The average timeline of a bridal finery bride: from engagement to wedding day

Photos by Kaitlin Makena Photography

Hi Bride!

Congratulations on your engagement! You’re entering the most exciting new chapter and I am so thrilled for you. Right now, you may be one of two brides. Bride A, who gets that ring on her finger and is instantly thinking about the wedding planning process. Or, you’re Bride B, and when you think about all that goes into wedding planning you just look the other way and pretend you don’t have to do it all quite yet! Maybe you’re a little bit of both. Either way, what both brides have in common is this: Most of the time, they have no idea how long the entire dress shopping, purchasing, extra appointments in between, alterations, dropping off your dress after the wedding for cleaning and preservation, and FINALLY picking it up in your perfectly displayed box, process is. Have no fear, you’ve come to the right place. Hold my hand and let’s walk through it together. 

13+ months out from the wedding day

You are researching. Whether that’s on Instagram, TikTok, whatever social media platform you like to use to get inspiration. What does that look like exactly though? It’s not just grabbing a bunch of photos willy nilly. It’s looking at those bridal shops on instagram, seeing dresses that you like from their pages, finding out what their dresses range from in price, what designers they carry, and their reviews. The dress is important, but your experience at that boutique is just as lucrative. We all know there’s a time or two that something random can happen and there’s a not so great review on their site, but if most, if not all, of their reviews are glowing, you know you can trust them with your experience. Reach out to them as well before you book if you want to take that extra step! As a stylist, I am more than happy to take a look at each dress that you’re interested in, walk you through the price, ordering timeline, and offer suggestions based on what you think you may want in a dress. From your careful research, book your top two favorites! More appointments is not always better. The more dresses you try on, the more confusing it can be for you. We have over 300 dresses in our store. If you feel like you need to try on more dresses just to feel like you did that due diligence, cool. Let us know and we will pull more for you! It’s okay to ask us for what you need. We want to work with you as much as you want to work with us! 

13-11 months out from the wedding day

You are going to your appointments. For The Bridal Finery Bride, our dresses take 6-9 months to come into the store, so now is the time to say YES. Your gown needs to be hand made, especially if there are any custom changes you are wanting to make with the designer. You’ve done the research, you’ve visited your stores, you know you love the dress, it’s time to take the leap and purchase. There’s no reason to hold off on purchasing in case you see something else you may like. I will be the first to tell you, there will always be another dress that you like. That is just the nature of designers continuing to design, and photo platforms continuing to post photos. But what you are feeling in that moment is not going to get duplicated over and over and over again. Plus, you are on a timeline! Why are you elongating it and then stressing over a dress that might not come in time for you? No thank you. Get it done, and feel that weight of a huge check list item get lifted off your shoulders. Now is also the time to get on some veils and accessories. We aren’t saying you have to commit to the exact pair or earrings or heels that you want to wear on your wedding day, but getting your veil at the same time as your dress, or at the very least, at the same store, is so important. We said yes to your dress, now shift to your whole look. You have your dress on and you’re already here, let’s get this checked off your list too. Why? Two words, color matching. You can always go online and buy a veil that is pretty, has lace or beading you like, and a length that feels good for you, but when you go to try on your veil with your dress and they’re two different colors… Not ideal. Your veil is just as special as your dress and deserves that same attention to detail. Play with laces, play with beading, blushers, lengths, colors all the things. At the very least, find an idea of what you do like at this appointment! 

9-6 months out from the wedding day

If you haven’t already at your initial appointment, or maybe you just wanted to take one step at a time, it’s time to pick out your veil and accessories for your wedding day. Before you book this appointment though, make sure we have your dress in our store still! Sometimes a bride will come in to try on accessories and their dress was sold off the rack and they can’t envision what the veil will look like (another reason why doing it at the first appointment is so important!) If we do have your dress here, let’s get that accessories appointment rolling! If you are on track with your timeline, there is a high chance that there will be a Maria Elena Headpieces trunk show happening some time in between you saying yes to your dress, and your wedding day. When your stylist reaches out to let you know about it, book it. Book it then and now. Don’t even think about it. Get in on that appointment. They are so fun, and we usually have a lot of pieces that we don’t normally have in store during this time. Of course we know that sometimes that doesn’t always work out, family vacations, work, getting sick etc. Life happens! Still book an accessories appointment now, and not later. It takes 4-6 months for your accessories to come into the boutiques. Veils are hand made, and our earrings, hair pieces, necklaces, and bracelets are hand welded. Perfection and beauty takes time. Just like your dress, this is not a quick last minute decision either! Ideally, we want your accessories in the store for your first alterations appointment, even sooner in a perfect world. That way we, again, are seeing the entire wedding day vision with PLENTY of time for tweaks. If you’re trying to get something 3 weeks out… you may have to settle rather than be obsessed with your whole look. Say it with me, we don’t settle for anything.

4 months out from the wedding day

Your stylist is reaching out to you about alterations. Because you did your research months ago about our boutique, you’ll know that we do in house alterations! But it was a while ago since your initial research, and, let’s be honest, there’s been so much going on around you, you probably forgot what alterations timeline looks like. That’s okay! As a refresher, you want to start your alterations 8 weeks before you leave for your wedding. If you’re getting married out of state or the country and are leaving a week before your wedding, we’ll start alterations 8 weeks before your leave date. If that doesn’t apply to you, it’ll be 8 weeks before your wedding day. Our seamstress is here Mondays and Wednesdays, and your stylist is texting you to find out which day is better, what exact day works, and booking your time. We’re getting closer!! 

2 months out from your wedding day

It is your first alterations appointment! For the specifics, this blog will help you understand exactly what to bring and expect for your alterations. In your first appointment, this might be the first time you’re trying on YOUR dress for the very first time! How exciting! Take it in. Let’s also put on your perfectly matching veil and accessories too while we’re at it. Is it feeling real yet? If you haven’t yet, now is also a perfect time to get signed up for Wedding Gown Preservation. What is Wedding Gown Preservation, you may ask? Long story short, it’s a beautiful way to save your wedding dress forever, preserved nice and clean in a box for you to open one day and look back on one of the best days of your life! 

Now, back to alterations. Your first appointment is usually very quick. Our seamstress will pin the bodice and waist of your dress to make sure it fits perfectly up there, and then you’re done! 

About 1 month out from your wedding day

Will be your second alterations appointment. The bodice and waist of your wedding gown fits your body like a dream, so now it’s time to start on the hem and marking for your bustle. It’s super important that you have your shoes at this appointment! DO NOT. FORGET. THE SHOES. You can mark where your hem is PERFECTLY without the exact shoes you’re wearing on your wedding day. This appointment will take a little bit longer, there’s just so much more to do. At this appointment too, it’s really important to be honest. If something is too loose, too tight, something is poking you or doesn’t feel right, or there’s something you just don’t like about something, you have to tell us! The sooner we address any issues the better. For you, the seamstress, us, everyone involved. We don’t want you stressing in between alteration appointments thinking about how much you don’t like the bustle we pinned or that it felt a bit too snug for your comfort. Tell us early. We can’t read your mind, and you won’t hurt our feelings by addressing your concerns. 

The week before or the week of your wedding day (!!!)

It’s time for your last alterations appointment, and we’re going to MISS YOU! Having you come in for your dress, accessories, and alteration appointments, we really create such a trusting special bond. It’s always just as precious to us as it is to you (remember what I said about the experience you’re going to have at the bridal stores you're researching? This is exactly what I’m talking about!) At your last appointment, your dress is done. It fits perfectly, the hem is just kissing the floor, and you’re going to have (if they are able) the person who is going to be helping you into your dress on the big day, as well as doing your bustle. We are going to teach them how to zip you into your dress, and how to bustle it. They are going to focus on all of that while we take your phone and record the entire bustle process. Some bustles are easy as pie, some are definitely a little more intricate or layered. It just depends on the dress. But while they focus on how to do it, we’ll be behind you walking through each step of bustling so the day of when you’re about to walk into your reception and you’re mind is drawing a blank on how exactly we did your bustle during this appointment, it’s easy to pull out your phone and just follow the video. We’ve got you covered! You’re about to leave with your veil, accessories, and dress, to get married in just a few short days! But before you go, we’ll book a day and time for you (or someone else) to bring back your dress and veil to get sent to Wedding Gown Preservation. Book your appointment now! With the thrill of wedding day and then going on your honeymoon, the longer your dress sits in its bag with invisible stains (champagne especially), it’s soaking into your dress and it’s going to be harder to get out. Get it back to us as soon as you can! 

2-4 months after your wedding

Your dress and veil is finally back from cleaning and preservation! We are going to email and text you to let you know it’s here and you’ll be able to book an appointment to come pick it up. When you come in, we’re going to show you the dress displayed in the box and bring it out to your car for you. Then you are finally free of us (even if you don’t want to be!!). 

4 months and beyond

We’ll see you here and there for the appointments you come to with your girlfriends because you did the research and your due diligence and you’re going to go to your friends and say “I had the best experience ever at The Bridal Finery and you absolutely have to get your dress from them too”. We also have a referral program for you to be a part of. The first 3 brides you refer to our store, you will receive a $500 gift card to shop accessories at our store. A pair of chic earrings for your anniversary dinner? Yes please. The next 3 that you refer to our store, you’ll receive $500 cash! Just make sure your girls are saying YOU SPECIFICALLY referred them! Sometimes they’ll let us know a friend told them to come to us but they don’t give names or they say they had a few friends recommend us. Get them in the habit of using your name! 

Wedding dress shopping doesn’t have to be stressful if and when you know the steps! As a recap, research early, don’t dally on saying yes to a dress, when you love it, you love it! Get your veil with your dress, or where you got your dress to make positively sure that it’s going to match the color of your gown, be super honest during your alterations appointments, clean and preserve your gown!! You spent your hard earned money on this, take care of it after the big day just like you would before the big day, and send your girls our way!