragged my Mum back today to see it and get it ordered. Thank you for all your advice! It was reassuring to know that off the peg was a good plan B and that I could get a nice dress next year if I'd wanted to, made me feel a lot less pressured going shopping this week.

Am sure I'll be back on this forum for other queries!!

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