It’s hard to say what is considered last-minute these days. I think it was Kim Kardashian West’s wedding that showed brides everywhere anything is possible. As lavish as the wedding weekend was, it’s hard to believe it was all planned within a few months. Unlike Kim, I didn’t have a celebrity wedding planner coordinating my timeline so planning my wedding day in five short months was a challenge. Here is a cheat sheet on the bridal fashion side of things. At the end of the day, if the bride feels confident and beautiful, that is what matters most. Whether you have a year to plan and you just like to be a head of the game or you just got the ring on your finger and the wedding is a couple of months away, here is your cheat sheet! Please comment, ask questions. We are professionals here waiting to help you! Reach out.

Find your wedding dress on a last minute timeframe.

Your best friend or some relative is probably driving you crazy about dress shopping. You might be stalling because you would like to lose 10 pounds or tone your arms. Wedding dresses can take time to be made and altered. This should be first on your to do list. I promise your caterer won’t start making your bacon wrapped asparagus months before your wedding(hehe). Go try on dresses and hopefully find the one! If there are reasons you have been stalling then, share it with your bridal shop. If they provide you with reassurance than they are the right shop for you!

If your wedding is less than five months away, the best bridal boutique is one that specializes in off the rack. Well, you landed on the right page! That is exactly what we do here at The Bridal Finery. We have special order options; however, we focus on off the rack. We carry all the big names: Berta Bridal, Ines Di Santo, Monique Lhuillier, Carolina Herrera… the list goes on. Quality is important to us, but getting your gown in on time is just as important. No reason for the wedding dress process to be stressful and have to give up on the quality you deserve.

When you have your wedding dress, a weight will be lifted off your shoulders. It’ll make it way easier to plan. Having your dress can in many ways help your florist, wedding planner, invitation artist, and event decorate better understand your style. Plus, your bridal party needs to find their attire as well.

Find your veil, hairpiece, jewelry.

Look ,I get it, we all make decisions differently. Some of us are quick to make them and others love the “sleep on it” method. Just try them on. Try on a bridal veil, bridal cape, hairpieces, earrings, bracelet, any possible piece you will wear with your wedding day. No one should ever make you feel pressured to buy, but it’s super important to at least try. You may have moments of feeling overwhelmed, but I promise you this: It is way better than feeling overwhelmed a few days before your wedding! Try all the different type of bridal accessories on, you might be surprised by what you find. My clients that buy on their pieces the same day they buy their wedding dress are always way less stressed. I’ve seen it too many times to ignore it.

Then there are always the relatives that find the“heirloom” piece out of no where and would love for you to wear it. You feel bad. It’s so touching, but it’s not really your style. Its so easy when you have already purchased all of your bridal accessories to just explain you have already invested in your pieces and can’t return them. They never argue with that. If a heirloom comes into the picture that you love, wear it for family photos. It’s great to show a variety of looks on your wedding day!

I love to prepare my brides for success! If you can walk out our bridal shop and have your whole look figured out, I know I’ve done a great job as your stylist. Spending hours finding each individual piece and not really seeing them all together if they are bought in several different bridal shops, can be so stressful. All I can really say, is you just won’t have the time. You just don’t. Some of my clients don’t even have time to eat lunch when it’s weeks before their wedding.

Find your undergarments

An expert stylist fits you for the right undergarments while you are trying wedding dresses. Undergarments are everything. They are equally important as a good seamstresses. In fact, some seamstresses won’t fit a wedding dress, until you have purchased your undergarments.

The reason I wanted to list it here is because when you are on a tight timeframe it is super important to avoid your seamstresses rescheduling. Here is the situation: You have purchased a wedding dress, you arrive for your first fitting and the seamstresses first question is to look at your undergarments. If you don’t have them, there is a high chance your fitting will get rescheduled.

We carry a full collection of undergarments to smoothen and lift. When it’s time to look at undergarments we will often show you different options to see what looks the best with your wedding dress. Undergarments typically take 5-7 days to arrive; however, if they are on back order they can take 2-3 months.

Setting up your alteration fittings for a last minute wedding.

You found your wedding dress, your wedding day accessories, and hopefully your undergarments. Now it’s time to set up your alterations appointment. Traditionally, bridal alterations start 8 weeks before the wedding or when you leave for your wedding if it is a destination. No fret, if you don’t have 8 weeks. We have coordinated beginning to end alterations in just 4-5 days. It is possible. Every dress is different. Make sure to ask your stylist how long alterations will take before you buy the gown. At our bridal store we are very upfront about the timeframe of everything. Some bridal stores are more hands off though when it comes to alterations. Make sure to find this out before you make the purchase.

There are many expert seamstresses in the Orlando and Winter Park, Florida area. We have a seamstress we recommend who does all the fittings in-house. In the event our seamstress is booked, we do have a back-up option. We believe in helping our bride coordinate her alteration fittings. Once you have all your wedding fashion pieces, we will get you scheduled.

Learn how to steam or hire a steaming company

This tends to be an after thought and that’s why we always bring it up in conversation. Who is steaming your wedding dress on your wedding day? Hopefully you didn’t answer “me”. If you are having an elopement on a secluded island, then it may need to be you. Here is our YouTube video where we can guide you through how to steam your wedding dress.

If you are not having an elopement, our top recommendation is to hire a professional company to come out and steam the wedding dress the morning of your wedding. The wedding dress should stay wrapped up until the day of the wedding. You don’t want people walking around with red wine looking at your dress. A professional steamer is someone that is fully insured and arrives with a commercial steamer and a back up steamer. They will take 1-3 hours to steam out your wedding dress and bridal veil. They offer services for the wedding party as well. We have steaming companies we are happy to recommend. We will check their availability to make sure prior to giving you the recommendation.

Practice the bustle

The bustle are ties or a hooking method that causes the train to lift up making it easier to dance. If you not having a dance reception, this may not be necessary; however, it’s nice to pull it up regardless so guests don’t step on your wedding dress and damage it. The bustle is shown at the very last fitting so it’s helpful to have a maid of honor or a responsible one learn the bustle.

In our bridal shop we like to take a video of you wearing your dress and the seamstress bustling it. The video should be shared with a wedding planner and the whole bridal party. I would not assume the wedding planner will be available to do it. They might be preoccupied. A bustle can take 5-8 minutes to put up. Add some excitement and champagne and what would normally take 8 minutes, now takes 15-20 minutes. Unless the dress train is incredibly long, it is safe to say the bustle will take 15-20 minutes. Make sure the DJ, wedding planner, and photographer are aware so they can add it to the timeline. Just about any wedding I have been to, I see the bride and her crew stressing about the bustle because the 20 minutes are not blocked in the timeline which means you are suppose to be some where other than being bustled. When it’s on the timeline everyone know where to find you and understands you cannot have photos taken at the exact moment.

Practice makes perfect though. Days before the wedding have your bridesmaids unzip the bag and practice the bustle on the hanger. You don’t need to try on the dress in order for them to do this. Once they practice it once or twice they will have it down.

Ready to get started on your last minute wedding planning! Click here to book an appointment or email me directly so I can answer your questions! Tali@thebridalfinery.com