Holy Crap

kbates85

Alterations are going to cost a lot more then i thought.

400 bones....I'll I wanted was a bustle and a hem. It should have cost like $150.

Come to find out I've gained weight and they have to let the dress out and their charging me 300 bucks for it.

Should I wait and see if I lose weight? My wedding is on November 5th...

Otherwise, I guess I'm gonna pull a couple hundred bucks out of my a$$.

lewisc2002

you have a couple of weeks to see if you start losing weight before you need to start the alterations. is it a lot or something that heavy duty spanx can cure?

PJS001

400.00! OMG. Have you considered maybe going to a different place for alterations? Or maybe even seeing if the offer a payment plan or something. If you can space it out between now and November, it might be a little bit more possible.

Meagan78

Eek.  Yes, check somewhere else.  Are you using the bridal store?  Sometimes private alterations places are cheaper (but not much - wedding dress alterations are very expensive!)

akg0053

Oh wow who did you go to?! That's crazy!

kbates85

I went to A Beuatuful U which I got tons of recomendations for.

Here's the breakdown:

Hem + Letting out the dress = $300
bustle = $50
Press = $50

Total: $400 + tax

I guess since I knew I was't making any major changes to the dress I was only budgeting for the bustle and the hem.

I didn't realize 1) that they were going to want to let the dress out and 2) that they would charge me to press the dress.

I'm going to call them and see if they can clarify exactly what part of that $300 is for what.

Thanks everyone! ~Kim

lewisc2002

beautiful U is expensive - they charged me $400 (including tax) for bustle and hem and altering the bustline. totally crazy, especially since i didn't get it pressed there.

my bustle was $150 (heavy dress), but i would call them and see.

lcissell3110

My dress alterations are going to include a hem, altering the bust line to a sweetheart instead of straight across and bustle. They quoted me 120. I am going to a  place that my Aunt recommended after she got her Vera Wang dress altered there for only 80! And they did an awesome job. It is called the Brass Thimble, if you want more info let me know.

akg0053

Woah! I've been going to Arlene for years for various dresses. She has had to do all sorts of stuff to them, and she has never even come close to charging me that much!

Looks like I'll be going somewhere else to get alterations done then. I am going to need to have straps added, a bustle, and it's going to need work in other areas as well.

sweet__pea

I always use Beautiful U and Arlene has always done a fabulous job and pays attention to detail.   She ensures your dress fits you the way it's supposed to.  If you are concerned about the costs, ask her exactly what all is she doing.  If you are specific and state you just want certain things done, then she will do them.

kbates85

To be honest, no one in the shop introduced themselves to me. I'm not even sure if Arlene was there.

They got me in the dress and recomended the changes I should make. I wasn't worried about the cost because everyone I know, who has used Beautiful U, has said the prices are great. Then they brought me the pink slip with the price.

At the time, I was just freaked out becuase my dress didn't fit so I left without asking questions. Once I got home I realized that what they are charging is WAY over the budget I had in mind.

I tried calling today but they weren't there. I will try again tomorrow. I may call some other places to get quotes. At this point, we're so close to the wedding, only 6 weeks, I feel like I'm just going to have to deal with it.

One last thing, I called Beautiful U about a month and a half ago to set up the first fitting. I wanted to get it done. They told me to wait until now. When I went in yesterday, they acted like they were suprised I had waited so long for my first fitting. That kind of irked me.

miriellegirl

Don't feel like just because she was well recommended here you have to go with them. You still have time to go get other quotes before you commit to spend the 400 dollars. Personally I think that is too much too.

lewisc2002

I don't recommend using them - they pulled the same stuff with me - telling me i could wait and then acting surprised i was so late. and then scheduling fittings after that was like pulling teeth, even though when i set up the first fitting i offered to go ahead and make the rest of the fitting appointments (b/c my work schedule was so tight) and they refused. when they wouldn't schedule my second fitting for 3 weeks and i was upset, they actually suggested i take my business elsewhere.

needless to say, i found the staff very difficult to work with. Arlene seemed to be around and would say things like, "oh we'll get you in and look things over" and then would slip out for a smoke, leaving me with the seamstress. Arlene never gave me the personal attention she promised and never saw me in my dress until my final fitting.

I stayed with them and paid for it b/c they are so close to where i live, my work schedule was totally bonkers, and they do reliably good (albeit expensive) work. But if i had had time to find another, more reasonably-priced place nearby, i would have.

akg0053

WOW! I have *never* had that service with them. Huh.

Ok so I'll be going somewhere else when my dress comes in. 

kbates85

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-houston_holy-crap?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:121Discussion:c972151f-c381-4ce8-a7ad-acb3c07f5775Post:d8d5db49-d1ed-49a3-82f5-a10d8d225abe">Re: Holy Crap</a>:
[QUOTE]WOW! I have *never* had that service with them. Huh. Ok so I'll be going somewhere else when my dress comes in. 
Posted by akg0053[/QUOTE]

<span style="font-size:8.5pt;color:#1f1f1f;font-family:Arial;">I mean, if you already have a relationship with them, you might have a better experience. I would just get a quote first, and early on. This way if your not happy you will have time to get quotes from other places.

That's what I should have done, but I had heard so many good things about them that I didn't even think about shopping around first. Not only did I get recos from this board but from a good friend of mine. It's really my own fault. I should have shopped around. Now, I don't have time. I will just have to live with it. Hopefully, the work will be really good and make up for everything else.

I will definitely post my final review.

Thanks everyone! ~Kim</span><span style="font-family:Calibri;"></span>

pinkfleurdelys

I've heard good and bad things about beautiful u, including some really horrible stories about dresses being TOTALLY screwed up, and they do NOTHING to fix it.  i mean dresses being butchered to the point of not being fixable at all, of the bride having to get a new dress, and beautful u says bad, life sucks. 

that being said...if it's more than 10, 15 pounds, i would not count on losing the weight in time, realistically you only have about  three or four weeks, unless you crash diet, it likely won't happen.  (i say this as someone who had had a weight problem all my life, and i go up and down that much regularly...)

but $400 is NOT a lot for alterations if they have to do anything to the top at all. bridal shops will sell you the world, oh, you won't need to get the top altered, just the hem...to convince you to spend more on the dress than you budgeted.  then you get to the seamstress and you're way over budget and in a pickle.  but no matter how much you spent on your dress, if it fits badly, you'll look terrible.  find the money to have it altered correctly.  don't rely on losing the weight.

the only shop i know in the area is sew it seams, and ana is pricey, if beautiful u quoted $400, she will not be cheaper...but your dress will be perfect, and you will not have issues getting into see her if you call now.  and she won't pull the oh, you have time, call back in x amount of time, and the when you do, oh, this is a rush thing...

jessienjeremy

Good luck! I bought mine at Davids and They are altering it.  Its only about $150 to take it in and fix the hem.

lewisc2002

@ pinkfleurdelys - i'm so glad i didn't know that about beautiful u while they had my dress! mine turned out fine, but it totally would have stressed me out.

pinkfleurdelys

i do not live in the houston area but have a lot of friends in family there, and my sister is getting married in houston next may  (that's why i'm on the houston boards, not okc!)

i have seen dresses from beautiful u that are just heart wrenchingly screwed up.  and it's like they're bi-polar on customer service, either you get fawned all over or they barely give you the time of day.  i have yet to see a bride happy with her dress from them, everyone i know who has gone there has been ruined.  i took a bridesmaid dress there, and they really messed it up, i almost had to order a new one.  and they still expected to be paid for their destruction!