Wedding Blog
Dear Melissa Sweet/Priscilla of Boston/purveyors of wedding and bridesmaids dresses everywhere:
Why, oh why does it take FIVE MONTHS for you to make a dress? I know I procrastinated on picking out bridesmaids dresses, but I just decided on my wedding dress! And how could I have picked out the bridesmaids’ dresses until I knew what I, the bride, was wearing? If I could have foreseen that the salespeople at your bridal salon in Dallas would LAUGH AT ME when I asked, in December, if I could order bridesmaids dresses for our April 4th wedding, I would have ordered them sooner! But, really, how was I supposed to know? You’ve already designed the dresses, and most of you only come out with a handful of dress designs per season (Melissa Sweet, I’m talking to you). You already have the materials and a factory of people to make them. So why does it take five months for a dress to be delivered once it has been ordered?
I have two theories about the cause of such delay:
1) ‘Bridesmaid Dress Manufacturers are Cheap’ Theory: The manufacturers are cheap and want to wait as long as possible to start production of dresses, so that they can build up a lot of orders and mass produce them at a lower cost.
2) ‘WIC (Wedding Industrial Complex) Conspiracy’ Theory: The Wedding Industrial Complex wants us to order dresses as soon as we get engaged. They don’t want us to think too hard about the high prices or the possibility of shopping around, for, say, eveningwear that can multitask as bridesmaids dresses. Instead of letting us have time to compare prices and think about the best option, they want us to make hurried decisions about dresses more than 6 months before our wedding date!
Here is the dress I fell in love with, the unavailability of which is causing my current strife.
Photo via Brides.com
Isn’t it cute?! It is a Melissa Sweet design. As a 7-time bridesmaid, I can say that I would definitely wear this again! The sparkles make it a cute party dress—I want to buy one for myself! And it comes in a light blue color called “French Blue” and in a coral color called “Nectar” (see the colors here). I had it all planned out. I was either going to go with this sparkly dress style and have the ’maids choose between Nectar and French Blue, or I was going to stick to one of the colors and have the ’maids choose between several satin strapless styles, like the sparkly number above and these lovelies:
Photos via Brides.com
But, alas, it was not meant to be. Let this be a warning to all procrastinating brides-to-be. On with the search!
Did you have to find bridesmaids dresses in a “short” period of time? Where did you go?
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Share this post: Why Melissa Sweet? Why!?!?
Awww, I love your top pick! It’s absolutely crazy how long it takes for an ordered dress (bridal or BM) to come in. I JUST heard that my Melissa Sweet wedding gown has arrived — after eight months! Maybe you can find a talented dress maker to copy your favorite design for cheap?
My BMs wore Nicole Miller dresses VERY similar to the middle blue dress above. I’d guess the price was similar, too. Just Google Nicole Miller bridesmaid or whatever to get to their site. I’m pretty sure they didn’t take too long to come in.
I read somewhere that it doesn’t take them 5 months to make the dress — it takes them 5 months to acquire enough orders that the shipping from China is worth it to the company. Good luck!
I procrastinated on my wedding (I just bought my dress in December) and bridesmaids dresses too. I wanted my girls to be able to wear their dress again as well. We tried to buy off the rack at places like Nordstrom and Macy’s, but we ended up going to David’s for most of the dresses as their turn around is quick. My MOH is wearing a Watters dress. The bridal store said they have a quick turn around. We didn’t even have to pay for rush shipping. We bought it last week and it will be here mid to late March.
Miss Kitten, be sure to check out style me pretty today, she has a real wedding post up with your colors.
http://www.stylemepretty.com/2009/02/04/blogger-favorite-elizabeth-anne-designs/
I think you can sometimes pay a small fee to have your order expedited. Is that not an option here?
Jcrew has a bridesmaid dress very similar to your first pic. Perhaps they need less lead time to order.
Can you call someone else to see if they can help to expedite the order? Or can you call the company directly to state your case?
We wore Vera Wang bridesmaid’s dresses in my brother and SIL’s wedding — I think we ordered in March for a June wedding and the dresses came in a few weeks before the wedding, so we were fine with that tight timeline! I wouldn’t take one person’s answer as the end-all, be-all answer if that is really the dress you love.
my order only took 3 mos through House of Brides, but probably too scary at this point, since they had estimated 4
J.Crew dresses come within just a few days! They are fantastic quality, so cute, and you can wear them again! If you like strapless, check out the Cotton Cady Erica Dress or perhaps the silk taffeta lorelei dress! Good Luck!
My wedding dress was actually a bridesmaids’ dress in ivory, and I had it made in less than a month under their “rush” designation for an extra $50. They told me it would take six weeks, but it was done well before the estimation they gave me.
I’m not sure if a bigger shop would have been able to make the same arrangements, because I’m pretty sure they had one local dressmaker doing all of their sewing, but always ask about a rush option!
How heartbreaking. I hope you’re able to find a suitable replacement in time for the big day! Looks like you’ve already gotten some great suggestions on places to check.
Sarah & Chendabride are right… J.Crew is always a beautiful, classy choice! Also, check out Ann Taylor Celebrations… they have fewer dresses to choose from, but they are nice and come quickly! They also have a blue color(Pacific Blue) similar to the ones above!
http://www.anntaylor.com/catalog/editorial.jsp?pageName=celebpreview&pCategoryId=193#8
once again Miss Kitten, GREAT taste! 
my ladies are wearing a mix of Melissa Sweet and Priscilla of Boston dresses in satin material and the color Fig. Each bridesmaid is wearing a different dress (there are 6 of them) and some of the dresses you listed above are some of the ones I picked for them to choose from! I LOVE these dresses b/c they look more like cocktail dresses and can definitely be worn again.
Sorry it didn’t work out for you to order them 
Her order time is ridiculous! most other dresses only take 12 to order. I ordered mine in December for a May 30 wedding and barely made it with alteration time to spare! good luck finding something else for your lovely ladies to wear!
There are some similar dresses out there, here are a few,
http://www.nicolemiller.com/SPECIAL_OCCASION_DRESS/pd/np/12/p/1226.html
oh no! im so sorry!
i however, managed to choose my bridesmaids dresses first. before my dress. before th venue. so weird of me. apparently i am the most backwards bride ever. the dresses determined the color scheme. It may be weird, but it was important for me that the girls were happy and flattered on the big day.
Check out Jessica McClintock, Nordstrom’s, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, etc. I also think that target.com has some great dresses by Isaac Mizrahi, a lot of which are on clearance right now for amazing prices!
I am buying my maids dresses right now, 8 months before my wedding. They said the last day I could buy them is 6 months before my wedding. But they are from a bridal salon and are only costing me $124. Not too bad for an actual bridesmaid dress.
I just ordered the BM dresses this past weekend for my june 19th wedding and they said it would take 16 weeks. 16 weeks?! My wedding is in 20!
I’m keeping my fingers crossed for an early delivery because I’m worried about a time crunch with alterations (but if each bridesmaid has to go to a different seamstress to get them done in time, that’s what we’ll do!)
I fell in love with your first dress as well, but I ended up with another from the POB line… and we’re definately pushing it… I finally got my order in at the end of December for our April 18th wedding. Skin of the TEETH!
I’ve read that companies will wait until they have certain amount of orders in each size (i.e. 150 size 8’s) because the fabric is laser cut, and it is less expensive and more efficient to cut patterns for 150 dresses opposed to cutting them as they come in.
Fine. Whatever. Yes, that makes “sense”, but it’s reeeeeally bad customer service. As you said, they pre-purchase the fabric/dye-lots, the styles are designed, and they are NOT cut to custom. The only reason the stores take measurements is so they can figure out what size you are in their size run.
Oh, and when you hear about someone quoting several months for something to come in (be it a wedding gown or a bm dress), and everyone tells you their turn-around is even faster than they say? Not necessarily so- it just means that you were the 148th or 149th order to come in before they hit their quota to start cutting the fabric.
I suggest J. Crew of BCBG.
Good luck!
I, too, don’t understand why it takes so long! I ordered my dress back in September and it didn’t come in until mid-January. Also, your wedding date is my birthday
5 months? That’s awful. I’ve only just ordered my BMs dresses for our May wedding. Heck, even my Justina McCaffrey wedding dress arrived in 3 months!
So sorry Miss Kitten I love all of those dresses. I was just coveting them last night on the POB site. I would ask about a rush order - if you’re willing to pay extra oftentimes you can get what you need. If not can’t wait to find out what you pick.
Anyone have any idea how much the Melisa Sweet dresses run and if they offer any bulk discounts for ordering many at once? I really don’t want my girls to pay more than $200 (I’d be willing to pick up a bit over that) and no one seems to have the colors she has. They are the ones that inspired my colors of plum, steel gray and green…
I ordered the Silver Vineyard, the first silver one up above! My girls are so excited about it!!
I ordered Alfred Angelo dresses 4.5 months out, and they told us we only needed to order them three months out to ensure they’d get to us in time w/o having to pay the expediated price. I’m sure there are plenty of designers you can get in under 5 months.
Try Watters… I don’t know their order time, but they have a bunch of cute short dresses. I’m thinking of getting my BM dressed from there
Good Luck!
Good old DB–cheap, re-wearable & simple. Ideally I would have liked to pick more fashion-fwd. dresses, but my bridesmaids have a wide range of sizes & ages. Plus you can sometimes buy right off the rack. (No returns, though!)
OMG! These are my dresses. You have such great taste. LOL! FYI: my bridesmaids had to order their dresses in October to recieve them by April 1. Crazy, right?
I love the second last one, the blue one that another Bee - forget who! - also posted! So what have you decided to do?
Love the dresses (obviously- as my maids are wearing that second strapless blue number)!! So sorry it didn’t work out for you!
I L-O-V-E that first dress! I wanna buy it just to have as a just in case I need a nice dress type of dress. I know it sucks, but is it possible to pay for rush fees or somehow talk the dress shop into throwing them in for free? Also, have you checked online websites like House of Brides (Mrs. Penguin used them) I think they also have a rush option and their dresses usually come in MANY colors.
I think your exactly right about companies wanting to hire bridesmaids through the process as quickly as possible. My engagement will have lasted 3 years and I’ve been planning since day 1 and I know I’ve saved a ton of cash, though a lot of vendors have not been so happy to hear that I have plently of time to make a decision.
I was told my wedding could take 9 months to come in. Umm excuse me? I can produce a human being in that amount of time, thank you very much.
I can’t believe how long it takes for dresses to come in! We might be going the department store route to avoid that issue.
On a side note I wore the Melissa Sweet dress in that last picture, but it was chocolate brown!
It has to be a WIC conspiracy theory. I’m sure that everything will work out. Maybe this road block is what you need to find an even better dress for your bridesmaids.
Ah! Herein lies the beauty of Jcrew and returnability! So nice.
We went with Ann Taylor. Mine came in a week. And then I returned it for a different size. Which also came in a week.
How heartbreaking! I love love loooove that first dress!!
LOVE those dresses. Most places I’ve talked to have asked for 3-4 months. What about J.Crew? I know it is so wrong of me to suggest J.Crew after my last post about them, but at least you’ll get them super fast!
These dresses are WAY too cute, you’re so right… I’d wear any of these over again! Great picks! I hope you found similar dresses (or got a chance to order these!!!)
They are verrry pretty, but maybe it was meant to be and you’ll find something even hotter and (magic word coming up) on sale? I found my BM dresses in an ordinary old store. I walked in and bought one on the spot; the other two sizes were sent in from another store 2 days later. (Ok fine, sounds easy but it took forever to find them, true.)
totally agree that the lead time’s so long because they gather orders and ship them off to be made in china.
in fact, i came across a chinese-language website of a factory that purportedly makes dresses for these major US brands.
we just ordered my dress and the BM dresses and my wedding isnt until October! We got them from David’s Bridal, and they said they’ll be here by mid March. But even if they’re not, we still have plenty of time til the big day. I plan on getting the flower girl dresses this summer.
Thanks for all the advice! I’m a busy bee checking out all my new options!
Ya know, I have to go with the conspiracy theory. My bridesmaids ordered their dresses in August - they didn’t come in til December. When they went in for their first fitting a couple of weeks ago, there was something wrong with one of them, so the shop sent it back to the manufacturer so we could get a replacement. Guess who got a phone call TODAY saying the dress is in? Yeah, that’s right - me. So five months the first time, two weeks the second time. Really? REALLY?? I just don’t get it.
Oh that stinks! We went with off the rack dresses so the girls got theirs in about a week and a half!
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Mrs. Kitten, Austin/Grand Cayman
Age and Occupation: 25, Law Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Dental Student
Engagement Date: October 19, 2006
Wedding Date: April, 2009
Venue: The Grand Old House, Grand Cayman
About Me: In 2009 I will get married (after a two and a half year engagement!), become an Army wife, graduate from law school, take the bar, move from Austin to Washington, D.C., and start my career as a lawyer! With all this going on, Mr. Kitten and I decided to have a tropical, "stress-free" destination wedding. Nevertheless, my micromanaging, detail-oriented, perfectionist side has prevailed---I am currently obsessed with every last detail of my "stress-free" destination wedding! But most of all, I'm beyond excited to become Mrs. Kitten on a fabulous Caribbean vacation surrounded by my friends and family!
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