Ordering a bridesmaid dress

kaustin · June 2009

Hi Ladies,

So one of my best friends is getting married at the end of January and she needs us to order our bridesmaid dresses by Monday. The wedding will be roughly 5 months after I deliver, what size should I order? Should I go with my old size or get a size larger? I don't know if it matters but I 'plan' to still be breastfeeding or at least pumping at that time. TIA.

SAMANTHAGP · June 2009

You can always get something too big taken in, if it's too small there's very little anyone can do!

mburkhe · June 2009

I suggest going at least one size bigger. One of the girls in my wedding ordered a dress in the size the "thought" she would be and ended up having to trade with another girl the day of the fittings.

liongish119 · June 2009

Is it realistic for you to lose the weight by then? If so, maybe go for your old size. It will be a little extra motivation! On the other hand, if it isn't realistic or will stress you out to have this goal, order a size larger, you can always take it in....

Mauranda & Shane · June 2009

FYI - wedding and wedding party dresses run totally different then normal dresses do, so be sure to discuss this with the sales person. I would defiantly order big and then know that you will have room to work with for alterations.

DarcyLongfellow · June 2009

It is always better to go larger! You can have a dress taken in, but it's pretty hard to make it bigger.

You don't want to stress yourself out about this -- if you get the dress in your old size, you'll worry about it unnecessarily.

Plus, this may not be as big an issue with a dress as opposed to pants, but some women lose all the weight, but are just never back in their prepregnancy size because their body (usually hips) is just permanently different.

bennettwed · June 2009

I'd be no help on this, thats a really tough call expectially with bf. I bf with DD and I lost the 30 I gained, right away, and then lost an additional 50 lbs within the 1st year. ????? thats a hard thing to decide? GL

madonnadouwanna · June 2009

Can you ask the other girls if someone has tried the dress on to see if it runs true to size? The last wedding I was in the dresses ran small. If they run true to size, I'd suggest ordering a size bigger b/c you can always have it taken in. Plus if you are BF and your chest is still larger than before, you would have more room if needed. Good luck!

kellyperk85 · June 2009

kaustin:

Hi Ladies,

So one of my best friends is getting married at the end of January and she needs us to order our bridesmaid dresses by Monday. The wedding will be roughly 5 months after I deliver, what size should I order? Should I go with my old size or get a size larger? I don't know if it matters but I 'plan' to still be breastfeeding or at least pumping at that time. TIA.

Isn't she asking you to order a bit early?!?!

jessandbrandond · June 2009

Mauranda & Shane:
FYI - wedding and wedding party dresses run totally different then normal dresses do, so be sure to discuss this with the sales person. I would defiantly order big and then know that you will have room to work with for alterations.

exactly what I was going to say

suscq · June 2009

Some of it will totally depend on the dress. The more fitted it is, the more likely I would be to order it a little large and have the option to take it in. If it's more flowy, then you would have a little more room to go with your old size. Definitely let them get the lady out there that is doing the alterations and let her say what parts of the dress can easily be taken up and which areas are much harder.

kaustin · June 2009

kellyperk, I do agree that she is asking me to order it a bit early but I have learned not to question the bride and she seems a little stressed about it already!

AshNicole331 · June 2009

kellyperk85:
kaustin:

Hi Ladies,

So one of my best friends is getting married at the end of January and she needs us to order our bridesmaid dresses by Monday. The wedding will be roughly 5 months after I deliver, what size should I order? Should I go with my old size or get a size larger? I don't know if it matters but I 'plan' to still be breastfeeding or at least pumping at that time. TIA.

Isn't she asking you to order a bit early?!?!

I just bought a bridesmaid dress for a wedding next July!

I'd go a size larger, just in case...They can always take it in.

Bride7-7-07 · June 2009

5 months after? I don't see why you can't lose the weight by that time. I have heard that breastfeeding helps you quickly shed the weight but I know that it hasn't worked for some people. If you want to be safe, order 1 size larger and get it taken in. It is much easier to get a larger dress taken in rather than adding fabric and side panels to a smaller dress.

RD'sgirl · June 2009

Ditto pp on ordering too early!! But you are right, you can't argue with the bride. It does seem kind of impossible to GUESS what size you will be, could you maybe bring it up to her and say you have no clue what size you will be in 5 months after you have your baby, she what she suggests.

Honestly, most bridesmaid dresses don't take longer than 8 weeks to arrive especially if she is using one of the major designers like jim hjelm.

lindsay0515 · June 2009

Definitely go bigger. I had to order a bridesmaids dress for a wedding that I was in last month at 32 weeks pregnant. Problem was, I had to order it last September. It was too small b/c of the cut and I had to order extra fabric. The alterations place did an AMAZING job and turned it into a "pregnancy" dress, but it was a hassle. Definitely easier to have it taken in than to create an entirely new dress b/c it's too small! Big Smile

tneromills329 · June 2009

My EDD is August 1st and I will be my sister's MOH at her wedding on 10/31. We went and did a dress fitting when I was about 4 months pregnant and decided I would just wait until after the baby comes to order my dress. I know it will be cutting it close but they told me it would only take 6 weeks to get the dress in. I would like to think I could at least be my pre-preg size but you never know. I would say if you HAVE to order it like the pp go ahead and order one size bigger, much easier (and less costly) to have it taken in then out!

Hulahoop1234 · June 2009

Lurking from 1st Tri...My SIL had the exact same time line as you for a wedding we are in and she ordered up two full sizes. It is an empire waist, so pretty forgiving, but she needed that bigger size purely for the breasts factor. She EBF and lost most of the all-around weight pretty quickly, but was still large on top. Turns out it fits perfectly now and the wedding is in a couple of weeks. Good luck!

kellyperk85 · June 2009

kaustin:
kellyperk, I do agree that she is asking me to order it a bit early but I have learned not to question the bride and she seems a little stressed about it already!

This is true because I've learned with some of my girlfriends, you never TRULY know who you are dealing with until you are dealing with a bride .. haha!! Smile

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