Teenage bridesmaids - when to buy their dresses

I have my 3 nieces aged 11, 13 and 15 and like you was worried as to whether their dresses would still fit. We are getting married in 10 weeks, 26th April and I was advised that I needed to order their dresses at the beginning of Dec to allow for the Chinese new year. The dresses are scheduled to arrive mid - March and are likely to need altering.

We went to a bridal shop as I couldn't find the colour I wanted elsewhere but a friend used BHS the year before 2011 for her dresses and as her daughter grew she returned the dress for the next size up.

Good luck.

I did similar to you are suggesting, with similar ages, although the timeframe wasn't as long as we planned everything within 9 months. But I asked them for their sizes and bought a size bigger each. In the end the younger one had actually grown into her dress and just needed the straps adjusting, but we had the older one's dress taken in. I bought adult sizes (10 and 12 IIRC) - I'd be wary of buying a 'teenage' or 'child' style dress for teenage girls too early personally in case there isn't enough room in the bust, as I know from experience that teenagers can get a sudden growth spurt in that area. But you did say "high street dresses" so I imagine you're thinking of adult sizes?

I have 4 bm's. The younger 2 are both 10, i fell in love with a monsoon dress for them so i bought age 10/11 as monsoon are generous sizes. I got these at the end of november (i get married in july), if i need to get them altered i will but because of the style of the dress it should be fine. The older 2 my daughters 16 and 21 i got 2 lovely debut dresses for both are a little big and allow for some growth. Again i will get them altered mid june if needed.

So im not too concerned. I have kept receipts and every month make them try them on lol. If they suddenly got too small i would exchange x

That's a very long time at that age. I had to order mine dec for feb delivery ( just incase I needed a month or so to find an alternative if it all went wrong) the dresses I ordered where handmade in china and made to measure - we added onto the measurements and will have them fitted perfectly by the lady doing my dress alterations x

I would go for made to measure dresses with lace at the back to make sure it will fit them. Also I would order them as soon as possible to just have less to do when it's gonna be close to the wedding. I have ordered my dresses from evica.co.uk. They have fantastic made to measure service and great prices. You can call them to talk about your concern, they can be very helpful as they know their job.

I'm not really sure but, I hope this could help - http://www.wallao.com/junior-bridesmaid-dress/

Following with interest as my daughter will be 9, but she is already in age 13 clothes! She was a flowergirl last year and we ended up buying an age 12 from Monsoon to allow for growth and development, Which store is it? Worth checking their returns policy and whether it will be a continuing range.

I was terrified at first that my bridesmaids dresses wont fit them, the two youngest are both 11 and are most likely going to grow come the wedding in December.

However I've been looking at lots of bridesmaids dresses and found a website that do beautiful dresses at a reasonable price all year round. It's called ChiChi, they ship everywhere and make good quality dresses that will be there through each season and probably wont go out of stock.

I have five brides maids, their ages ranging from 11 to 23, they were heavily involved with the dress picking process I am not going to leave buying dresses too late, but I fully support the idea of buying a size bigger and taking it in if needed as then there is a definite that the dresses are going to fit. So there is no stress on you right before your wedding when everything should be about you and not your bridesmaids

Hope it helped

I had a 15 year old and bought in May for August (she was then 16 in the September).

Mind you it was from River Island and not expensive so wouldn't have been much bother to change / buy another dress.

I would really try amazon. They have really great prices and some of them even offer free shipping!