How far in advance to schedule fittings?

You do NOT want to wait until 2 weeks before! First of all, you need to have appointments booked or no one will have time for you. But your first appointment needs to be before then (a consult at least) because it could take longer than that for them to get everything done. My first fitting was in June (early June) for my mid Sept wedding. Even that was cutting it close and we didn't have all that much to do. It's going to depend on a lot of things like how much work is needed, how busy the place is (which may depend on where you live), etc. But still that was 3.5 months and we barely made it. The salon actually squeezed me in since the place I was going at first screwed me over.

LOL, I read that as weeks. 2 months is less bad but IMO it's still not enough time. I think you at least need a consult before then and then the seamstress can tell you a timeline. I would personally be making calls NOW. You want to be in "line" so that they don't book up and not have a place for you.

My dress shop is scheduling the first fitting Dec of next year (2016), and I'm getting married in Jul of 2017.

I plan to have my first consult mid-late January, before I start traveling for work. I would do three months out to be safe.

My dress shop recommended doing my first fitting in January - so roughly 6 months out. They likely won't be able to get everything perfect in one shot because as you change the fit of certain areas it affects others. Doing the first fitting 6 months out will give them time to make adjustments and tweak as necessary until it's perfect!

I'm working with David's Bridal... I've been able to get an appt just about anytime.... I've had to cancel on them 3 times because I've been so busy.... they can always reschedule me. I'm getting married Dec 4th and going to my fitting on Nov 18th... No biggie with them!

Figure out which seamstress you want to use, and then contact her to see how early she books up. I used a fabulous woman who is the best in my area, and she books up weeks/months in advance. I initially called her two months before we'd even start fittings, because I knew that October is a busy wedding month. Can't hurt to prepare! I'm the kind of person who loses weight really fast when I get stressed, so we knew we'd need some extra late fittings. This was my timeline:

1st fitting - August 12

2nd fitting - September 7

3rd fitting - September 21

4th & final fitting - September 30 (she made changes over night, and I picked up October 1)

Wedding! - October 3

Don't forget to schedule your appointments around your period! You can be bloated up to 2 inches for up to a week afterwards, so keep that in mind!