"I don't plan on deciding on my dress yet because my wedding is more than a year away"

We cannot tell you how many times we have heard this from brides. They say this at the beginning of the appointment for full disclosure, fall in love with a dress by the end of the appointment, but don't pull the trigger because they feel they have a lot of time to make this decision. But the reality is, a year in advance is the PERFECT time to buy your wedding gown (In fact, the more time before the wedding, the better)! Special order bridal gowns take between 6 and 8 months to be delivered to the store and then you want to allow yourself 2-3 months for alterations. That year can go by pretty quickly and the more time you have between having your dress perfect and ready for the big day, the less stressed you'll be as you get closer and closer to saying "I do". 

Why does it take so long to get the dresses in? 6-8 months can seem like a really long time for a dress to come in, but when you discover everything that goes on behind the scenes, it isn't such a mystery. The designers you'll find here at White of Dublin do not begin creating a gown until we place the order for each bride. From there, Designers like Angel Rivera (New York), Galia Lahav (Israel), and Ian Stuart (London) all do lace and beadwork by hand which, depending on the amount of detail in a gown, can take months on their own. Additionally, each gown is inspected throughout the entire process to make sure every detail is as it should be before it gets packaged, shipped, and delivered to our boutique.

Why does a seamstress need 2-3 months to alter a wedding dress? Unless a dress is custom made to your exact measurements, it will always need to be worked on by a seamstress. Typical alterations usually include a hem, a bustle, and taking in in the bodice. During the first fitting, a seamstress will mark where work needs to be done on a gown and how much the hem needs to be taken up. From there, you will leave your precious gown with them and let them work their magic. With all of the intricate beadwork and lace detail on a gown, seamstresses will typically have to remove the appliqués, perform the hem, and place them back onto the gown exactly where they are meant to be so everything is proportionate to the bride's (***make sure you bring your wedding shoes or shoes of the same heel height to your appointment to ensure you get the proper hem). Once that work is complete, your seamstress will have you come back in for your second fitting. This is when your seamstress will look over you in your gown making sure everything is fitting correctly and may have to make a couple tweaks here and there to give you the perfect fit. After the second fitting is when he or she will put the bustle into the gown (there are two types - a french and an american; you can choose which you prefer, or ask your seamstress's opinion). This will require you to come in for your third (and usually final fitting) which will typically be no earlier than a week before your wedding, if not the week of your wedding. This is to ensure any last minute changes that need to be made (i.e. changes in body weight due to wedding stress) are able to be done.

And Presto! The 12, 13, or 14 months you had when you first went shopping for your gown is gone and your wedding is here. Flies by, doesn't it? Thanks for reading and look out for our next post when we discuss why it's okay to say yes even if it was the first dress you ever tried on!