Hi lovely NH ladies!
I'm a sporadic lurker at best. You all have given me some fantastic information and advice over the past 10 or so months when I've needed it, but I haven't contributed much. Hopefully this will be helpful to someone else.
Yesterday I had my "first" fitting for my wedding gown (actually 3rd...I had it hemmed and the bustle put in this winter) leading up to my wedding. I've shared my discontent with Irene (manager of alterations) and her lack of communication with me, and poor interpersonal skills on previous posts made by other people about DB on this board.
Yesterday I had a seamstress named Kristina who discovered and was honest with me that my bustle was put in wrong. Irene was out on vaca, so the rest of the seamstresses decided they would try to salvage what was left of my dress and switch the defective under bustle and try to make it into an over bustle, but honestly couldn't guarantee me that it would turn out alright (there would be permanent holes showing, and the over bustle was intended to hide the mistakes might've actually accentuated the problem). Despite my attempts to give them more time to do the work so they wouldn't feel rushed (I had a pick up date of June 30th) they insisted it was no big deal and weren't going to charge me for any of the major construction it was going to take to fix Irene's mistake.
I went to the car where FI was waiting for me and luckily he talked to me for a good 20 min about everything starting from my troubles in December, and gently encouraged me to let the store manager know (I thought it was hopeless since Irene was the manager of alterations). Georgia (the store manager) was SO nice to me as I explained to her that I had a fitting, found out Irene did the bustle wrong, and was concerned that when I picked up my dress on the 30th if I didn't like how it looked unbustled with so little time left until the wedding there would be nothing I could do about it. (I'm getting married July 18th.) We went back and talked with Kristina and Mary Jo (sort of the house mother of all the seamstresses) about what happened, what they were planning to do, and the three of them decided to look into getting me a new dress and start all over again! SO STRESSFUL!!!
In the end, a new dress couldn't possibly be ordered in and make it in time. A consultant (really wish I could've gotten her name!) searched their stock and they had my dress in a bigger size, and a full length train (I'm petite so I ordered a dress in the style without a train and then just hemmed the front so I could walk giving me a mini train). Georgia had them bring it to me, try it on, and told me it was mine. Poor Kristina spent a whole other hour pinning every layer of the new dress and worked with me to make sure it would be taken in as much as it needed and figured out the best way to bustle the long train.
My faith in a national chain store that are run by people just like us was renewed. Georgia never skipped a beat, but just wanted to make sure she deferred all alteration decisions to Kristina and Mary Jo. If I could give you all any advice, I still think it's safe to get a dress and have it altered at DB, but a few things I learned are:
~Mary Jo is a wizard with a sewing machine. Everyone who works with her raves about her and her work, and it was obvious that she was the expert in that department.
~If/When you go to make an appt with them, I absolutely would work my appt around when Kristina or Mary Jo are going to be there! I'm sure there are other good seamstresses but these two women pretty much saved my wedding for me!
~Don't be an idiot like me and try to have it altered so far in advance, even if it is just a hem which shouldn't change if you already have your shoes. If you're having a late spring/summer/early fall wedding, the staff they maintain during the busy season is very competent and good to work with. Even if it is more hectic back there, I'd rather know there's women collaborating making sure each dress is perfect, rather than one person alone and not have any options.
~Last, I think there's some value in avoiding Irene at all costs. She's not pleasant, opinionated, and doesn't care what your vision is for your day or your dress, and from talking to everyone yesterday I'm far from the first bride she railroaded which unfortunately negates how talented she is as a seamstress.
If this helps just one person at all I'll be happy! If you read my whole novel of a post, thank you! I'm still reeling from everything that happened, and I feel better getting it all out. But I really, really hope this helps some NH Knotties avoid dream killer Irene.
Phew! Thanks again for reading. Hope everyone's planning is going smoothly! 