In a Perfect World

The Assumption

We pay bills on our phones while in waiting rooms, or downtown traffic.
We swipe our cards and our tanks fill with gas.
I want this song. Bought it.
I'm sending you this video. Got it? Hilarious, I know!
Several clicks and you've joined the group, bought the plane ticket or registered for the class.
"I love this shirt." and BAM!! Amazon sends it and you're wearing it 24 hours later.
Took the photo. Posted the photo and now the world - or MY world - knows.

​Weddings? Brace yourselves: Those are different.

photo credit: Dimitri Kuliuk

We're not going to debate the pros and cons of the age we're living in. If you're getting married, there is a smart reset that needs to happen and it's called planning. 

Just Imagine

​{harp music to create the scene} 
In a perfect world, you would decide to get married, think about where to get married, when to get married and what you want to wear and then you'd immediately find a gown. You'd stroll into a shop like ours and pull something off the rack. You love it! It fits! Done.
Then you find the venue - HEY! they have an opening on the very day I want! Catering? Photography? DJ or 4 piece quartet? Accommodations for my guests? Magically - think: "what did i do to deserve this!?" - it's all right there for you.
{AND........ SCENE!}

Ladies: this rarely happens.

We're not trying to kill your joy, but there are factors beyond your control that come into play. If you're getting married: you need to plan, because your timeline intersects with the timeline of everyone you want to work with or have help you. Every vendor is trying to make a living with multiple clients, so while you want to believe you're the only bride in the world, you aren't to wedding industry vendors. 

The Hard Truth - Don't wait to buy your gown

At BT, we are seeing more and more girls decide to start looking for their gowns about 6 weeks to 4 months before their actual wedding day. [If you want to elope in ​a sundress - you got this!! Go girl and send us pics.]
BUT, if you want a wedding gown, with a veil and styled to suit your look (say nothing about bridesmaids dresses, tuxes for the guys and all the other things you'll need), you to need to start around 9 - 10 months before your date.

Most gowns ordered from bridal gown company take between 8 - 20 weeks to arrive, and some take longer. There are not thousands of dresses in a warehouse ready to be grabbed like the Amazon distribution center. They have to make or find your dress, in your size, and while this is happening, other brides are ordering their dresses too. You've entered a queue. You're waiting your turn.  At BT, we recommend at LEAST 6 months between ordering your gown and walking down the aisle.

If you want bridal portraits taken, and those happen before your big day, you're factoring in the season, the photographer's schedule and timing all that to suit everyone involved. This is why we suggest an absolute minimum of 6 months for ordering your dress and having it ready.

If you don't have 6 months DON'T PANIC we sell dresses off the rack too! 

Alterations

credit: CO0 License

Alterations take time (and we'll be writing more about this next week). Altering a wedding gown is a process. Once your gown does arrive, it will almost certainly need alterations. I tell my brides again and again, that a seamstress isn't just taking it in or let the fabric out here and there; she is making every effort to mold that dress to your body. She's changing it from an order in your size to YOUR dress. It's a delicate process and that seamstress needs the time to do the necessary work. The average bride will have between 3- 5 fittings to make sure that it fits well. So 3 - 5 fittings means 3 - 5 trips and that takes time. It's worth it, but you need to factor in that time as well. 
Bridesmaids dresses take about 2 months to arrive after ordering and then those dresses need to go through an alteration process, just as the bride's gown does.

credit: rawpixel

Ideally you should start at least a year in advance and many brides start earlier. You need time to consider all the phone calls, trips, and time working out details. And, sadly, people get booked, venues are booked, DJs, caterers, florists, photographers get booked. So you may need time to consider Plans B and C. Thinking about the details, making calls and asking questions, it's so very worth it, but it won't happen in 2 month any more than it will 24 hours, unless you have a limitless budget or lower expectations. Just make time to plan, ladies! If you give yourself time, you'll have more options. And less stress.