Looking Good, Feeling Great - Wedding dress dilema!

I have just delved into healthy living and a weightloss regime a few months ago. Also, recently I have gotten ENGAGED! YAY!! The wedding is planned for July 2009. I want to be on the ball and organized as much as I can for the wedding but I have a problem concerning my wedding dress.
My goal is to lose 100 or so pounds and I don't know what weight/size I will be at the time ofthe wedding.

When should I order my dress? Should I put a hold on the weight loss and siply maintain for the months prior to my wedding? Has anyone had this experience themselves?

i would absolutely wait as long as you can away get with. good luck and congrats

Congratulations on your engagement!
The good news is you still have plenty of time. I would say don't even worry about your dress for the next 9 months, just focus on weight loss. Of course you can look and think about what styles you like!
Then you still have 6 months to order and have it fitted. I got married last summer and my wedding dress had a lace up back. It had no buttons or zippers and was really pretty. It was especially nice because I didn't have to worry about losing or gaining several pounds. I could have lost or gained quite a bit and still fit nicely without having to get alterations that cost a fortune!
Good luck! You will be a beautiful bride!
Beth

I bought my wedding dress 4 months before the wedding so you do have time. I even bought it tight (a big risk but hey).

I bought my dress 6 months before the wedding, in a size 18W. When I got married, I was a size 10...but I was able to get it altered. Sure, the alterations were expensive, but it was a big rush getting the dress taken in so many times (I also made some design changes to the dress that made it more expensive than it might have been otherwise).

That will depend on where you order your dress. I used to work in bridal sales and some manufacturers take 3 month to get the dress shipped to the store. I would order at least six months out if you are going for a traditional gown. You be surprised at how much a dress can be altered down.

If you are going the non-traditional route you can wait a while longer. I bought my dress during winter formal season (4 months prior to the wedding.) I didn't want a train so my ivory Jessica McClintock was perfect for me.

Congratulations on your engagement!

Then you still have 6 months to order and have it fitted. I got married last summer and my wedding dress had a lace up back. It had no buttons or zippers and was really pretty. It was especially nice because I didn't have to worry about losing or gaining several pounds. I could have lost or gained quite a bit and still fit nicely without having to get alterations that cost a fortune!

Beth

Ok. good. You've put me at ease. The one that i have my eye on at the moment is a tie up one. So so far, so good! I'm new at all this wedding stuff so thanks a bunch for the advice. As long i'm 6 or so months before the wedding I should be ok! Have a good one!!

Wait as long as you possibly can and then determine your "size" by your measurements since each dress is different. One maker of a size 10 dress feels like an 8 in another or a 12 in yet another!

Congratulations!

You will be a stunning Bride!

I agree with all of the comments...also if you know where you are going to be getting your dress, I would ask them how long they require for a dress to arrive once ordered, most will have a standard time, although most designers will have their own timeline. But you may surprise yourself and find a floor model that you LOVE and be able to take it when your ready with a NICE discount like I did......

Ditto all the above, AND, go to bridal shops starting maybe in January/February and look at styles, try them on, find what the particulars are that you like---ex-neckline, type of sleeve, train or no train, etc. Take someone with you and take pictures of yourself in the various styles.
Ask the shops how long they need to get you a dress.
Then go back as your size goes down and try things on again, but this time you will have narrowed your selections.
I would also say to try things on, they look so different on than they do on the hanger or on the models in the catalogs.
My DD worked at David's Bridal and was able to help me choose and had one of their alterations specialist change a few things on the design for me.
You also could find a seamstress and have one custom made.
I wish I had done this. There were 2 dresses in the catalog that I loved, but they did not come in plus sizes, so I found something else. If I had thought about it, I would have taken the catalog picture to a seamstress and tried to get one made.
Have fun with it and congrats!!!

PS- The Knot .com has some very helpful planning tools for free.

I got engaged last October, and we set the date right away for October 2008. Most people told me I could probably wait until 5-6 months before the wedding to get my dress, but I'm sure glad I didn't. I went dress shopping right after New Years, and ended up ordering a dress then. I bought it from a local boutique who had to order the dress for me. They told me it could take anywhere from 3-5 months just for the dress to come to the shop, so I'm really glad I ordered it when I did. I have heard that major chains like David's Bridal get dresses in faster, but I also think it depends on the designer. So, you are getting married in July 2009 - I would start looking around the end of this year, and I wouldn't wait much longer than January-February to order your dress - maybe even sooner than that. It might be a good idea to look around this year at where you think you might shop, and go to those places and ask how long it normally takes for a dress to come in, then you can go based on that. I understand you want to wait as long as possible since you are still losing weight, but don't wait too long. Another thing - DO NOT order the dress for the size you THINK you might be around your wedding date -order the dress in the size you fit into in the store (the people who work there can help you decide what size you are, because I found that wedding dress sizes run much larger than regular clothes - I had to order mine in a 14 when I was already wearing a size 10 in regular clothes). You can always have it taken in when you get closer to your wedding if you are smaller (which I have no doubt you will do great on losing the weight!) and it is much much harder to make a dress bigger. It seems like a lot of brides order the dress in the size they think or want to be for the wedding, and if that wedding comes around and you aren't that size, it isn't going to be pleasant.

Good luck with everything! and congrats! make sure you take your time with planning and make it fun!

I will add my own two cents here...I think it depends on your budget. If you have the money to have a dress designed for you or made special then you might have to start much earlier. When I bought my dress I bought it about four months before the wedding, but I just went and got it off the rack in a shop. It didn't fit in the chest (I have really small breasts for my weight unfortunately) and they altered it for me. One alteration was part of the package or something like that and the alteration only took about one or two weeks as I recall. It was not time at all.
But my point is if you are buying a pre-made dress from a bridal shop I think you can wait until only a few months before the wedding. I don't know anything about custom dresses though, so if you are going that route I can't help. Ha.

I got my dress about a month before the wedding. Yeah, I procrastinated like crazy. I bought one off the rack that was altered like crazy to fit me (i'm only 4'9" so i had an awesome dress maker alter it for me). But I loved it and I got a $5,000 dress for $1,200! Who says procrastinating doesn't pay? It was tight. REALLY tight. But I survived. :D

Heyo :)
My mom was a Wedding Gown Alterationist during my impressionable years, and I've gotta say: that Woman could work WONDERS! If you find the dress of your dreams, I'd say talk with the alterationist at the store and ask how many sizes down you could take the dress without it messing with the beadwork, overall design of the dress, and the neckline/armholes.

You'll want to be aware: if you want sleeves on your dress, I'd wait as LONG as possible until you're closer to your goal and date. If you think about it: if you look at a 3X t-shirt vs. a Medium t-shirt, The arm holes are MUCH different sizes. And, when you get into the "X's", they cut the arms wider as well as deeper to accommodate the lower armpit.

If you're going to go for a strapped or strapless dress, you'll have little to no issue with this, though! ;)

If you went to a wedding dress designer to custom-make a dress for you, s/he would be able to make muslin mock-ups of dresses for you to try on, then make a dress fairly last minute. (this is easiest if it's a simple design with little to no beading). They would also be accommodating to your weight-loss journey! (and if you requested it, you could ask to keep the muslin mock-up dresses afterwards so you could see your journey that way, too! Nifty!!)

My last idea, though this is the most risky: Is to wait for a Wedding Expo. My girlfriend bought a $4,000 dress for $850 AND got a free Veil!--Brand New dress, not even a Sampler! It fits her beautifully. She bought it in February and she's getting married in August.

Congrats on the Engagement!! I know you're going to look gorgeous!

CONGRATS! Depending upon the designer of the dress, it could take between 3-6 months for your dress to arrive.

If you haven't picked out a style yet, I suggest you look for a dress that has a corset in the back. I wouldn't order a dress that couldn't be altered at least 1-2 sizes (if needed) but the corset would definitely come in handy!

Good luck with everything! :wave:

I had a friend who this happened to. She lost 100 pounds before her wedding and still now 5 years later she is still maintaining !!!! YEAH Peggy !!!!!!
She went to a very expensive and posh bridal shop, just for information, about 14 months before wedding. They helped her with answering her HUNDREDS of questions. What they told her was, DO NOT GET a design in mind. WAIT until the weight comes off. They advised her NOT to go strapless because her arms may not be "toned" enough, (and they were right) they told her to come in 4 months before the wedding and they only showed her dresses that could be ordered within that time and also dresses that could easily be altered that would not change the design of the dress when finished with alterations. This salon also had all the undergarments a bride would need. So with the perfect dress, came the perfect bra, which all of us know how important that is.
She went from a size 26 down to a size 10 and the wedding dress she picked made her waist look like a size 22" and she had a long lace sleeve,(it was June) that hid her "untoned" arms (they are now toned 5 years later) She paid a bit more by going to a very expensive salon but she looked amazing and they helped her choose the perfect dress and their seamstresses were top notch.
I think if you are going to work so darn hard to lose 100 pounds you should treat yourself by getting the best advise out there.
Let me add that 5 years later, Peggy's before and after photos are still hanging in this Bridal Salon. She looked like a princess and couldn't have picked a more perfect gown to accent her small waist and hide her flaws.
GOOD LUCK !!
Suzy

I picked out my dress 8 months before my wedding; I got a lace up back and talked to them about me weight loss. They didn't believe me when I said I was going to lose 40 pounds before the wedding. I went back 3 months later and was down 40 pounds! They were shocked, but had no problem taking in the dress. They did have to take in the bust:( so I had to get a special bra to fit the dress.
You can do it!

I'm getting married in July 2009 too and I will be getting my dress in Feb/March I have a long way to go with my weight loss but do not want to pay to get another dress if I don't like it when my body changes. I would wait until you are almost at your goal.

I just wanted to add my opinion. I got married on 6/7/08.
Wedding dress sizes DO NOT correlate with your pant sizes. Believe me.

I had seen a dress and tried it on in the store that I LOVED. However, it was not in my price range. I was surfing Ebay one day and found it! I ordered my dress off of Ebay. It a brand new Alfred Angelo dress that had been ordered at a boutique and the bride never came for it. I got a $900 dress for $265 including shipping. IT HAD NEVER EVEN BEEN TRIED ON!!! I was between a 20-22 the dress on the net was a 26. It came and I tried it on. It was a little big. This happened last August.

May came and I had lost 42lbs and the dress completely hung off of me. It was wayyyyy too big. So I went to the local seamstress she took a total of about 15 in out of the dress and it cost me about $60. However, I do live in a small town and I think I got a deal on the alterations.

So my advice to you is buy it to fit you now. You can always go smaller but very rarely can you go bigger. It also feels nice when they have to cut 15 inches out of a dress because of the hard work you have done! :)

Also, check the fashion bug and target websites. I discovered during my planning that they have GORGEOUS dresses for less than $200. Just search for "Bridal".

Hope I've helped!