Concerned Bride About Dress Size

It is recommended that you buy the dress in the size you are now rather than the size you want to be. Unfortunately, you don't always lose the weight that you intend on losing. I would agree with your sister that you want to start dress shopping at least nine months in advance. Dresses take months to come in and because of Covid they taking even longer than normal.

Hi there! I would recommend buying it in your current size. It can always be taken in as your progress on your weight loss journey! I’m not a professional seamstress, but I believe 30 pounds is in the range where they could alter the dress (instead of having to buy a new dress or something). I was advised to begin the fitting process about 3 months in advance, so that gives you more time after purchasing and before the first fitting! Many brides are stressed before the wedding, so it might be less stressful to play it on the safe side....instead of “oh my goodness, will the dress fit?!?” crisis at the last minute.

I think it is always recommended that you purchase the dress in the size you are the day you choose it. That’s likely because many brides say they are going to lose weight before their weddings, then don’t. And it is much easier to take in a dress, than let one out. That being said, I did not follow that suggestion LOL My goal is to be 2-3 sizes smaller by my wedding, but I was nervous ordering it that much smaller, just in case I didn’t hit my goal. Instead, I ordered it one size smaller. I figured that would force me to get serious about weight loss, and one size is more attainable than 2-3 sizes. And if I did end up losing that much weight, it would be easier to take the dress in a size or two, rather than 3+

Your sister is pretty spot-on in terms of timing. You want to make sure you allow plenty of time for production (not unusual for it to take 6 months depending on the dress) and alterations, which usually begin about 2 months before the wedding date. Best advice is to buy for the size you are now, not for the size you want to be. It is MUCH easier for a seamstress to take a dress in versus let one out. At 30lbs, you are talking 1-2 dress sizes, which is generally within their abilities.

Hey, wedding date twin! Since you've got nearly a year before the wedding, you can definitely try to work on your weight loss before dress shopping. You can do a lot in 3 months time! At that point, you may already be closer to your goal by the time you actually need to buy a dress. Just buy it based on what fits you in 3 months, and then they can take it in before the wedding if you lose any more weight. I think most dresses can easily be taken in 2 sizes, but it is harder to let them out, since it requires adding fabric. I would pick a dress that makes you feel good even without weightloss, and you can still love it after you lose weight, too!

I had a 5 month total engagement, and 4 of my brothers and sisters had 4-7. We had no trouble getting Maggie Sottero and Jasmine Bridal and Madeline Gardner and Sophia tolli Dresses. Every one in the line may not have been available, because some sellout and if being discontinued, they take no more orders. Azazie was not around then, theirs are available late. My sister had to pay rush shipping to get hers a month before the wedding, ordered just less than 4 months out. I didn't, got my maggie 6 weeks before the wedding, ordered at 4.5 months. I did not choose one, but Maggie Sottero has a line of dresses you can order on a short timeline, 5 months definitely. Davids, and most salons, have some dresses in the salon you can walk out with. ... I used to work in the industry. Something a lot of people don't understand is that bridal gowns are not entirely first come, first served. High end dresses may have a lot of hand work and detailing, and are not made much til ordered. Under $2000 gowns, they push you to buy early, before they are gone. If you go in at 9 months they will tell you order within a month or less, or forget it. At 8 months and 7 months they are saying the same, or order in 2 weeks. At 6 weeks, buy now. Yhis keeps production lines flowing smoothly, not all in a rush then layoffs. If keeps salons from being overwhelmed with fittings and alterations in busy months. But in the end, they want your order. At least to 5 months, sometimes 4, if you go in and want to order the dress today, they call to check production. If enough are in production, the dress you order at 4-5 months , is not what you get. They aim to get everyone their gown 6 weeks before their wedding. So a dress that was ordered, put in production 4 months ago for someone with a wedding in a year, will go to the one who ordered at 4-5 months. And months from now, the one put in production orders now because of your order , will be available for someone who ordered months back, one who ordered way early, whose dress got diverted to you. They don't deal with specific people except for custom work. It is how many dresses have gone into the pipeline of production, and having one for every person 4-6 weeks ahead. December is a low demand month. Lose 6-7 pounds a month, very doable. In May, at least 25 pounds lighter, go shopping. If you have the resolve now till May, at 6 months out, there will be an awful lot of dresses for every major brand, low end, still available. And every dress Azazie makes. And a huge number off the rack. Don't just diet. Walk a mile of two if you have to. Good luck.

I wasn't even engaged for 9 months - we were engaged for 6 months and 1 day - so it was 5 1/2 months before my wedding that I bought my dress. Regardless, you should buy your dress for your current size, not a hoped for size - it's easier for them to take a dress in than it is to let it out (and sometimes it becomes impossible to let it out).

I tookthe risk and bought a dress at my weight loss size. This pushed me harder to do it bc if I didn't then I would be SOL.



Luckily, I achieved my weight loss goal in 2 to 3 months, mind you, I only wanted to lose 15lbs so thats galf the amount of your goal. Perhaps you could buy a dress that's only one size down?

I bought the size that I wanted to be. It was a risk for sure, but I feel that it has kept me more motivated. So far I am on track!

View Quoted Comment Thank you so much! This is all so helpful!

View Quoted Comment Well hi there wedding date twin! Thank you! I actually would love to double that weight loss # but I don’t want to overdo it. Already am 8# down from my goal! I think I’m going to wait until April to start dress shopping since my sister will be here for our other sisters baby shower. Hopefully I’m down more than 30# tho!


Best of luck to you on your special day. Thank you for commenting!

View Quoted Comment Good for you! It’s def a risk but def more motivational to lose the weight! Good luck to you ❤️

Yes I plan on loosing 20 pounds my wedding is in July but I had already gotten my dress because the way Covid is set up it’s taking longer for dresses to come back .I found my dress in October and it’s coming back the end of this month .My final alterations aren’t until may so it should be ok.

Definitely buy in your current size and try to get the weight off before your alterations. It's possible that losing 30lbs may not even change your dress size depending on where the weight drops from.


I bought my dress last January for my wedding this upcoming March. I've lost 30lbs but the only thing that changed is the top of my dress which was already too big (chest area). I go for my fitting next week but 30lbs off me didn't change my dress size

View Quoted Comment May I ask how many cup sizes did you decrease? I lost 15lbs and went from a DDD to a DD.

I lost 30 pounds right before my wedding and I would say I bought my dress with about ten pounds left to lose because depending on the type of dress you buy it may still fit even though your weight fluctuates or a seamstress can take it in. I bought mine about seven months before my wedding

I do recommend buying in your current size because I’d hate for you to stress about weight leading up to the wedding and it can always be taken in. If you order a dress you’ll want to order sooner than later. You could always buy off the rack and have the dress right away but that is easier said than done and you may not find something on a rack that you like.

View Quoted Comment I honestly haven't even checked to see if I could change bra sizes because my current bras still fit right now!

I agree with Judith. It's not 100% necessary to buy a dress 9 months in advance. I bought mine off the rack and took it home that day. Also, depending on your body size/shape 30 lbs is a lot of change and closer to 3 dress sizes (usually it's 10 lbs a size). Bridal consultants will tell you a dress can be taken in, but it's like a realtor saying you can knock down all the walls in a house. (They have no expertise in construction - a bridal consultant knows very little about alterations.) Maybe you can but it may costs a ton of money to fix. Dresses can be taken in, but you always risk losing the structure/shape of the dress. At some point the seamstress is essentially making a new dress (pulling out all the seams, removing fabric, taking off the details, and sewing it all back). Plus, it gets very expensive very quickly, and you need find a highly qualified seamstress. If you want a fitted mermaid or trumpet style dress, I would not plan on trying to take that style of dress in to accommodate 30 pounds. Based on the cost of alterations, you're likely better off losing weight, shopping 3-6 months before the wedding and paying to rush the dress. My friend lost 10 lbs before her wedding, bought her dress in her original size and it was still too big after alterations. Plus her dress was a A-line (not very fitted). Now her dress falls off her b/c she's lost 25 lbs.

View Quoted Comment This exactly! I was looking to see if anyone else thought this or saw this happen! Thank you.