If you are a bride who is shopping for your wedding dress and wants to be a trend setter or are a bride who is interested in the latest designer bridal fashion, you might be wondering when the best time to shop for your wedding dress will be. If you are planning your bridal shopping appointments, you might wonder if you will be able to see the newest designer wedding dress collections in your local bridal store.
We are going to be sharing some behind the scenes tips when it comes to new bridal gown collections and how bridal stores handle new inventory so brides can plan ahead to try on new arrivals and purchase your wedding dress. Perhaps you're seeing new wedding dress styles from the top designers from the bridal fashion runway shows and you're eager to try them on! We understand! We're eager for you to see the new bridal dress designs too! So, that's why were sharing everything brides need to know about when new bridal dresses arrive in stores and how long those dresses are available for brides to be!
Video: What months do bridal stores get new arrival dresses for brides to try on?
If you are a bride who want to shop the newest designer bridal collections and wedding dresses, be sure to watch our latest advice video detailing what months bridal stores get new arrival dresses for brides to try on.
New Bridal Fashion Collections
When brides are planning to shop with us at Lovella Bridal in LA, we are often asked what new wedding dresses we have in store. Many brides want the newest wedding dress designs and often ask when we will have new designer bridal fashion added to our inventory.
As a general rule, bridal designers release two new collections a year, in April and October. These new bridal collections are debuted at Bridal Fashion Week in New York and it is always a highlight of our year. We love getting to jet to New York to see the new wedding gowns and bridal accessories in person and start making plans for the items we want to add to our inventory at Lovella. We will place orders around that time for the pieces we think our brides will most want to see and try on at our store.
New Inventory Timeline
While buyers may be placing orders from the new collections in April and October, those new designs are not available right away for brides to try on in store. Just like a wedding dress that a bride orders, the new sample designs will take about 6 to 8 months to arrive in store. It is so hard to wait, so we empathize with our brides because we also have to wait for our new inventory pieces! Everything is made to order from bridal designers and that includes our new stock bridal fashion pieces.
Designers will try to get new stock orders to bridal stores closer to 5 to 6 months after ordering so that their collection can be out in the world for brides to try on, but there is still a waiting period from the time we order. For example, if we are buying new gowns in April, we will start getting those sample bridal dresses in store in September or October. And gowns ordered in October are going to be arriving in store in March or April, just before the next bridal market, which is the time that next collections are released. This is just a general timeline as we don’t have set delivery dates from our designers. Sometimes dresses trickle in at all times of the year depending on when orders are placed and how long production takes.
If you are set on shopping new designs from a certain bridal dress collection or designer, keep in mind that it could be six months after you are seeing these gowns on social media before you can try them on in store. From there, you need to add an additional 6 to 8 months for your wedding dress order to be completed and another 1 to 2 months for alterations. This is all important to consider when planning your wedding timeline and knowing when to shop for your wedding dress.
Trunk Shows
If there is a specific dress that you saw posted during Bridal Fashion Week that you really want to get your hands on and that you want to buy, those could be available for early purchase during a bridal dress designer trunk show. A wedding dress trunk show allows you to shop a larger selection of a particular bridal designer.
Bridal stores often do not purchase sample dresses of every new dress from a designer’s new collection. They will make choices of what styles will most likely resonate and be sought after by the brides that shop at that particular store. Bridal stores have to pay for their inventory, so for budget reasons, and space reasons, they can not purchase every single new wedding dress that hits the market. Stores will carry multiple designers, so it’s not practical to purchase each and every new gown.
This is where a bridal trunk show comes in and can be helpful to brides wanting to shop the newest collection of a particular designer before those wedding dresses are added to a store’s inventory. Bridal stores will plan a designer trunk show where the new collection is sent to a particular store and brides have the opportunity to shop the new collection and see the new designs before they are in store.
We would recommend that if there is a particular dress you have your eye on, you confirm with the bridal store hosting the trunk show that it includes the gown you are looking for. Designers try their best to have the latest collection going out around the country, but it all depends on timing. Also make sure that the dates of the trunk show will allow enough time for your dress order to be complete before your wedding date.
More Helpful Wedding Dress Shopping Advice
We hope you have found this advice helpful when it comes to understanding bridal store inventory and when new bridal collections are available in store for brides to shop and try on. For even more helpful advice when it comes to shopping for your dream wedding dress and finding your bridal style, be sure to check out our past posts:
- Keeping Up With Wedding Dress Trends After Saying Yes to The Dress
- Top 7 Wedding Dress Trends Spotted at New York Bridal Fashion Week
- Top 8 Bridal Accessory Trends Spotted During New York Bridal Fashion Week
- The Difference Between Wedding Dress Sample Sales & Trunk Shows
About Lovella
If you're shopping for your perfect wedding dress, come visit us at Lovella Bridal in Glendale, CA. We carry wedding dresses in all sizes and styles, including plus-size bridal gowns and a full selection of veils and accessories. Lovella Bridal is the premier, luxury bridal wedding dress shopping boutique located in Los Angeles, California. Lovella features couture, feminine, modern and chic bridal gowns in all sizes from the best wedding dress designers. Schedule an appointment to find the wedding dress of your dreams at Lovella Bridal. We can't wait to help you!
About Wedding Fashion Expert
Our wedding dress shopping tips and advice are from Nayri, Lovella's own, in-house wedding fashion expert. Nayri is truly the expert when it comes to bridal fashion and wedding style. As the Wedding Fashion Expert, Nayri is the top bridal fashion stylist and the best-selling author of the book "I'm Getting Married And I Have Nothing To Wear," the ultimate guide to helping brides find their wedding day style and their perfect wedding dress. You can subscribe to her YouTube channel or listen to her podcast for more helpful and practical advice on wedding dress shopping.
