July 9, 2008

The answer to the question above is simple: as early as you possibly can. The same goes for all other bridal dresses- bridesmaid dresses, flower girls dresses, mother of the bride and mother of the groom dresses – but especially wedding dresses. Number one reason? Alterations!

I have heard some alteration horror stories, let me tell you. My own sister had an alteration horror story. My sister, Susan, got married almost exactly three years ago. She got all her bridal dresses the traditional way, using a local wedding shop. She tells me she would do that differently were she getting married today. Last year, she was a bridesmaid in her friend’s wedding who purchased all her bridal dresses, including her bridal gown, from an online resource. It saved her a bundle of money and a good deal of headaches. Anyway, my sister ended up using a seamstress recommended by the wedding shop. She was also the same seamstress another friend of Susan’s had used the previous year, so she came on good recommendation from two sources. Unfortunately for my sister, she flaked out on her wedding.

The signs came early. First, soon after the dresses came in, the seamstress’s phone was mysteriously disconnected and Susan couldn’t reach her for five days. Then, soon after our first fitting, she disappeared again, this time for three whole weeks. It would have been bad enough if we hadn’t already had the fitting, but now not only was the seamstress MIA but all our dresses were MIA along with her. Finally, my sister managed to track her down. She had some excuse for where she had been, I don’t remember exactly what, but my sister took pity on her and gave her a second chance.

After the three-week incident, it was smooth sailing up until about a week before the wedding. We had two bridesmaids who lived out of state, so they came in a week early and had their first fittings then. Two days before the wedding, at their second fitting, we all realized the seamstress had made a huge mistake. She had altered the wrong dress for the wrong girl! She had mixed up their sizes and measurements! (Each bridesmaid in my sister’s wedding had a different color dress.) It was a mess. It all turned out OK in the end, thank goodness, but it was not a smooth and pleasant ride.

Moral of the story: Even if someone comes to you on good recommendation, nothing is a sure thing. Be prepared and order all your wedding dresses ASAP!

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