Dress shopping? June 2023 bride

A year out is usually the right time. That should give you plenty of time for shopping, production, and alterations, but also is not too soon that you are going to change your mind or style and have "dress regret" later on.

Im getting married March 2023 and probably will start doing actual appointments sometime next summer. Of course Im already looking online obsessively lol. I think I actually know exactly the dress I want and its really hard to wait. But I know I want to wait through spring collections being released since we're having a spring wedding.

I think giving yourself just over a year is really nice, if you can, but not actually necessary - most dresses take between 6-12 months to come in, and it would be awful to choose a dress that takes longer than you have, whereas there's less downside to storing a dress for a little bit longer.

I went shopping about 15 months out, and then we postponed 6 months due to covid. Yesterday was actually the 1st anniversary of me picking up my dress!

In my case, my dress was early - they said to expect it to be ready in late november, early december, and I thought with Christmas and new years, I'd probably pick it up around january, but then it ended up being available for collection on Halloween!

I chose my dress about 3-4 months before my big day. Main reason was because we decided to have it this month rather than March 2022. So, it was kind of crunch time for me. I suggest to still look around so you can see what you like and don't like. Depending on where you get it altered will determine when you need the dress done by. So keep in mind that because 2022 and 2023 is going to be a very busy year for weddings, try to make sure you can fit it within a reasonable time line. So, if you give yourself 6-12 months to find a dress and get it altered would be good.

I’m getting married February of 2023 and am starting to look this month! I wanted to give myself plenty of time to do the whole shopping experience, and am hoping to have a dress ordered by late December/early January!

I have mine already only because I fell in love when looking for styles I wanted! We booked our venue and that’s it so far! From what I read it’s about a year out due to alterations!

I started just to try to take advantage of the annual sales in October lol. I was given the advice from both shops to try to find a dress 12 months in advance with the current supply shortages and shipping delays as they are finding lead times have been taking a few months longer than usual.

I do however recommend not looking now (end of the year) as a lot of the shops are getting rid of their 2021 inventory to restock for the 2022 season(s), so it may be better to start in December or even January as dress availability will not be fluctuating so much.

Hi Carrie,

Wow, you are on the ball. Great job! We've booked our venue so far but it's all inclusive so we don't have to do too much. We're getting married June 24, 2023. I've been told to wait until 1 year prior to our wedding date before looking for dresses.

I had planned on waiting until the Spring to order a dress but I actually just ordered mine. I have 19 months to go but the sale was too good to pass up! I would suggest giving yourself a little over a year. 😊