Wedding dress alterations-average price?

The best answer is - it depends.

Depends on what material the skirt is for shortening it up. A tulle skirt only needs a scissor cut...often no hemming necessary. A solid fabric like taffeta or silk needs a stitched hem. An intricate lace patter may need to be shortened from the waist, which means removing the skirt from the bodice to shorten and re-attach.

Neckline raised? How much beading is on the bodice? Are there beads and crystals that will need to be hand-sewn back on? Is there a distinct lace pattern to the bodice that will need to be matched up?

The same alterations can vary wildly in price. It just depends on what your original dress has in the way of material and embellishments, and how much hand-work will be needed to make the dress look like it WASN'T altered.

That'll do it.

My daughter's dress was layers of tulle at the skirt which needed just a touch of hem, but she wanted a sweep train instead of the longer one that was there. The seamstress spent all of 30 minutes just slicing up the tulle and the lining - no sewing at all and it was done.

The complication were the sleeves. The bodice and sleeves were all beaded with Swarovski crystals. To alter the sleeves, all the beading had to be removed by hand, the sleeves tightened up, then the seamstress had to re-attach the crystals, one by one, to match the pattern the designer had intended. VERY labor intensive. Total cost for the alterations was $600, and I'm sure the bulk of it was that beading as it had to take hours to get it all re-attached.

Hey there!! Have you gotten all of your alterations completed yet? Can you believe that your wedding is so soon? 😃