How Soon to Order Your Wedding Gown
One of the most exciting parts of wedding planning is finding the right dress to make you feel your most beautiful and confident on your wedding day. Even if you feel like your wedding day is a long way off, you’ll want to start searching for your dress earlier than you think to ensure you have time for the dress to come in and to have all of your fittings to ensure the best fit on your wedding day. To help you determine when you should start shopping, here’s a few of our general suggestions for brides as they embark on their journey for the perfect wedding dress.
Over the past year, aside from covid affecting wedding dates, venues, and guest lists, it has also impacted the timeline for brides to order a dress. Shipping and supply changes have pushed the timeline, meaning if you plan on purchasing a made-to-order wedding gown, you’ll need about 6-8 months for the entire process. The dress needs to be constructed and sewn for you, and depending on how intricate your dress is, the embroidery and lace could take several weeks to put together.
If you’re on a tighter timeline, we highly recommend shopping off the rack. If the dress fits, purchasing off the rack is not only cheaper, but saves months of time waiting on your dress to come in. This also means you’ll be extra excited about the dress—you’ve seen THE dress on, you’ve loved it, and you know exactly how you’ll feel on your wedding day.
Whether you purchase made-to-order or off-the-rack, you’ll need roughly six weeks for fittings prior to your wedding. These fittings ensure your dress fits perfectly on your wedding day so that you’re comfortable throughout the day and don’t have to worry about any wardrobe mishaps. Typically, it’s recommended that you have your first fitting 6 weeks out for any significant changes to your dress, your second 4 weeks out for minor adjustments (we also recommend having accessories chosen at this point, so you can see the whole look), and your final fitting at 2 weeks to be sure everything is fitting just right.
Finding the wedding dress of your dreams takes time and patience, but doesn’t need to be a stressful experience! If you need to start your search for the perfect gown, book an appointment with us at For The Bride and let us help you find the perfect dress.