Wedding dress regret and timing of purchase

I bought my dress just over a year before my wedding. It took 6-7ish months for the dress to arrive. I wanted to start alterations ASAP but the tailor who has worked with my dress before doesn't have any appointments available for 2 months!!! So I am happy I ended up doing everything early.

I bought my dress in January for my October wedding. It was a sample and a little big and I plan on losing a little weight. I am absolutely in love with my dress and I don't have an issue with seeing other pretty dresses because I know that my dress is perfect for my fiance and I. I would say that as long as you aren't the type to change your mind after you have found "the one" then it would be ok to get it early. If you aren't in love with the dress then I say hold off. As for weight loss, my bridal shop has seamstresses that have worked there for 30 years and I was told that one of the women who works there took a dress down from a size 16 to a size 8 with no problem. Bridal attendants hear all of the time that their brides are planning on losing weight so they should know if the dress would look ok with alterations designed to fit your weight loss goals. Always easier to take something in than let it out.

@Lil Bee: I actually wasn't trying to be snotty. You said that you were wanting to lose 5 lbs, and then said you were worried about alterations. You then said you thought all you'd need was the hem. It honestly did seem like you thought you were going to gain height in that time, from the sequence of statements.

That said, alterations don't typically take very long, 6-8 weeks I believe, ending 1-2 weeks prior to your wedding in case there are any last minute changes.

I think you're more likely to experience dress regret if:

You try on dresses outside your budget

You purchase a dress you're not totally in love with

You love to have the latest designs in fashion

Otherwise, like others said, just stop looking once you find it.

@mna - thanks for all the input! The alteration timeline is very surprising! Hopefully with looking early I'll avoid any issues. And I apologize for any confusion or attitude that resulted in my postings. It seems we both might have taken responses the wrong way. It is very hard to convey tone via the internet especially when speaking to strangers.

Thanks again for everyone's input!

I found my dream dress this week for my May 2017 wedding. I looked at 7 different shops and couldn't find another style like it. I started out just trying on dresses to find a style that fit my body shape (I'm as much of a pear shape that a pear shape can get) and all of the traditional styles I hated. Plus I'm in Utah so a lot of the shops cater to the LDS brides and didn't have the neck line I wanted. But I found the one I wanted and purchased it yesterday. I'm altering it the tiniest bit and adding a train. Just once you've found it, STOP LOOKING. (: good luck!

I did change my wedding dress design just a bit from the very original. It was to have the lace shoulders and lace sleeves like Kate Middleton wore, but after I saw her in it, I decided to not do that part. That and I couldn't find a lace that wasn't scratchy, and I was having a lot of skin sensitivity at the time. :/

Her dress even had lace motifs in the same layout that I had wanted, and at the time I wanted a finger tip veil too. Changed my mind and wore a Cathedral length veil instead, so on the day of my wedding my bridal look wasn't quite so close to hers

I'm still shocked at how her dress looked. She was beautiful, but like a lot of people I was expecting her to arrive in a more modern look vs the traditional look she wore. Never know I guess!

Exactly! It remains one of my least favorite dresses she's worn. She could have def worn something that's both modern and conservative but I'm sure she felt beautiful so yay her! I love lace but the style just aged her imho.

P.s. do you have a picture of you in your dress @stichingbride? I'm fascinated that you did it yourself and the details sound great!

I bought my dress about 1yr 1/2 before my wedding. I had dress regret because I kept looking and fell in love with another dress and bought it. If I had to do it again, I would shop 8-6 months before my wedding. I give that time frame because I can fit in most sample sizes and stores have sales at least 2x a year on their samples.

When you find your dress, stop looking!!

If you have to order a dress, 6 months can be a little tight for some salons. I purchased mine on New Years Eve for an early August wedding and the dress isn't even guaranteed in until June.