Dress alterations

Bridal salons typically charge an arm and a leg for alterations! DB has a base standard fee they charge, regardless of what needs to be done.

Find a local seamstress (I found the best one EVER through Craigslist) that will do it.

I'm having my dress hemmed, taken in at the waist (with beading work) and the excess train made into cap sleeves- all for $100. And it will be done in 2-3 days.

Both my experience, and anyone I know who has used them for dresses experienced the same thing with overpriced alterations. I think that is how they make their money. They will even go so far as to try and convince you that only their seamstresses can work on their dresses. Not!

I bought mine at Alfred Angelo. I was between sizes and the consultant talked me into going to the larger size. If it is way too big, our alterations will be done elsewhere.

I would suggest you look for a local seamstress but, make sure she has experience doing Bridal Alterations - it's nothing like altering street clothes.

The price for doing the hem depends entirely on how the dress is made. Some hems are very simple and easy to adjust - others take hours to do. Without going into a lot of details some hems require the seamstress to open side seams in the lining just to be able to get to the hem and it can get a lot more complicated from there.

If you would post a pic of your dress I would be happy to tell you what I think you would run into. I have done Bridal Alterations for over 30 years.

IM HAVING THE SAME ISSUE! But I'm soooo afraid to bring it anywhere else because my dress is all lace!!! I bought it at David's Bridal and it's far from me so last thing I want to do is pay a million dollars plus drive 2 hours!

I want m dress bustled. this is new to me/ i didnt know this was possible. So I don't know how that works. Last thing I want is my lace dress ruined! I would be devasted!

So far alterations have cost me $850... and I haven't even had my first fitting yet! I expect that after my fitting I will owe about that much more to have it sized.

Mine is $325.

Ack! Ours were under $250 for two dresses, plus adding a blusher veil to one of the veils, plus attaching each veil to a tiara. But then again, we didn't go to a bridal salon for our alterations.

Yeahhh....I got my seamstress doing mine. She has done all my BMs dresses in the past and did a wonderful job! I would look around and shop for prices.....cause that sounds too high.

Mine was $240 from local seamstress. Don't like bridal salons for dresses alternations

This is a pic of my dress which doesn't show hem. Thanks for the other suggestions too. Definitely worth looking into.

Gorgeous dress and you wear it well.

Meghan, can you fwd me your deamstress' info? I'm hoping to loose a few pounds before the wedding, I might need it taken in...and it has lace and light beading.

thx

I would find a local seamstress too. I paid a $400 flat fee at my bridal shop for all alterations I need. In my case it worked to my advantage. I had to have the dress taken in 2 sizes, added padded cups, hemmed and bustled three times (long story).

Davids Bridal said my bustle would start at $150 and go from there. My local seamstress starts at $30 and goes up and I have a friends who has taken a dress to her before for reference. Try to find someone local!!

Definitely find someone local! Before I decided on the dress I have now, there was one I almost got, and I wanted a sweetheart neckline (the dress was strapless) and the lady told me that they could make it a sweetheart neckline and to do a bustle would cost me $100!! And I live an hour away from davids' bridal, so there's gas on top of the alteration cost. I found someone local, and i just had to have mine hemmed, and I was only charged $27!!

My guess is that the hem is rolled - probably 2 layers - maybe 3. Depending on how much needs to be taken up and how far past the side seams you would have to go to taper it into the train, probably $50 to $75 for the hem - max $100. If it only needs to come up a bit in the front and you don't need to go past the side seams it should be considerably less.

Shortening the straps could get tricky depending on how the dress is put together. If it's just a slight adjustment (1/2" to 3/4") that could be "eased in" without having to open any seams, $10 to $15 should cover it. If it needs more, it depends on how much work has to be done, to get to where you need to be, to take up the shoulder seam. After the adjustment is made it all has to be put back together. For that one you really need to have someone actually look at the construction of the dress for an accurate estimate of time and charges. An alteration in this area could take 20 minutes or 3 hours.

Hope this helped.

Couldn't type anymore for some reason - I wanted to add how much I like the dress - especially the back detail.

Look for someone local who has bridal experience - talk to a couple of them and get estimates and if you can talk to previous customers all the better.

View Quoted Comment Hi. I would love to be able to send you a pic to find out how much you think my wedding dress alterations would be please. I already received my pricing from my dress shop and I think it is way too high.