Why You Should Buy Your Wedding Dress Five Months In Advance
We know what youre thinking – five months? That seems way early! But, buying a wedding dress online isnt as simple as just adding a product to your cart and getting it shipped to your door. The vast majority of dresses we sell are made to order. That means we need additional time to ensure it fits you perfectly. You want to look and feel your absolute best as you walk down the aisle, right?
This 5-month cushion also allows additional time for delays in transit. While typical bridal salons will deliver your dress within 5-6 months, we can get yours to your door in as little as 12 weeks!
Since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, shipping times have skyrocketed. You need to account for that. And, you want to have ample time to make alterations if theyre necessary. We are confident well craft your dress to perfection. But if your figure changes or you make an audible last minute, you need time to make it all happen.
Its also worth noting that if you want to take bridal portraits, you need to have your dress in hand extra early. All things considered, you may want to start shopping even earlier than 5 months if you want to eliminate any sort of stress around your dress.
Work With A Personal Bridal Stylist
Working with a personal bridal stylist can be a tremendous help to you as you navigate wedding dress shopping! A bridal stylist does more for you than a standard salesperson does. A personal bridal stylist is basically your right-hand throughout the entire process. They will help you navigate the entire journey of finding your dress. This includes:
- Helping you figure out what styles/silhouettes make you feel the most confident & beautiful
- Making sure youre ready to say yes to the dress
- Helping you plan for alterations
- Making sure that your dress is steamed and ready for your big day
- Helping you take care of cleaning and preservation once youre married
When To Purchase A Custom
If you want to purchase a gown made especially for you, you should look at locking this in between 9 and 12 months before your wedding day. This will give you enough time to discuss your vision with your designer as well as give them enough time to put the dress together.
Custom-made wedding dresses usually take around 6 months to design and customise. You should also factor in dress fittings before and after your design is made from scratch for that extra time.
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How Long Does It Take To Get A Wedding Dress Altered
3 Months to Go. Youll most likely have three fittings to get your dress altered to fit you perfectly. Its important to get the timing of each alterations appointment right. Have your fittings too early and you may end up with a dress that doesnt fit properlyyou may lose or gain weight after your gown is altered.
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Video: When Should I Start Wedding Dress Shopping
This blog post has all of the information that brides need about shopping for a wedding dress when it comes to ordering timelines. However, we know that many of you like to watch your planning advice. Our Wedding Fashion Expert has a helpful video outlining everything brides need to know about wedding dress ordering timelines…
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Why Does Buying A Wedding Dress Take So Long
Wedding dress shopping takes time because it is such a big event in your life. Its the one item of clothing that you will wear just once, so finding something perfect takes time.
Most brides dont know what style they are looking for when they start their search. This means you need to try on different style gowns to find something that matches your style.
In many cases, brides will go against all of their instincts and choose something completely out of character, with absolutely stunning results. Theres nothing quite like the shy bride-to-be choosing a sexy mermaid tail dress or the girl convinced shes going to choose layers and layers of tulle reaching for a simple silk slip dress.
Trying on lots and lots of styles is the only way to find your dream dress. If you leave your dress shopping to the last minute, youll be searching in a stress-fuelled haze, and this can cloud your judgement. Not to mention it can suck all of the fun out of the experience!
Many Different Prices Will Be Available
Brides should expect to pay anywhere from $50 to $200 if they need minor revisions, but this price can quickly rise if additional or significant changes are made.
Keep in mind the difference between what must be done and what would be nice to have done when deciding how much to spend on wedding dress alteration.
Your bridal salon could also be a good source of information on how much to budget for dress changes.
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Surround Yourself With Positive People
Much like picking bridesmaids, you should pick your wedding dress shopping crew based on how good they make you feel.
Dont feel obliged to bring along certain family or friends just because they brought you to their fittings or if they asked to be invited. No, you need a small entourage who you trust to tell you when something just isnt right and to boost you up when you need that little bit of encouragement.
Are You The Right Fit For Custom
Customizations and the costs associated with them come at the discretion of each individual brand and designer. If you want a change made to a dress, it never hurts to ask, but be prepared for the changes you want to make to render the gown a custom piece, which automatically kicks the price up a notch, or 10.
The process of designing a custom wedding gown is long and requires vision, patience, and a true understanding of what you wantalong with ample imagination. You likely will not see your completed wedding gown until your first fitting, so trust in your chosen designer is essential. A bride with a clear vision, and one who has enlisted the help of a stylist, is typically best suited for this process. The bride who tends to be indecisive or impulsive with fashion is not right for the custom design processand that’s okay.
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When To Order Bridesmaid Dresses
Bella Philly / Stephania Campos
About six months before the wedding, youll need to make a final decision on the bridesmaid dress that you want your girls to wear. It usually takes between two and three months for dresses to arrive, so you need to leave enough time for alterations.
Whether theyre wearing the same dress or different styles in the same color palette, be sure to order all of your bridesmaid dresses at the same time. That way, youll know that all of the fabric for all of your dresses will be in the same dye lot. If you order your dresses at different times, you run the risk of colors not being a perfect match.
Shop our bridesmaid dress collection online:
About four to six weeks after ordering your dresses, make sure your bridesmaids order their shoes and undergarments as well. This is usually plenty of time to receive those items in advance of the first fitting.
Why is this so important?
Because theyll need their shoes, bra, and undies for their first fitting in order to get the bust measurements and hem length just right.
If youre having your bridesmaids wear strapless necklines, stress that they need to wear strapless bras. Those bras with clear straps just dont cut it for a wedding!
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Bring The Right Bridal Accessories
For your first fitting, bring the shoes and undergarments you plan to wear on your wedding day, as these can greatly impact the fit of your gown. Donning a pair of sky-high stilettos will require your wedding dress hemline to be a different length than if you’re opting for a pair of sparkly bridal sneakers or flats. Another pro tip for bridal alterations? To ensure your dress is tailored to the exact fit you want while walking down the aisle, be sure to come prepared with the shapewear, undergarments and jewelry you plan to wear on the big day.
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Your Wedding Dress Is Made Upon Ordering
Once you say yes to the dress, well get to work crafting your dress with immaculate attention to detail. These gowns are typically made to order. This is how we get you a fit and feel that leaves you feeling amazing. And as you can imagine, this process takes time. You cant rush perfection, after all! Keep in mind you will still need alterations – more on that later.
From A Bridal Dress Shop
If you are interested in a wedding dress from a bridal boutique or salon, you will have to order your dress in advance. Typically, around 9 months before your wedding. You’ll go into the store , try dresses on until you find “the one,” and then you’ll place the order for the dress you want. At that time, the shop will tell you how long it will take for your dress to arrive.
You should start your wedding dress research as early as possible to give yourself the most options. Research can be online, in magazines, or going into different boutiques to try on dresses. When you find a dress or a designer that you want to try on in a magazine, on a blog or on a wedding website, you’ll have to research the boutiques in your area that carry that designer and that dress. Even if a shop carries a designer, you need to call ahead to make sure that they have the particular dress you want to try on. Not all shops carry all styles of every single designer.
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Will My Wedding Dress Fit If I Lose Weight
You should never order a more petite wedding dress and then plan to lose weight before your big day. This is far too much pressure, and there are no guarantees that you will lose weight in time.
Instead, rely on last-minute alterations to make sure the wedding dress fits correctly. Its simple to take in a wedding dress if you are successful in your weight loss goals, but its far more challenging to make a small dress larger.
No bride should ever be made to feel that they have to lose weight before their big day. We offer a stunning selection of plus size wedding dresses that will help fulfil your wedding dress dreams without a crash diet or HIIT workout insight.
Location Accommodation And Activity Details
It is crucial for you to include directions to the wedding venue and reception. You do not want your guests to arrive late to your wedding because they got lost. It is a very useful feature especially if you are planning a destination wedding and no one knows the area.
Maps and links to the venue and accommodation help guests prepare themselves for your wedding. It is a good idea to add activities that family and friends can enjoy while visiting the area.
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Dont Buy Based On An Incentive
Do your best not to buy a dress based on what size you think your body will be at on your wedding day . Its always easier for a seamstress to take a dress in rather than to let it out! Also, trust the recommendations of your stylist. They are pros at taking measurements for wedding dresses they arent going to steer you wrong! Keep in mind that your bridal size is most likely going to be a larger size than what you wear in everyday clothes, too.
Best Time Of Year To Buy Your Wedding Dress
When to buy a wedding dress depends on when youre wedding is scheduled, of course, as you need time for fittings and alterations. But many brides are on a tight budget and want to know what the best time of year is to buy wedding dresses. Different seasons may bring different pricing, new styles, bargains, and more.
Wedding industry experts largely agree that to buy a wedding dress. There are a few reasons for this trend.
Many couples get engaged around the holiday season, so January is a popular time for newly engaged couples. The wedding industry knows this, so January is also the month when designers often drop new collections and offer discounted pricing on their previous collections. There is plenty of new inventory in January to choose from, meaning sample sales and discounts galore.
Another reason that January is a great time to shop for your wedding dress is that it might fit into your wedding timeline. Summer and fall are extremely popular wedding seasons.
For summer brides, January is crunch time for wedding dress shopping, as youll still have roughly 6 months until your summer wedding. For autumn brides, January is right on schedule to start shopping and you might find amazing deals!
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Wedding Dress Alterations Require Special Attention
Even though every bride, wedding, and dress is unique, there are a few things to bear in mind as you plan your big day. Almost every bride has her wedding dress altered, even if she loved the way it looked the first time she tried it on.
This is an additional expense, but youre investing it to ensure that the dress youve spent so much money on looks and feels like a wedding gown, rather than just a dress. Keep these things in mind while you browse for a new dress and arrange your alteration appointments:
Bring A Family Member Or Close Friend To Your Fitting Sessions
Fitting sessions are often nerve-racking and a bit stressful. Bringing a friend or family member along usually makes the process easier and calms your nerves. They can help you decide the best alterations for your dress and document the once-in-a-lifetime experience. Plus, its always nice to have support when making such big decisions.
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Weeks Before Your Wedding
If you want to include these sweet traditions in your ensemble, it’s a good idea to have them ready to go before your final fitting. For example, if you’re planning to sew a blue ribbon or other keepsake to the inside of your dress, you can ask your seamstress to do it while they’re making the rest of the alterations.
Schedule your second alterations fitting.
The second fitting is your chance to make smaller tweaks to your wedding dress, like taking in the bodice or perfecting the hem length. During this fitting, you’ll also want to make sure there’s no obvious bunching or pulling anywhere on the dress. Move around the salon in your gownsit down, stand up and practice some dance moves while you’re at it. This will help you test that the fit is right and comfortable so you can easily get around . You’ll be wearing your dress for 10 or 12 hours on your wedding day, so if something feels wrong, now is the time to speak up.
Connecting With A Bridal Consultant To Plan Your Dress
If you want to increase your chances of finding a dress you adore fast, you need to match up with a bridal consultant at Avery Austin. Dress shopping can be intimidating – after all, this is probably your first time doing it. Thats why you should leverage the help of our experts. With over 30 years of experience in the bridal industry, were here to help guide you through this complicated process. You dont have to do it on your own – weve got this!
Well work together to go over the details of your wedding and learn your specific style preferences. This information will prove invaluable as we help you build your try-at-home box – which is step 2.
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Be Selective When Choosing Your Entourage
Its proper wedding dress fitting etiquette to bring only one or two close friends or family members to get a second opinion. Just like dress shopping, you want to avoid bringing too many peopleall those opinions will stress you out and make the tailors job that much more difficult. At the last fitting, bring at least one person who will be helping you get ready on the wedding daythe seamstress will want to show them how to zip you up, lace your corset, or bustle your train.
Wedding Dress Alterations: How Much Should You Expect To Spend
In the case of wedding dress alterations, it is critical to remember that not all alterations are created equal. In general, a gown or beading can cost between $200 and $250, but a change in design, such as a new neckline or a reshaping of the silhouette, can cost several hundred dollars. Depending on the salon and the requested changes, a flat fee of $500 to $700 is typically charged. It is critical to understand that not all salons are created equal when it comes to altering a wedding gown. Tailoring services can range from a flat fee of $500 or less to a fee of up to $700 or more. When choosing a salon, make sure to ask about the standard alterations fee, as this can help you get the best deal. A wedding gown can take up to four weeks to be altered, but the process typically takes two to three fittings. One of these is the most common and lasts an hour. When you are deciding whether or not to have your wedding gown altered, you should consider the cost of the changes as well as how long they will take. Always budget appropriately for the services you require.
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