i need some advice!! i measured my bridemaids and ordered the dresses 3 of my BMs are 'shapely' and im worried incase they wont fit in there dresses when they arrive, ive mentioned a couple of times the dresses are zips and we'll struggle to talk them out! but they are still carrying on with out a care in the world! and ideas on how to keep them trim for the final fitting?

Well your bridesmaid know what sizes the dresses were ordered in so need to try and keep to that size. yeah weight/size is a touchy subject with some women but surely they want to fit in these dresses and know they are a bridesmaid so should do their best to accomadate you. Maybe have a word xxx

i feel terrible cuz two of the bigger girls are my H2bs cousins and they arent even in there 20s and they just eat like noones business! no excercise or anything!! i wouldnt be so bothered if the dresses didnt cost what they have!x

Yeah why not suggest Zumba and go as a group like has been said before. Can be a good laugh and you can burn calories as well x x

Hmmm if they are adverse to excercise then that could be tricky. When will they arrive will it long enough to spring them into action if they dont fit?

I'm not bridesmaid shopping till early summer 2014 which gives us 3-4 months to sort the dresses out. don't understand why anyone buys dresses so many months in advance because of this issue. I was a bridesmaid once where the bride bought the dresses in January for a end of September wedding and I found it so difficult to watch what I was eating and drinking for that length of time. I remember the day after the wedding I ordered a big Chinese takeaway lol. I did accomplish the goal set by the bride to lose weight and get into the biggest size there was in that dress which was a 16 (I started off as a size 20 myself). Yes the dresses were beautiful I must admit and I did feel better on the day that I was 2 sizes slimmer.

Anyway my point is you really have to give it to them straight, just like the bride did with us that time. There's no other way to do it. My bride even offered to buy two of us a set of scales which may seem harsh but looking back she was right to do so. The way she did it though was as follows. She took the three of us to the famous Kentucky chicken place and said "Order whatever you want because after today you are all going to be on a diet". To be honest I thought it was rude at first but then when I went home I realised she was right. I went home and weighed myself as she had asked me to and once a week after that she would ask me to give her a weight update. It was easier to do it this way because I knew I wouldn't stop dieting because she was being firm with me. I suggest you should talk to everyone of them and tell them what is what, perhaps you could start by taking them out for lunch and doing something similar to what my bride did with me?

BIt of a touchy subject! If they know the dress sizes they should know what size they need to be to get in them. Only you can decide whether its the right thing to do to tell them as you know how they are likely to react - if some one told me i had to loose weight I'd be mortified - but then I would probably feel i had to do it and i'd be fine. But everyone is different.

Last year I was a bridesmaid and a year before the bride bought the 4 of us dresses - cocktail, super slinky - not forgiving at all dresses! She got me a size 10 but when I tried it on (i didn't get chance to before) I realised I really should have got a size 12 and i looked like i'd been stuffed into it!! I said straight away - "oh my god i've got to loose some pounds before I can where it" then 6 months before the big day I cycled every night, I ate no snacks and i worked really hard to make sure it fit well as the thought of having to wear it and look awful in was horrifying!! I got down a dress size and was really impressed with myself - only to discover that her sister hadn't bothered and was still two sizes to big for it so with 4 weeks to go the poor bride had to buy 4 news dresses (as the others were not longer on sale) I felt awful for her and I personally was annoyed at the sister as she had a year to make sure she could wear the dress - it fit her when they were bought - she just got bigger as the year went on.

If dresses are arriving at least a few months before the big day get them all to try them on and if they don't fit - that's the time to have the conversation with them about what they are going to do. I wouldn't bring it up with them until you actually know whether you've got to!