Here's the story:
Most of you know I had a seamstress make my dress for me. My last "fitting" with her was Oct. 12. At that point the dress itself was basically made (the satin and lining). The lace needed to be put on and the bodice and trim beaded. My seamstress told me she would ship it overnight on 11/23, arriving on 11/24.
Around the second week in November, I start asking for photos of the progress, asking about my balance, etc. She seemed very hesitant to answer me, which was unlike all of our previous interactions. I had to keep e-mailing her the same questions one by one to pull the answers out of her. Eventually she says the dress will not be ready in time, that she ran out of one of the beads and no one carried them so she had to order them online and wait for them to arrive. She says it should be to me by 12/1. No photos. She says my veil is done and she will send that. OK. (I did receive the veil and it is beautiful.)
12/1 comes, no shipping info. I e-mail her and ask if it was shipped. She says no, she will be finished that night. 12/4 I ask again. I explain that I will need alterations and have to have the dress by the beginning of this week. She says she understands.
Today, 12/7, no shipping info!!! I e-mailed her an hour or so ago and am awaiting her response.
At this point, I don't know what to think. Did something happen to the dress? I understand beading is time-intensive but it's been 2+ months since my last fitting. She's made tons of dresses so I would think she had an accurate idea of how long it would take. Or at the very least know if something is a few hours away from being finished (since on 12/1 she said she'd be done that night) or several days.
My wedding is 3 weeks away! Everyone is telling me I need to look for another dress NOW. I know it sounds so stupid, but in working with this person for />10 months, I feel like I've gotten to know and trust her and that it will be here. At what point do I scrap the dress I've been creating for months and months to get a sample? I'm thinking that if it's not here by Wednesday, I need to make appts at dress shops. WWYD?
(P.S. The seamstress is in CA, so there's no option of showing up there or believe me I would.)