First fitting expectations

I was hoping to see responses to your discussion! I haven't had my first fitting yet. My dress is scheduled to arrive at the end of this month. I don't know what to expect. Am I supposed to have bra and shoes ready? IDK! I'm guessing at least shoes or similar to the heel height? I'm also assuming that the 2nd fitting would be needed to make sure the 1st fitting adjustments are on point?

I had my dress altered at David's Bridal, right before the coronavirus stuff really took off (last week in Feb), but here's my experience.
I brought my shoes and undergarments. The seamstress measured the height of my shoes, and also had me wear them with the dress so she could mark how high it needed to be hemmed. She also had me wear my undergarments, and took some measurements while I was in my dress (bust, waist, hips, etc)

It took probably took about 45-55 min overall. She pinned the waist to take in, marked the new hem length, and did the bustle for my dress. After I paid, we made my second appointment. She said it would take a month, so we made it for the last week in March. I was under the impression that I'd be picking up the dress at the end of that appointment (unless something was really wrong with the alterations).
With the coronavirus outbreak, most of NJ was shut down mid-March. But I got a text late last week from the store manager that my alterations were complete and they'd ship my dress to me if I wanted. So either the alterations were completed in the couple of weeks before the shutdown of non-essential businesses or the alterations team was still working on dresses

View Quoted Comment Thank you so much for the help! This is exactly what I was looking for

View Quoted Comment You're welcome! Hopefully you don't have to reschedule yours a third time!

View Quoted Comment About how much were your alterations at David’s Bridal?

View Quoted Comment For my dress it was $432, which was about what I expected/guessed for the work that would be done, and fortunately fell within my total dress budget. I know other posters have taken their dresses elsewhere for alterations, but for a variety of reasons I decided to stick with David's Bridal and fortunately mine turned out great.

The breakdown:
take in sides $65

^I had to order a size up for my bust, so I was expecting this

take in waist $40

hem dress $150

^she said this was the set price for my dress, since it had lace and layers of netting under the skirt, so other dresses may have a different price here

bustle (first three points) $100

bustle (11 additional points) $77

^my dress actually ended up with two different bustles. A three point over bustle for the top lace layer, then an eleven point ballroom bustle for the lower, satin-y layer. The seamstress asked if she could show me what she recommended for the dress and I liked it so that's what I went with. She did warn me it would cost more that way, so if I'd wanted something cheaper I think she could've done that.

I don't have a picture with the bustle but here's a picture of the back of the sample I tried on to give you an idea of the layers of the dress

View Quoted Comment Wow that’s so pretty. My dress is one size too big because that’s all that was left and I wanted it so bad. I think it’s mostly big in the waist. The bottom isn’t too long either so maybe my cost will be a little less. I was trying to guess about how much to spend on alterations. Thank you so much for the breakdown that helped a lot. She told me to bring undergarments and shoes I don’t wear heels except some wedges so I’m going to look for a low heel to take with me. I can probably do that now since David’s Bridal is having a sale.

View Quoted Comment

Thanks Briana! That's great you were able to get the dress you wanted - and I think it's easier for them to take it in than let it out. Hopefully there won't be too many alterations you need. I'm glad to help, I was reading all sorts of threads here before my appointment to get an idea of what it might cost for the alterations at David's Bridal.

I think that wedges would work for your wedding, if there's a pair you like. She probably just wants to hem it to the correct length. I'll bet whatever shoes you end up choosing will look great with your dress!

View Quoted Comment Thank you so much Dana ❤️