Ashley Boyle News and
Megan Davies News
It’s said that your wedding day is one of the most important days of your life, and with that comes pressure for everything to be perfect, including how you look.
Medications designed to aid weight-loss, such as Ozempic, Mounjaro, and Wegovy, have transformed weddings for brides wanting to slim down quickly.
But with some brides losing multiple stone “within weeks” bridal companies have said they are overwhelmed, leaving them to reassess how they run their businesses.
Seamstresses have said they are seeing more women undergoing rapid weight-loss before their big day, leading to expensive and stressful last-minute dress alterations.
It is believed an estimated 1.5 million people are using weight loss jabs in the UK, designed to suppress your appetite and lead to weight loss.
This year alone, seamstress Angie Smith has worked with 11 brides who have chosen to use these drugs.
“I had a bride come in, [who had] already been on a weight journey a year before and then reached a plateau… she then decided she was going on the slimming jabs.
“When she came for a final fit, I didn’t recognise the lady walking up the drive.”
The 64-year-old from Wenvoe, Vale of Glamorgan, said she had “a little bit of a wobble” when she could “put her fist down the back of the dress” but was eventually able to tailor it.
She acknowledged despite the pressure to keep up with orders, there was a pay off when a bride received the dress of their dreams.
“I think personally, if it’s making a difference to their wellbeing, I don’t see the problem with it,” she said.
This increase in the number of people turning to weight-loss jabs has seen seamstresses such as Ms Smith make decisions on how they work in the future to protect their businesses and staff.
“Logistically, it’s been a bit of a nightmare,” said Ms Smith.
She said that after discussing “all of the normal things” with the bride about their dress and their wedding, she asks outright if the brides are using slimming jabs.
“It’s not being rude or being nosey, I need to know from a planning point of view because it’s the change that I work.”
“A lot of brides don’t realise the amount of work that goes into the dresses,” said Rhiannon Brown.
The 55-year-old has run a bridal alterations business for more than a decade.
Ms Brown, from Cardiff, added while she had “dealt with weight loss” in brides throughout her career, many of her clients using jabs were “losing stones within weeks”.
With less than 24-hours to go until her wedding, one of Ms Brown’s brides required a last-minute alteration as a result of further unexpected weight loss.
She said she planned to make clear in future paperwork an additional fee would apply if a bride required a second full alteration due to significant weight loss.
“As long as brides are honest with us and tell us that they’re on this journey, then we can put the fittings a bit closer to the wedding,” she said.
“If they come for their second fitting and it’s like doing the first fitting again because they’ve lost so much weight, we’re going to have to charge for that because its more man hours.”
She added there was also a limit to how much work could be done before an entirely new dress was required.
“We can take dresses down two sizes comfortably depending on the style.
“But once you go over that, there’s going to be a point where we can’t alter the dress for the bride.”
Georgie Mitchell and Beth Smith host The Unfiltered Bride, a wedding podcast where people share their wedding dilemmas and tips, including their experience of weight loss.
“I think weight-loss jabs are still very taboo,” said Beth.
“I don’t know if everyone feels comfortable to say they’re on it.”
As wedding planners and suppliers themselves, Georgie and Beth recognised the pressure brides are under on “the most documented day of their lives”.
They added they had also seen grooms opt for injections as well.
The Unfiltered BrideKatie, who is due to get married in 2026, said she understood why alteration companies would need to charge extra to accommodate extreme weight-loss.
“I have lost 4.5 stone (28.5kg) while I’ve been on Mounjaro,” she said.
“I was quite open and honest with the original dress shop I went to.”
Katie is now on a maintenance dose in the run up to her wedding next year.
“I probably will go down again soon to see what the dress looks like on, because I think I have lost another stone since I tried it on.”
Martine, who got married earlier this month, did not go to her seamstress for alterations until she’d reached her “goal weight”.
“I purposely bought it [her dress] three sizes too small,” said the mum from Bristol.
“I felt pretty confident I’d get there but I knew if I didn’t, the dress could be altered to be made bigger.
“Everyone looks at you, being the bride. I wanted to look my best.”
Martine has lost more than five stone (31.7kg), the equivalent of 10 inches (25cm) across her body, adding her shape had changed completely.
“I do understand that if someone is going there [to the seamstress] and they still have stones to lose, it’s going to be a lot more work.
“With myself I went there at a weight and I was losing no more.”
“The average cost of a wedding dress in the UK tends to be about £2,000,” said Nikita Thorne from Guides for Brides, an online wedding directory.
She said while brides should expect to pay extra for alterations, the impact of weight-loss jabs on the wedding industry was likely to be “shorter-term thing”, because of the way the industry was trying to help couples in understanding the effects of this long term.
