Has anyone bought their dress too small on purpose?

I know, it is normally a big no-no in wedding dress shopping to purchase your gown too small. They say it can always be re-sized to fit, but how much can actually be taken in?

I am planning on ordering this dress: Caprice - by Maggie Sottero

It does not have a corset back, and I am not entirely sure how much will be able to be taken in without it being an issue.

I have just started a very aggressive weightloss program with a trainer that I will be doing until my wedding in April. Our goal together is for me to lose at least 30 pounds, and I am fully confident that I will do this.

So my question to you wise ladies - should I buy my dress smaller or for my current size? Will it be able to be taken in enough without ruining it? Did anyone else buy their dress too small?

I agree that you should get the dress for your current size. It's much easier to take a dress in than to let it out. A good seamstress will be able to take it in properly but again. adding fabric could be a nightmare. Plus with the weightloss you don't know where/how exactly your body will change and the size too small may fit perfectly in some areas and look terrible in others.

Good luck with your choice and weight loss!

It's a beautiful dress! Congrats on starting a new weight loss program. I was told Maggie dresses take 12 weeks to come in. Check with your dress shop on when you would need to order to have in time for your wedding.

I would wait a while before ordering, to see how much wait you can lose. That way there will be less to take in later.

Basically, I would not order it too small. A dress can always be taken in, but very rarely can it be let out. If anything happens, and you don't lose all the weight you wanted to, you may not be able to wear your dream dress!

I will echo the previous post.

Congratulations on setting a goal.

I will tell you that when I ordered my wedding dress, I ordered a 12, when it came time for the fitting, it needed to be taken in a lot. The seamstress said that it was closer to an 8 upon completion. The style of the dress was not comprimised, and it looked gorgeous.

That being said, alterations were freaking expensive... nearly $400.

With respect to buying a dress too small, I truly believe that you are putting the cart before the horse. I would strongly suggest WAITING until you have reached or neared your goal weight before purchasing or choosing a dress.

With your wedding in April - don't even start looking until January. See how far you've come. Plan on purchasing off the rack. The longer you can wait for a dress the better the fit you'll have.

Thanks for all the adivce ladies. I really don't want to purchase my dress too small, and my dress takes 4 to 5 months to get in, so I don't really have a lot of time to wait and have time for alterations.

Amarillis, it's comforting to hear that your dress was able to be taken in, even if it did cost a lot in alterations. That's really my concern is that it won't be able to be altered.

I honestly think that if you are preparing to drop 30lbs, you should wait to choose your dress. What looks good now, may not look good when you are -30lbs.

If you want to focus on losing weight... do that first. Find the dress later.

Just to chime in, I ordered my Maggie dress in March and it came in last week, so 5 months. I'm going to try it on on Thursday. I ordered it to fit me as I am. that being said, I'm also starting a weight loss program this week under a doctor's care and am planning to lose about 30 lbs. The seamstress at my dress shop told me making a dress smaller is always doable - they made a dress from a size 22 to a 10 and it was fine - trying to make a dress bigger can be very difficult, not to mention the mental anguish it would probably cause.

I think it's a good idea to wait a bit to order your dress and see how much weight you lose between now and -say- October. That way, you may be able to order a size smaller than your current size, and still have it ordered on time. I had a goal of losing 20 lbs before the wedding, so I did order a size smaller than recommended. For me, it was extra motivation to lose the weight. By the time it came in, I had lost 15 lbs and it needed to be taken in to what would have been 2 sizes smaller than the original recommended size. I also had hired a trainer and was very serious about the weight loss goal.

Good luck!!!

I agree with the other girls here. I plan on losing about 10-15lbs prior to the wedding, but they said it would be wayyyy too difficult to take the dress out as opposed to in.

It may be more $ for alterations, but it's much better piece of mind!!

Good luck to you