Weight change and your wedding dress
This is the first of two short videos about wedding dress alterations, filmed at my “Perfect Fit” event with Rock n Roll Bride wedding blogger Kat Williams: Here’s just is a little advice about different types of weight change and how this can affect the fit of your wedding dress.
Weight change and your wedding dress
INSPIRING INDIVIDUALITY
In my experience, there are different types of weight change, and at the risk of putting each of us in boxes (contrary to the whole mission of me and this blog), I have found it helps to work out if you tend to “YOYO” or “LEVEL& STOP”. There’s nothing wrong with either of them, I would just suggest accepting which you are and letting it help to guide your wedding dress choices…
YOYO
If you tend to YOYO, you might find your weight has a tendency to go up and down a bit, maybe prone to bloating or significant water retention at different times of the month, and are possibly a serial dieter.
My advice is, if you YOYO, is to either
- Have a lacing fastening, which is adjustable so you can relax and not worry about it.
- Accept that you may need to set aside extra budget for extra fittings and alterations to your dress – if last minute adjustments are needed.
Whilst the bridal shop or dressmaker will want to encourage and support you by taking the dress in if you are having a skinny day when you come for your fitting, but they also KNOW that if you come for your second fitting or to collect your dress and it’s too tight, they will be held responsible, even though it could be argued, it’s no-one’s fault. Keep calm, be realistic and don’t worry about it – just keep the shop / dressmaker informed.
LEVEL & STOP
In this case, either your weight is stable and rarely changes, or you are currently progressing steadily towards a target weight, and are happy to take control of staying there when you reach it.
If your weight is level, and rarely changes, it doesn’t mean there won’t be alterations to your dress (see upcoming blog about dress construction & different body shapes), but it does mean that your dress should only need one fitting, provided you don’t change your size, shoes or bra.
If you are steadily progressing on a weight-loss plan but not quite at your target weight, explain to the bridal shop or dressmaker that you’d like to be measured as close to the wedding date as possible. This decision depends on you being relaxed about the fact it could all be a bit last minute. Ideally you don’t want to lose any more weight from then on. However, if you have a “alterations stage”, which you probably will, then there’s a window of opportunity where you may have to have adjustments to change the shape of the dress to fit your dimensions, about 6 weeks before the wedding. But try to keep your weight stable from then on.
Ultimately your dress can be taken in / let out the day before the wedding if needed, but do you really want that stress? Not only for you, but also the bridal shop or dressmaker, and not to mention your partner who will have to listen to you going on about it… Only kidding – that’s why they’re marrying you isn’t it?
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