L'elite Alterations?

BellaBride29

Hello! I live in Boston but am getting married in RI so I'm more of a lurker than a poster.  I bought my wedding dress at L'elite on Newbury St and it just came in!  I'm having trouble deciding what to do about alterations and could use advice.

I had a HORRIBLE experience with the sales staff at L'elite but ended up buying my dress there b/c I loved it and couldn't find it anywhere else.  I've heard similar stories from others and I'm hesitant to get my alterations done in house, even though the alterations department is obviously different people than sales.  Anyone have any experience with L'elite alterations??  It would be so much easier to get it done there but I don't want the process to be frustrating (like the dress shopping experience!) or have them do a bad job.  Any advice/thoughts are much appreciate.  TIA!

JBs_Bride

 I would recommend either Fay Carraher in Billerica or Chris O'Hare in Quincy. Both of them get awesome reviews here and they are both very reasonably priced.

backbaybride

I also had a nightmare with the sales staff/management at L'elite.  I do not trust them and even though they've offered me 20% off alterations I still won't be risking it there.

BellaBride29

JB - thanks for the recs.  Since I live in Boston the easiest thing would be for me to get the alterations done at L'elite but I don't want them to ruin my dress!  Unless I hear someone had a good experience there, I will likely take it to a seamstress in the city.

Backbay - I feel the same way.  I know alterations are different staff but the dress buying experience was so unpleasant!

JBs_Bride

If you are looking for someone in the city, definitely check out Maria at Sabella Couture on Tremont Street. She was very detailed with my dress and I couldn't have been more pleased with her work.

BostonGirl82

I purchased my wedding gown from L'elite and got my alteration done there. Sure the alterations were expensive but I was really hesitant taking it somewhere else. I worked with Loan and had a great experience. I highly recommend you ask to work with her specifically if you get alterations done there. She is great and she really listens to what you want and gives great suggestions.

Don't work with Leena (spelling?). My first fitting appointment was with Leena and she kept upselling me on jewelry, shoes, etc. Also, what she was suggesting for me to get altered on my gown...I was not on the same page. I called the alterations shop and asked to work with Loan and they were perfectly fine with it. I knew Loan because when I originally purchased my gown, alterations were a concern since my gown had a lot of beading up top. Loan was called down and she put me at ease.

Feel free to page if me if you any other questions.

raerjo925

I had the MOST amazing experience at L'elite when I went to look for dresses. Brie, my sales consultant was so great. She worked at Vera Wang before L'elite and had actually remembered one of my friends that came with from the year before when she got married! Brie was very helpful and she found the perfect dress for me, which I ended up ordering a month or so later. When I called I asked for Brie, as I wanted to order it with her, but I found out that she was no longer there (after dealing with everyone else here I know why - she was too good for them).

I went to order my dress and found out that they had sold the sample that weekend. After about 15 minutes they figured out what had happened. We finally got to the part where I ordered and it seemed to go well - until after we left we got a phone call from the manager telling us that the price was wrong and they would have to charge us MORE for the dress. Keep in mind we had ALREADY given all of our credit card info. In my opinion since they got the price wrong they should have just left it as is. They decided they needed to charge us the extra $500. We all loved this dress, so I decided that was ok, as it was the dress of my dreams. (Please note when I ordered this dress I asked them how much alterations would be and they quoted me "at most $500" this will come in handy further along in the story).

Fast forward to March when the dress came in. My MOH and I decided to go try it on. I was very excited as I had lost about 15 lbs and thought it would basically fall right off. To my surprise it didnt. The dress was MADE wrong. They measured me, and I had shrunk, they measured the dress, the dress was not made to spec. This I understand is not L'elites fault. I was very understanding and they said they would be able to alter the dress. I told them I would call the next week to make an appt.

I called - they couldn't find my dress. They had no clue where it was .An hour later the manager called me and told me they sent it back to Spain to be remade. They did not call me once to tell me they were sending my dress back and they were so disorganized they didn't even know where it was at first.

Finally in June my dress came in. I was SO relieved and happy that it came in and it fit (almost) perfectly. I asked about alterations and when we should start. They had to take it in a bit, and then do the length and bustle. I asked them for the quote again on this and she said anywhere from $800-$900!!!! Remember earlier when they quoted me $500 at most? Yeahhhh.  

Needless to say I DID NOT have them alter my dress. I brought my dress to Camillas bridal in Arlington and they were AMAZING, and it only cost me $500 for the alterations (my dress had very intricate lace on the bottom and i had also lost 30 pounds).

I saw that someone said to go to Chris O'hare - she is very nice, but does all of her work out of her home in Quincy, which is filled with dresses everywhere, on the floor, etc (i personally would not want someone stepping all over my dress). I had a bridesmaid dress altered there and she did an OK job and it was very inexpensive. I really wanted the "bridal" experience for my fittings and you won't really find it with her. She also does not do final press. I would highly recommend the ladies at Camillas - they are amazing.

Hope this helps!

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jay10

my sister bought from there and got alterations -they we outragously expensive.....I would go to a private seamstress, probably half the price and just as good!