Too soon to panic? My sister's bm dress doesn't fit - what do i do?

I would definitely hold off on freaking out. Maybe keep an eye out on Poshmark if one pops up in the size she needs. Can a tailor let it out enough to be comfortable?


I definitely wouldn’t ask your whole bridal party to buy new dresses—unless you’re planning to eat the cost of a new dress for everyone.

Did you buy the dresses from David’s? & were either of the alterations people affiliated with David’s? If you bought them there & alterations folks not affiliated I would absolutely start with them! I’m sure they have similar issues before, if nothing else they should attempt to help.

IF you can find a reliable alterations person your idea about buying another matching dress could save the day!

If not it’s worth at least considering a different dress (same color possibly) for your sister…. OR maybe use MoH dress for alterations & get her a different dress.

You do have some time so don’t panic or stress too much. You might keep looking & find the bigger size!

I’d go for the option of picking up a second hand dress for additional fabric. Hard to see without seeing the back, but is there any way the zip can be swapped for a corset back? That might solve the issue without having to let the dress out or get extra fabric.

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Bridesmaid's dresses were from David's, but neither alteration person was. Are you saying David's Bridal alterations people are better? I've heard that they were not good...I don't know.

With only 3 people in the bridal party, having a different dress for my MoH doesn't make sense (to me anyway) plus David's Bridal doesn't sell anything even in the same kind of lace fabric anymore. I think I'd be better off buying one of the wrong size Poshmark dresses that matches and sacrificing it to the alteration gods. (Now if I could find someone I trust down here...if I were in my out-of-state hometown, this wouldn't be a problem. I babysat for a seamstress. But can't exactly alter a dress for someone in another state).

Thanks I know I'm just panicking - I've already had so much go wrong wrong, I'm just trying to be proactive.

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The back is a halter back and a zip...I hadn't thought of that. I probably have enough from the hem lining to make a lacing cord...(but the second hand dress would be good for a modesty panel) and I'd have to look up how people do it but adding a placket for eyelets inside would be an easy fix...something even I might be comfortable doing. I could even make it so I don't cut out the zipper so if she doesn't need the corset back we won't have to use it. (I could hide the eyelets under the zip/inside the dress)

Okay you're speaking my language. When I met my fiance I was frantically sewing my ren fair costume and 36+ hand sewn eyelets...he'd text me and ask what I was doing and I'd say...sewing eyelets, per usual.

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Yeah, not much room to let out...definitely didn't want to do the whole buy a new dress thing but if I did was going to eat the dress...just me spiraling. Just gonna keep an eye out I guess. Not sure when to call it and get a used one to ensure time for alterations if that's the route we need to go though.

Do the dresses fit the other girls,? If you aren't sure I would find that out first because it would suck to put all of this time into your sister's dress just to find out someone else's doesn't fit either.

Maybe keep an eye out on Poshmark if one pops up in the size she needs

I agree with the others - look out for a dress on poshmark, and if you can't get one in her size, get one in another size and use it for alterations.

If you can't find any dresses at all, either in her size or another one... you might just have to bite the bullet and choose a new dress it really sucks, but it is what it is, unfortunately.

First thing to do is take a minute a breathe. This is going to be okay.

Then, I would check in with my other BMs to see if their dresses still zip comfortably (I know a lot of people, me included, gained weight over the course of the pandemic). If yes, then you have a few options. You could buy a secondhand dress and alter your sister's dress, you could hold off a couple months to see if she drops some of the weight, or - you said her dress wouldn't be comfortable all night - BUT would she be okay wearing it for the ceremony and pictures and then changing into something else? One of my BMs bought her dress too small (it looked fine, but she wasn't comfortable) and she wore the dress until she was done with pictures and then she changed into a different dress.

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I wasn’t saying they are good or bad (I don’t have experience with them at all) however they are a large store with many locations & I would hope that their policies would stand behind their work & products to make things right for the customer. But again I don’t have first hand experience with them.

A good/great seamstress is a blessing regardless of where you find them… I would be asking everyone I know for recommendations & see if you can find someone local.

I love the suggestion of the corset back someone suggested & your idea of hiding it inside the zipper…. I think you might be onto your solution! Make sure everyone else’s dress fit in case everyone else has the same “need”

You're not being neurotic, this is a rational thing to be concerned about and it's nice that you're not going to pressure your sister to lose weight even though it wouldn't be much and she has a long time.
I couldn't find a size 16 of this dress when I looked for it now. I did find it in a size 6 on eBay, which wouldn't seem worth mentioning except that it's only $14, so it might feel like less of a risk to buy something that's that cheap.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.ebay.com/itm/224356001254&ved=2ahukewixso-ml8zxahxrw80khf61aimqfjaaegqigrac&usg=aovvaw3eep3ihahfpqrxeiy4_22p&cshid=1625496940493

I've heard that DB dresses come with extra seam allowance so you can take it out. Going up one size should not be too hard.


If that doesn't work, I had my zipper replaced with a corset back for my wedding dress. It probably gave me room for 2 to 3 extra sizes.
Good luck!

I would try not to panic. My seamstress somehow gave my like 5 inches of length on my dress when I was SERIOUSLY convinced it was the shortest it could ever be. Seamstresses can do magic! Maybe they can make her dress fit