*if your planning to say your I do’s within the next 12/18 months…

Girls, before we get started, I just want to say, this post is not here to scare you! If you are worried in any way shape or form then please do not hesitate to get in touch with me!

This is something that seems to be like a massive taboo subject, some girls seem to ‘know’ that wedding dresses take time and others are massively in the dark about just what is involved, you may have seen my IGTV last week but I though I would get something written down for you.

Now please understand that everything I am talking about here applies to me and the designers I stock in my boutique, please don’t go running off to other boutiques and then be shocked when they tell you they may need longer!

DELAYS

Don’t me wrong, this is always going to be a possibility.

In the 4 years that I have had the doors open to The Bottom Drawer Bridal, I have only ever had 1 gown delivered to me with a delay and this was within the last 3 months so Coronavirus is obviously to blame here. Luckily my beautiful bride isn’t getting married until July 21 so to this day I have never missed a Bride’s wedding!

Regardless of what is going on in the world right now, there is always going to be a possibility of a delay, things that can’t be helped, but now that we are in the midst of a global pandemic, delays are now unfortunately just part of the norm. Where I would normally recommend ordering your dress about 7-9 months before the wedding as a minimum, this now has to be at least 10-12 months!

LACK OF TIME

There are now so many postponements all over the country, boutiques and designers are trying to reschedule their whole calendars, as well as a lot of brides now bringing their weddings forward which means designers are trying to get dresses made as quickly as they can. This is then going to restrict how many dresses the designers can make at any certain time, so if you are able to, make sure you leave plenty of time between ordering your dress and your actual wedding day. Imagine finding the one and then when it comes to ordering your dress, finding out that the designer doesn’t have the capacity to get the dress made for you!

I stock gowns from some of the best British Bridal Designers and they don’t have huge factories and endless members of staff constantly producing wedding gowns, so this could soon become a very real scenario!

LACK OF FABRIC

I’m not going to lie, I panicked at the start of lockdown as to how my little business would survive, I have worked really bloody hard to make sure that I am still here, for me, my family and obviously my beautiful brides, and I will continue to do so, I don’t plan on going anywhere and I won’t be going without a fight.

Unfortunately other businesses have not been able to survive whats been going on in the world and we have to work our way around that as best we can. Just through 1 of my designers I am aware of 2 established fabric companies that are no longer trading, so the knock on effect is going to be, are we always going to be able to get the dress made for you in the fabric you tried on?

I’m never going to pressure you into buying your dress if you feel that you need that time, I’m not that kind of girl, but this is going to be almost a sample sale scenario, I’m not going to be able to promise you, that when you come back in a couple of months time that the designer won’t come back to me with the terrible news that we can not get that particular lace for you and your wedding dress.

TIMELINE

My average delivery time is around 16 - 20 weeks, some gowns can take a little longer and some can take a little less, my designers do sometimes offer rush orders but this WILL come with an added cost, but who wants to spend more money than they have to?

So if you ordered your gown with me in August I would anticipate your gown would arrive at the boutique in December/January time obvs depending on if and when everyone takes their Christmas break this year, if you are then going to want to start your alterations straight away, we want to be adding on around 10 weeks which is then going to take us through to March.

Altogether we are looking at a minimum 7 months to order, deliver and alter your wedding dress, if you can come to me with a year to go, then amazing, we have a little buffer for you to be able to be confident in your decision and take the time that you need to be able to say Yes to the Dress!

If you are worried at all about wedding dress shopping and the time that you have left, please do not hesitate to get in touch. I am always here, whether its via a DM, email, phone call or even a virtual appointment. Please do not get yourself into a panic about it, just come and talk to me!

I hope that’s been helpful for you all and I can not wait to help you find your wedding dress!

All my love

Victoria x