The safe bets, long shots & need to knows in the curious world of wedding dresses deadlines
It is the stuff of urban legend. The pinched face of evil-wedding-shop-bitch recoiling in horror that you have but 5 months to order a dress. The ‘well my dear – this should have been something you thought about two years before your first date (whilst booking the South East’s most popular venue; on a Saturday ; in the summer’ ) eye rolling, exasperation-face has become a something of a Nessie in the waters of Loch Bride.
Let us examine the facts and distinguish them from the fiction. The difference between exhortation and extortion . Or, to put it another way, the difference between a gentle reminder that made to order dresses need notice and the fabricated anxiety used to close a sale.
Fast Turnaround – defined.
The basic facts of the designers & dress manufacturers Miss Bush & I work with are as follows.
Standard delivery time from deposit paid to dress arriving in the shop 12 – 16 weeks
Sensible margin for alterations 6 – 8 weeks prior to the wedding date.
Add the two larger times & you get to a reasonable 24 weeks. ( #FACT)
This is not to say that dresses can’t be ordered quicker and, yes please, we would love as much notice as possible. I can work with 12 – 18 months very happily
For the purpose of this fact-sheet assume your wedding is less than 5 months from ordering to wearing.
“What are the usual reasons for wanting to order a wedding dress in a short time frame?”
Pregnancy – whilst the necessity is no longer an issue brides quite often want to be married before giving birth. Similarly a pre-planned wedding with an unplanned pregnancy can sometimes mean getting married a few short months after giving birth.
(A further fact sheet will be available shortly for all aspects of pregnancy with relation to wedding dresses.)
Emigrating or moving back to the UK.
(A further fact sheet for overseas brides will be available soon)
Health either the bride or family member getting over surgery or illness before a wedding. Factoring in planned surgery or treatments.
Venue availability – a cancellation at your favourite wedding venue may mean suddenly availability. Alternatively, a popular venue may be able to offer low season quickly & reasonably priced. Both are often cited as reasons.
Clueless – a completely reasonably excuse is that some brides simply are not aware of the order times. Normally, the sanest brides,those that haven’t had secret Pinterest wedding boards while single, or those surprised utterly by Cupid, fall into this category
Incurable romantics some couples just can’t wait or don’t want to wait to get married. For some the idea of a long engagement is simply untenable.
“I am a very lucky bride & money is no object – what can I have?”
The timescales for dress orders vary wildly and depend largely on logistics and budget.
Suzanne Neville (pictured above creating a bespoke design for a Miss Bush bride) & Jesus Peiro can make dresses in a very short turnaround time. They would not be able to offer this to every bride but they can produce dresses in 3 – 4 weeks if necessary. This will be dependent on fabric availability and production capacity & would still need to be checked & authorised by the individual companies. You would need to budget between £2000 to £5000 for this option.
You can still have all the made to measure facilities, custom changes and bespoke services with this option. Suzanne Neville should even be able to produce an intermediate toile.
Features & benefits
Made to measure
Choice of colours & fabrics
Custom changes to the design
UK and mainland Europe production
No express delivery charges
“What can’t I have?”
Jenny Packham or Maggie Sottero, as lovely as they are, work on strict order times. It doesn’t matter whether you wave bundles of £50 notes at them – if they cannot produce the dress that is the end of it. Miss Bush is unlikely to accept an order for either of these two labels with a delivery less than four weeks before your wedding. One hiccup in customs, one errant courier or an Act of God like a volcanic ash cloud could mean no dress.
Money No Object and you are a bit lucky!
Jenny Packham dresses are on a standard 16 week delivery, occasionally they have some spare stock of popular dresses and sizes. Therefore, if you are a 10 or 12 and want an ivory dress, you may be lucky. A size 6 or 16 and you may not be so lucky.
“What is available for a mid range budget of £1000 – £2000?”
Quite a lot of mid range price dresses from companies such as Maggie Sottero & JLM Couture offer a 12 – 16 week turnaround time. Having a dress arrive just 4 weeks before your wedding can be stressful. Even when brides assure me they are chillaxed to their very core the tension is palpable. I have even made brides sign a disclaimer to not nag me or claim undue stress and pressure due to the anxiety of late deliveries as a result of late orders. Furthermore my impeccable professionalism prevents me saying ‘I told you so’ even when we both know I did!
“So Can I have a dress from Maggie Sottero or JLM Couture?”
There are three options with Maggie Sottero –
Firstly there is sometimes stock available in the US which can be delivered in 3 weeks. The stock holding changes daily and preferred styles, colours & sizes cannot be guaranteed. There is also an additional charge for a single dress delivery. Currently this is £150.
Secondly if the showroom sample fits and it is in good condition we can sometimes sell the sample. Clearly this cannot be the case if it is in poor condition, is too small or, selfishly, if I can’t be without it. If I can’t get a bride a dress I can’t get a new dress for me. If a dress is a bestseller it is madness to be without it for 16 weeks.
Thirdly, Maggie Sottero have some dresses classed as priority gowns. A faster 10 week turnaround is available on a select number of styles. This only applies to standard lengths but does not incur an additional charge.
The dress, Bronwyn, pictured below is available for express delivery.
And JLM Couture?
JLM produce the Tara Keely and Blush dresses. These can sometimes be ordered with an express delivery option of an 8 – 10 week delivery but this has to be agreed in advance with the company.
Flat Broke
I empathise! Weddings are expensive and no amount of re-framing, re-budgeting or managing of expectations makes them any less so.
For a teeny-tiny budge ( less than £400) forget about traditional wedding dress shops. The dresses on offer at this price will be tired samples of cheap dresses discounted to even cheaper. Worse still they may be tatty designer dresses that really should have been recycled. Choose High Street, pre-loved or specialist re-sale shops. Find a dressmaker with impeccable credentials that works from home to fit your dress to perfection. The internet option should be avoided – many sub standard counterfeit sites exist offering much but delivering little, if anything.
All Budgets
Professional, service led wedding dress shops will often have a range of sample dresses that are available immediately from £500 – £1500. This may be more than you planned to spend. However, the peace of mind that comes from knowing that shops like Miss Bush have to adhere to the Sale of Goods Act and take pride in how our brides look is is priceless. No grubby dresses needing an overhaul should be bought for a premium price. All Miss Bush sample dresses sold on a full service basis are offered with cleaning, remedial work and storage included in the price. An expert alteration service for millimetre-perfect fit is optional and most definitely recommended.
The Answer?
As with every aspect of wedding planning – level with me. I can’t help or give you the best advice if I don’t know the facts.
Pregnant & minted? No problem – we’ll make your dress 10 days before your wedding.
More to love with a moderate spend – let’s look at the stock holding of the famous labels.
Passionate but penniless – my advice is free but my time is not for wasting. I will give you the best possible advice, frankly. Unless you want to be paying Loanshark.com for your lace dress by your Lace Anniversary ( that’s your 13th FYI) then Miss Bush may not be the right place to shop. Seeing what suits you in a shop that stocks the very best cuts and fabrics, be that Miss Bush or elsewhere, is not the best use of your precious time and may ultimately make you feel rather deflated, and dare I say, disappointed with a cheaper option.
In Summary
You are getting married and that is a marvellous thing. The dress is important but cool girls from rock chicks & rebels to our very own Grandparents, the war-brides or the rationing-restricted, got married in whimsical frocks & capricious choices worn with insouciance at a moment’s notice.
I can provide you a famous label dress in a the same length of time as a decent holiday – for a price. I can turn around a sample dress in the same fortnight – for a budget.
Take a deep breath, set a budget, define yourself. What can you live with? What can’t you live without? Anything is possible but not always necessary.
Credits
The Loch Ness Monster Link
Laura Caudery of Fetcham Park marrying at six months pregnant Photography by CKP Weddings
Photographs of Suzanne Neville, The Miss Bush Chapel interior & dress detail all Juliet McKee
This guide is based on the designers and manufacturers I work with but the principles can be applied across most bridal shops.
Emma xxx
Emma Meek, MD of Miss Bush Bridalwear
Miss Bush Bridalwear is Surrey’s leading designer bridal shop
