What is the difference between a seamstress and a bridal alterations specialist?

A standard seamstress sews and alters anything from house curtains, to baby blankets, to every-day pants or dress pants, to prom dresses and bridesmaid dresses. They usually take on whatever is requested of them, but not many of them take on bridal gowns. If they do take on a bridal gown, many of them will take the simplest and shortest approach to their bridal alterations because wedding dresses are very complex with lots of layers and most standard seamstresses have a set pay scale that doesn’t include the level of depth or detail that go along with a bridal gown. Meaning, to make what they need to make on their hourly rate for a successful business, they need to speed up the process. Standard seamstresses are skilled laborers and I would absolutely visit one for certain alteration needs. However, I would only go to a bridal alterations specialist with my wedding gown.

A bridal alterations specialist is a seamstress who specializes in the detail, construction, and delicacy of wedding gowns. Most bridal alterations specialists will only take on bridal gowns, and depending on availability, some mother-of-the-bride gowns and bridesmaid dresses. We can completely take apart a wedding gown and put it back together for that perfect fit. Bridal alterations specialists work with very tailored alteration styles and once our work is done, you would never know that the gown needed or had even one alteration done. Some say it’s like “magic,” but it’s highly skilled craftsmanship and trade work.

Why do bridal alterations cost what they cost?

Like I mentioned above, bridal alterations specialists can completely take apart a wedding gown, completely put it back together, and once the work is done, you would never know that the gown needed or had even one alteration done. Bridal alterations (done right) are truly a craftsmanship and a highly skilled trade. It takes many, many hours, loads of attention to detail, hand sewing, and precision. The amount of detail that goes into perfectly altering what is the most important dress of a woman’s life (whether it is fully beaded or clean cut and classy), is reflected in that price.

Why would bridal alterations cost nearly as much, or as much, as the wedding gown itself?

A few different places of perspective on that:

First, take into consideration the amount of alterations that the gown needs, as well as the amount of detail on the dress. It’s one thing to cut a standard pattern piece and sew it to another one. It’s a whole different thing to undo those sewn pieces (including any hand beading or lace work), make custom, individualized changes to those pattern pieces (there is no “cookie cutter” or pre-made “copy and paste” to custom bridal alterations, it is 100% sculpted to the bride’s unique shape,) and put them all back together in a way that looks like the gown was never even touched. We are essentially doing double or even triple (and sometimes, yes, even more) the work of the original making on that section of the gown.

Second, take into consideration where your gown was made. Most gowns are not made in America and reflect their country of origin’s labor, material, and design costs. Most of the time, those countries have significantly lower labor wages than the US. At a fair American labor wage (and again, depending on the alterations you need and the detail of your gown), your alterations could very well be almost as much, at the same cost, or more expensive than the price you paid for your gown (especially if you purchased your gown on sale, off the rack, or at any other discounted rate).

Do you ever give exact quotes?

I have worked on many gowns of all different silhouettes, material textures, and detail combinations. I have also altered the same gown (different brides who purchased the same gown) over and over. I do not, and won’t ever give an exact quote. Here’s the why: Even though I may have two different brides with the same dress, their alterations are custom and unique to them. This means the amount of time spent on both dresses is going to be different. The way I go about their alterations will be different. The kind of support or structure modifications or additions to their gowns are going to be different. The way I alter the gown to form the chest, hips, and booty perfectly is going to be different. Their alterations are unique to their bodies and therefore over all, require different detail focuses. I do however give price ranges. This allows me the flexibility in time that I need to get you that perfect fit.

Note: I always say that a price range is subject to change. Here’s the why:

I have worked on very simple, clean gowns that have taken me three times longer than the process would normally have taken me. I have also worked on fully lace gowns that I have finished within in half the time I thought it would take. This all has to do with the way the manufacturer stitched the material, the type (and quality) of material they used, and the inner construction of the gown. There are also a lot of differences between beaded material as well as laces, and I could go on and on. But long story short, it is possible for my price ranges to change because of things I cannot predict until I get into the work on the gown. It truly does not happen often, but when it does, I respect my brides by pausing the process and letting them know that the gown will take longer than I originally expected and therefore be in a higher price range. If they’d like to move forward with everything, we move forward to get that perfect fit.

Why do you only allow brides to bring one additional lady to their fittings?

(I do not allow men in my studio, so if a bride brings someone along, it needs to be only one lady.)

As much as a party sounds fun and exciting, it can be pretty distracting for me because I will want to talk and have fun with all the girlies. Trust me. However, I know my number one priority is the bride and being able to give her that perfect wedding gown fit. To do that, I need time to pay attention to the way she looks at herself in the mirror, notice the parts of her body that she admires, the aspects of her dress that make her feel the most like “her,” and highlight through my alterations all those good things. I also need her time and attention to tell me these things, even if the words never come out of her mouth. Sometimes the distractions of multiple conversations going on in one room can hide and distract from all those important details that I need to pick up from the bride’s body language (which would be kind-of heart breaking to me because I would not be able to give the bride my best without those details). Please trust my process and my studio standards. They exist so that I can truly do my best to give you an even better experience than you imagined.

(For those who are curious about how people will learn your bustle: I always suggest that we video your bustling process at our final fitting, so that you can send it to the girlies who are on bustle duty and so that whoever is in my studio with you doesn’t carry all the pressure to memorize your bustle on that very day. You can pull out that video on your wedding day and have a little personalized tutorial on how your bustle is put together. 98% of all my bustles can be done by a sober lady within 2-4 minutes.)

How is a lace edge gown hemmed?

The lace is first removed from the hemline of your gown. Once I have shortened your hemline to the perfect height, I then add the lace back onto the hemline in its original design.

Can the illusion tulle of my gown and the bust cup color be changed to better fit my skin tone?

Yes, 100%. I have different bust cup and illusion tulle shades in my studio. At our first fitting, we can match up and choose which shades look best with your skin tone.