When to Order Bachelorette Shirts (a Timeline That Never Fails)

The timeline

• 5–6 weeks out: lock the theme and design. This is the fun part; it expands to fill whatever time it's given, so give it a deadline.
• 4 weeks out: send the order link to the group. Expect 60–70% of guests to size-and-pay within 48 hours.
• 3.5 weeks out: reminders for the stragglers (automatic ones beat awkward personal texts).
• 3 weeks out: close the order, send to print. Production + shipping lands with about a week to spare.
• 1 week out: shirts in hand; the only remaining task is the group photo.

Why groups miss it (the three classic failure modes)

• The consensus spiral: three weeks debating designs in the chat, then a panicked rush order. Fix: one person (the MOH) decides; the group picks a favorite from finished options, not an open brainstorm.
• The silent guest: nine paid, one unreachable, order frozen. Fix: set a close date when you send the link and state it: 'order prints on the 15th with whoever's in.'
• The size collection relay: sizes gathered over text, transcribed wrong, reordered late. Fix: each guest enters her own size at her own checkout: no transcription step exists.

What rushing actually costs

Inside two weeks, things still work but the buffer is gone: one address typo or carrier hiccup has no recovery window. Inside one week you're paying expedited shipping (often $20–40 across an order) and accepting whatever prints first, mistakes included. The 4-week version costs exactly the same as the panicked version minus the fees and the stress; the only input is starting earlier.

Season and destination adjustments

• Peak season (May–June, September–October): add a week. Everyone's calendar and the group chat both slow down.
• Scattered group shipping to their own addresses: no change. Parallel shipping is the point.
• International trips (Cabo): shirts ship to US addresses BEFORE the trip; treat the last US departure date as your deadline, not the trip date.
• Last-minute guest added: print-on-demand has no minimums, so a late add just claims, pays, and ships separately if needed.

Set it up so timing takes care of itself

The GroupMerch flow bakes this schedule in: build the collection, send one link, and the dashboard shows exactly who's outstanding while automatic reminders do the chasing. Close the order when it's time and the whole thing prints: sizes were never texted, money was never fronted, and the timeline above just… happens.