@soozievt , Too bad they don’t share a hometown - they could share a seamstress!
That point about the alterations cost is excellent. My guess is that alterations done via a wedding gown shop get a substantial “wedding inflation factor” applied.
I needed alterations for my mother-of-groom dress and did them through an independent seamstress and the cost was very modest.
I know my new DIL needed more than one fitting of her bridal gown and may ask about the cost of her alterations, done through the wedding shop (in PA) where the gown was purchased. She was in professional school in another state during this process and it was a significant hassle to handle the appointments; she had to make a couple of trips just for this.
The bride daughter of a friend bought a gown via a designer who includes (unlimited) alterations at no additional cost. I forget the name, but this designer has showrooms in NYC and Philadelphia, and likely other cities. So that is sometimes the case.
I was also surprised at the alteration cost with D’s dress and she needed very little changes.
BTW - she lives in Brooklyn .
We asked about potential alterations costs last year when D found her dress. It was a discontinued sample and slightly large, but good savings that put it within budget and it matched very closely what she had been saving to her Pinterest board. We were told that it might just be around $40 or a little more to hem it and tweak it. It ended up being considerably more, around $400 total I think. However, D had lost weight since last summer, so more was required and there is a lace overlay over the entire dress. Fortunately, the seamstress has been excellent and we are ready to go for this weekend. Outfits for the ring bearers and the flower girl were completed over the weekend and delivered on Monday. I’ve seen pictures and they look great, but we had been getting pretty nervous.
As I’ve mentioned, DIL had a very tight dress budget; she shopped at sample houses. What sold her on the dress she bought (and on that particular store in general) was that the price quoted included alterations done in-house. She went “over budget” on the dress, but because alterations were included, the price was fabulous. Her all-in price for the dress was $1000 and it was absolutely gorgeous and the fit was perfect. The dress started out a bridal size 14 and she is a bridal 8 or 10 at best (tiny thing), so the alterations were substantial… and perfect.
As someone who has sewed quite a bit, I am I awe of bridal alterations ladies. I’ve always thought that Vera on Say Yes to the Dress should be the highest paid person in NYC. Those brides come in 6 months pregnant, or having lost 50 pounds and she (and her crew, I assume) always seem to pull off a miracle.
Yay, @2VU0609! So glad the wedding wardrobe issues have turned out all right. Wishing you wonderful weather and wonderful memories.
Where my d3 bought her gown last fall, the shop guarantees that alterations will cost no more than 10 percent of the cost of the dress. I don’t know if that’s only for that particular designer, but it still allowed her to come in at her budget.
That’s a great policy, frazzled.
I sort of can’t imagine any alterations on a bridal dress for only $40! I wonder if someone misquoted you!
Best of luck this weekend @2VU0609 - hope the weather is good and the smiles and laughter abundant!
My friend is a seamstress. It takes hours of work to hem the layers of a wedding dress.
Congrats, abasket, on the wedding. Chivari chairs - those are the ones my D had that we had to pay $4 extra per person for!
I don’t know how much she paid for alterations - but her dress was very simple, with only one layer, and very small train that they added one button for bustling - https://www.jcrew.com/womens_special_sizes/size/dresses/PRDOVR~69879/69879.jsp
@soozievt – my daughter has pretty much been through the same thought process as yours. My D also has a dress from BHDLN – dress is around ~$1000, alterations will be ~$600. There’s a tailor in D’s building so my D also asked her her … but the tailor explained how much work is entailed with a wedding dress with the multiple layers and the delicate material…she was pretty much told the same thing as @mom60 about the layers. So my D concluded that the time and effort to try to find a better price would outweigh any cost savings. So she’s biting the bullet on the cost. I think she’s saving a little on accessories, however.
I think this is the gown my D bought: http://www.bhldn.com/shop-the-bride-wedding-dresses/reagan-gown/productoptionids/fbcaeb8b-b90b-4e9a-9313-32da085940dd
If you look a the photos you’ll see that the problem is the multiple layers of tulle in the skirt.
Anyway, just something to consider at the outset.
Beautiful dress, @calmom. I love the BHDLN stuff and much more reasonable than what you see on shows like SYTD.
Does BHDLN have a place where you can buy directly from them and have them do the alterations? I ordered my dress directly from the manufacturer at their place in the bridal building. They took my measurements when I ordered it and made the dress. I had one appointment with them a few weeks before the wedding: they tried it on me, then told me to go buy a particular type of petticoat at a particular place while they did whatever they needed to do to it. I came back half an hour later, it was done. They had me put it on with the petticoat to check, and I took it home. Dress cost $300 with nothing extra for alterations. (There probably were hardly any, since they took my measurements themselves, and there was only about 3 mos between ordering and the wedding. )
@calmom My daughter tried on that gown. I think it is beautiful. My D’s dress is actually 3 pieces (a tulle skirt, a bustier under layer top with a lace top over that all in ivory). She also spent $1000 on the “dress.” The alterations cost $700. My D doesn’t want a veil, but will likely get some type of hair accessory. The dress cost less than what was budgeted for her attire and so alterations can pick up some of that and again, there were some other things she budgeted for that they are no longer doing and so it will work out. I think the skirt has to be hemmed (yes, lots of layers of tulle) and both her tops have to be taken in (so those are two different pieces). There are 3 trips to the seamstress place and so I guess given the work involved, plus the 3 visits, it is not far fetched to think of $700, but I guess we didn’t think about it in advance and were taken back by it. My D didn’t know what to do at first, but as I posted, I suggested she just do it and it is going to work out.
@calmom…I just remembered your D is also in NYC and so they shopped at the same BHLDN and maybe went to the same seamstress place as my D went to the one BHLDN recommended!
Well, I can see the sticker shock. I paid $18 to have my MOB outfit hemmed… but that isn’t layers and layers. And I didn’t tell the seamstress that it was for any particular purpose (though I don’t think it would have mattered.) But my MOB attire doesn’t need to be perfect, either – nobody is going to be looking at me.
I’ll ask my DD whether she is using someone recommended by BHDLN or not.
Cal mom- it is a beautiful dress.
Daughter’s dress is Beautiful @calmom ! Love it
My daughter bought a prom dress at David’s bridal and it would have been $75 to shorten it. It had 4 or 5 layers of tulle and one of sateen (lining). I had her stand on the dining room table, I figured she needed about 6 inches removed, so I cut 6 inches off each layer of tulle and 5.5" off the lining and hemmed that on my machine. The lining wasn’t perfect but no one was really crawling around on the floor looking at the lining either. The tulle was perfect.
I believe this was a wedding weekend for @2VU0609 - if I’m right, hope everything is going fabulous!!! 
Am I the only one in shock about the cost of photographers? I am seriously thinking of hiring an art student to take photos as none of us are that into pictures. We would just like to have some to document the day. I don’t think we need magazine quality pictures.