When Do I Need to Pick my Wedding Dress?
Everything you have ever wanted to know about timelines.
When Do I Need to Pick my Wedding Dress?
As a bridal stylist at Loversland, I’ve seen everything from brides shopping without being engaged yet to coming in a month before their wedding! We know you’re likely already getting bombarded with wedding content. So, how long do you really need? We recommend ordering your dress 9 to 14 months before your wedding. This is to make sure that there is enough time for your dress to be crafted, shipped to us, and altered to fit you perfectly.
Some reasons to order your dress farther ahead of time include being able to avoid shipping delays and extra rush costs, making sure you can get alteration appointments, and ensuring you can definitely get the dress you’d like. If style is important to you on your wedding day, get in a bridal appointment as soon as you can! It’s fun to explore, but at some point you do have to make a decision (we know, it’s hard) and it’s much better now than last minute.
Are you a 2026 Bride?
Here are the timelines you need to know
Wedding Date: January 2026
Order by: As soon as you can!
Wedding Date: February 2026
Order by: May 2025
Wedding Date: March 2026
Order by: June 2025
Wedding Date: April 2026
Order by: July 2025
Wedding Date: May 2026
Order by: August 2025
Wedding Date: June 2026
Order by September 2025
You might be wondering why it takes so long!
Fun fact: in the fashion industry, it’s actually typical for buyers to be picking clothing pieces off the runway a year before they show up in stores.
Since you’re curious about bridal, we can break that down into a few different stages:
Production
Most designers take 5-7 months to cut, drape, sew, and stitch your dress in their ateliers across the world. Some of them are very popular and need extra time. If you’re interested in brands like WED Studio or CINQ, they ask for up to 10-12 months just for production.
Shipping
We want to make sure you have enough time to get your dress to Loversland, and as we know, shipping delays can happen. We also take a day or two in the Haven to quality check your dress and make sure that everything is looking stunning.
Alterations
The last step of getting your wedding dress is alterations, which we would recommend booking as early as you can, even before you receive your dress. Typically, alterations take 3 or 4 appointments over 8 to 10 weeks. We can recommend some of our favourite tailors and booking them ahead of time is a great way to make sure they have space for you!
If you have the opportunity to start the search for your dress more than a year before your wedding, that’s great! It will ensure that you have access to all the great options that we can offer.
If you’re shopping closer to your wedding date, buying samples is also a great option, since they’re already in the haven and no production or shipping is needed. Take a look at the sample sale dress on our website.
We know it’s hard to make the decision and have your search be over, but
Are you a 2025/26 bride? Email us now at info@loversland.com with any questions.
"Totally amazing experience. They were efficient, took the care and time to figure out what I was looking for and they weren’t pushy at all. Highly recommend!!!"– Bride-to-be