Weddingbee Blog

My wedding dress has been on my mind lately. I have an appointment to go in and order it in less than a month from Bridal Reflections in Long Island. I got my dress at a great discount, about 30% off the original price tag, but my concern is with the alteration prices. The alteration is capped at $295, and I was told that most brides just end up paying about $120. Not a bad deal huh? However they want to charge me $250 for a french bustle and $90 for a regular bustle. I was thinking of maybe getting my bustle done elsewhere, but after hearing horror stories about brides getting their dream dresses butchered by other places, it makes me a little wary.

Dilemmas like Miss Ant’s is not uncommon for brides. I decided to weigh the pros & cons of getting the alterations done in-house at the bridal salon versus taking it elsewhere to be done.

Pros of doing it in-house:

• The seamstresses there do this day in, day out. Their specialty is wedding dresses so your gown will most likely be expertly altered.
• If they do mess up your dress somehow, then they have a policy to rectify the situation, and would most likely have a new gown for you asap.
• After the alterations they steam, clean and press the gown ready for you to pick up to wear on your big day.
• It’s all done at one place. No chance of getting your gown ruined during transport.

The HUGE con is obviously the hefty price tag they are charging for the work.

This is not to say I’m against taking the gown to be altered elsewhere. But finding an excellent seamstress can be a bit tricky. Even if you do ask to see samples of their work there’s still that “what if.” How would they compensate you if they ruined your beautiful designer gown? And can they really compensate you for ruining the dress of your dreams?

I guess my final word on it is, unless you know a seamstress that is an expert at altering wedding gowns at a great price, that extra money you’re shelling out to the salon for alterations is for your piece of mind.