Bridesmaid dresses

If you don't want to worry about changing body sizes - there are dresses at dressandcharm.com that only come in two stretchy and highly alterable sizes and a ton of colours. They're the convertible type so they work for everyone's bodies. They are also under $100 after shipping and taxes. I have bridesmaids that are on their way down in weight and weren't sure if they could commit to a dress size for the date - these dresses give them tons of flexibility.

View quoted message August of 2021?

My wedding is aug and we just bought ours. i would suggest doing it now lol

My wedding is September 2020 and we just ordered our bridesmaid dresses a couple weeks ago. I was told one would arrive in April and one would be coming in May which gives us plenty of time for alterations. As long as you keep in mind it could take 5 or so months to come in, you should be okay!

Just a suggestion, check infinitydresses. They are one size fits all, long/short & look good on all body types (my BMs are all different sizes & love them). Plus if someone gets/is pregnant, you won't have to worry about changing the dress/or paying for alterations. Plus there's so many ways to change up the dress.

Hello fellow planner! I know exactly what you mean, I wanted to do everything ASAP as well.

Our wedding is December 2020 and we are going to start looking at bridesmaid dresses in April at David's Bridal. Usually 6 months before is a good timeline ... we are going a bit earlier because I have people out of country in my wedding and this is when they are coming.

Good luck!

I began actively planning a few months after our engagement and even went to a bridal salon with my maid of honor and bridesmaid to look at dresses for them. We didn't purchase anything then and I'm glad. We weren't ready then, still in the beginning stages of planning. We didn't have a theme or color scheme yet, which made it difficult when looking at dresses. (I didn't even have a dress yet!)


As time went on and planning developed our vision became clearer. I looked online and then through the selection of dresses at the bridal salon I purchased my gown at. We returned about three weeks ago, tried on a lot of different styles, and purchased their dresses. They are beautiful and I couldn't be happier.
(Also, my bridal party may or may not be pregnant by my wedding date so I took that into account when searching for their dresses).

Given that you’re wedding is still some time away, I would suggest you start looking... make your pick and watch for when sales happen. My girls just ordered theirs in January from David’s bridal (we got engaged in 2018). By 2019 I found which dress I really liked and kept an eye out. When they went on sale I got the girls to get and put their orders in (I think it was like a 60$ saving). Even if their body changes, as long as it’s not too much, they can still make alterations.

We are going to try on bridesmaid dresses in April, and the wedding is in August. I think a few months-6 months is a good range in my (unprofessional) opinion.

Budgeting for a dress for the bridesmaids can help to know what amount is fair for everyone. This way you choose dresses for the girls you like and have them go see what they will pick themselves on their time. Many times you will run into issues of not all the girls showing up at the same time.

Alternatively, collecting the money and then getting the dress is workable too. Measurements needed for the fitting and the final fitting 5 months beforehand should be a good time.

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Omg date buddies!!! I totally agree that the weather is unpredictable, I'm just going to let the girls choose a dress they like and they get to roll the dice on if it's comfortable for the weather haha!

I was a bridesmaid for one of my bridesmaids in June 2019 and she was fine with people picking their own dresses from whatever store, as long as it was floor length and blush pink. I ordered my dress January 2019 and it came in March 2019, with time for alterations in May 2019.

For my wedding, my bridesmaids ordered off Azazie.ca since I wanted to make sure they got the *right* shade of turquoise and purple. They ordered in April-June 2019 and dresses were in by July the latest!

It all depends on your preferences for dresses, the store, and if your bridal party is able to meet up in person easily. If you want your bridal party to meet up in person and go to stores, you're best to start 6-8 months before the wedding. If you know meeting up is impossible/don't mind if the bridal party goes to different stores and get dresses that follow colour/style criteria, you can probably get away with 6 months. If shopping online, 4-6 months is usually enough. Just make sure to allow room for dresses to get in and alterations.

Hey!! I’m a bridal consultant and depending the designer if you order now dresses are coming in April! They obviously don’t take nearly as long as a wedding gown but I would start shopping around soon. You wanna allow time for alterations too

View quoted message Also! I just saw on your bio that you got engaged in May 2019..so did! LOL

View quoted message Yaay! Date twins!


You're right. That makes sense especially about the weather. However every sort of weather is pretty fair game up until Victoria day long weekend LOL 🤣

My wedding is this October and we haven't started looking yet.

I definitely want to be shopping by March and have everything ordered by May at the latest.

My girls got there’s 12 months in advance. However there’s a lot of changes going on with all of us (school, babies, moving, etc.) so I wanted to make sure we had ample time and nobody was stressed and rushing last minute.
If you go early then just make sure you’re dead set on your colours/themes because you can’t make the girls change their dress down the road if you see something you like better.

My bridesmaids ordered their dresses 8 months out so that we were able to get them in time to do any alterations! Shopped at the beginning of Sept, ordered 3 weeks later, arrived right before Christmas, Alterations to be done beginning of March & then my wedding on April 21st 2020.

Make sure you allow yourself enough time to get alterations done - most seamstresses ask for 1-2 months in order to get them done and make adjustments after the first alteration.

My girls went for long gowns, so they need a basic hem.

These are my bm dresses and i ordered ours 8 months out though the company i went through said 6 months my bridesmaids are in other provinces and couldnt come to where i found them. So we got there measurements from their seamstresses that will be doing the fitting for them. We went a bit big so that if in those 4-6 months their size changed a bit there was some give.,As long as no one got pregnant! Hope this helps!

We went to a store where the latest you could order the BM dresses was at the 6 month mark so we went at the 7 month mark to find their dresses. Check with the stores you plan on going to, but check sooner rather than later so that you get an appointment that works for everybody or so that you don't call at the 6 month mark and are told it's too late!

I was in a wedding where we ordered them 11 months out and it seemed too soon. Our dresses were very fitted (and I have a suspicion that the shop may have messed up our measurements). No one ended up wearing the dress they ordered, we all had to try on the 6 dresses and take the one that fit best.
If the dresses are flowy it might not matter as much.

I'm also May 15th 2021!!! I'm going to wait until May-June of this year to start looking for bridesmaids dresses. I'm the same way as you - I would plan the whole thing tomorrow if I could, but also recognize that bodies change! Plus looking at the same time of year as the wedding means you can get a better feel for what the weather might be - I always forget what the spring months feel like after a harsh winter!

My sister got her dress last February which was a year and 5 months before the wedding. She did order it a little bit larger in case but it fits perfectly and she won’t need a lot of alterations except the bottom.


I think it depends on your bridal party - if they tend to fluctuate perhaps wait a little bit closer to the wedding (maybe next fall?) but if they tend to stay the same you could get them now if you find one you like.
I was 10+ lbs heavier when I bought my wedding dress last year and they told me I could still lose more weight if I wanted and the alterations wouldn’t get affected much. It was good to know because my dress is a few years old and I wanted to buy it so it didn’t get discontinued! Definitely talk to the consultants and seamstresses and they’ll be able to help you.