Alterations Appointments | A Note From The Sewing Room

Congratulations on finding and buying your dream wedding dress!  Next stop, alterations.  Unlike with regular clothing, wedding gowns and other formalwear usually require alterations.  Alterations can adjust the hem and fit of the dress, making it tailored to your body.

SETTING APPOINTMENTS

Our alterations team at The Bridal Collection recommends scheduling your alterations appointments about 3 months before your wedding.  We generally schedule the appointments a few months before your wedding date; a second appointment is scheduled about 3–4 weeks before to allow time for the work to be completed.  We usually schedule them with the same seamstress and on the same day of the week.  The first appointment takes between 60 and 90 minutes since this appointment includes all the pinning.  The second appointment lasts about 45 minutes and is the time that all the alterations are complete and a bustle lesson is taught.  At the second appointment, we schedule a pick-up time for your wedding dress (usually a few days before your wedding date)!

ALTERATIONS CONSIDERATIONS

When you begin alterations, you should be at a weight you are comfortable with and can maintain until the wedding.  If you keep fluctuating, the seamstress will have to keep making adjustments, which will start adding to the cost of the alterations.

Custom changes carry custom costs.  If you want to change the shape or style of your wedding dress, there are limits to what is successfully achievable.  The addition of custom changes usually require additional appointments.

The shoes you plan to wear for your wedding are required at all appointments.  Most of the work on wedding dresses concerns the length (hem and bustle), so making sure you are the accurate height is crucial.  Fittings are also a good test for the comfort of your shoes.  Standing still for the pinning of your dress hem is the ultimate test of the shoes.

FIRST ALTERATIONS APPOINTMENT

At the start of your first appointment, the seamstress will take your measurements (including your heel height) and help you into your dress.  Once out of the fitting room, she will pin out what work needs to be done, working from the top down.  She might revisit something on the bust or shoulders as the appointment goes on before focusing on the hem.  As mentioned above, the bulk of this appointment is pinning and lasts up to an hour and a half.

SECOND ALTERATIONS APPOINTMENT

You haven’t seen your dress for about a month and the changes might not be apparent when you first see it in the fitting room.  Our goal is to not have the gown look like there were alterations done on it, except with how it fits and feels.  In this appointment, we start by double checking measurements and then fit.  Your wedding dress should be easier to walk in since you won’t have to lift the front.  At this appointment, you review how to bustle your gown; we also teach you how to sit and function during the ceremony and reception.  

This is likely the last time you will wear your dress before walking down the aisle. Soak up every minute of the experience and take as many photos as you want.  Enjoy this magical moment as you dream about your wedding and the beautiful life you are beginning!

WEDDING DRESS AFTER CARE

As difficult as it is to think beyond the wedding and honeymoon festivities, the seamstresses at The Bridal Collection strongly encourage every bride to think about and plan for what to do with the wedding dress after the wedding.  A wedding gown is so much more than just another dress women wear.  Like your commitment to your partner, a wedding dress represents love and happiness and deserves the best care.

We offer affordable cleaning and preservation packages and only partner with industry and nationally recognized experts.  Packages include a specialized treatment plan to deep clean and preserve your gown.  Each gown gets dry cleaned twice, spot-checked for stains, and preserved in a beautiful white box with a display window.  With these packages, preserving the gown guarantees against yellowing and caramelized sugar staining for 100 years!

Even if you plan to resell, reuse, or regift your gown, we recommend that your wedding dress is at least professionally dry cleaned.  This is especially true now, with more brides wearing their gowns again for a larger gathering once they are permitted.  We now offer a COVID-specific package that includes an initial cleaning, repairs, and storage, followed by an additional cleaning and preservation after the second celebration!

NOT A TBC BRIDE?

Now everyone can be a TBC Bride!  We accept outside alterations on wedding dresses not purchased from The Bridal Collection.  All non-TBC wedding dresses require an alterations consultation.  Call or e-mail us to schedule your consultation!