alterations / seamstress recommendation?

peanutty2 · March 2011

Anyone have any seamstress place they recommend to get alterations done?? i'm getting my dress from david's bridal so i have the option to get alterations there, but i've heard they're quite pricey (even my consultant told me i should just go elsewhere!). i've never gotten anything else altered though and i don't know many people in the area to ask. And i don't really want to just walk into some random place i've never been. so any referrals? I'm in bensalem, pa (east of philly, before langhorne) but i'll travel around if a place comes recommended.

RecoveringActor · March 2011

DB alterations are going to be about the price that you're goign to pay. Expect between $200-$350 for alterations.

It all depends on your dress. The more elaborate your dress is... the harder it is to fit... the more the cost is going to be. Things like beading/detail along the bottom of the dress... seams that aren't straightforward (meaning straight up and down along your sides or down the center of your back), anything like that can make your dress more challenging to alter.

The other thing is if you do decide to go with someone outside of David's Bridal... make sure that they are used to altering bridal gowns. Sometimes you can go to like a dry cleaning place and they will have a tailor/seamstress.... but they don't always know how to work bridal gowns. One of those places really screwed up my junior prom dress. And that was just a prom dress, not a bridal gown.

I think most of the ladies on this board stayed with their bridal salon (be it David's Bridal or someplace else) for their alterations.

Bean32 · March 2011

Nlah in Drexel Hill gets recommended a lot here. She altered a non-bridal dress for me and did a great job!

peanutty2 · March 2011

wow, recovering - thank you! the dress is only costing me 400$... i'm scared the alterations are going to end up close to that amount as well! if i wasn't so desperately trying to lost weight i wouldn't worry about it, but i've never had to have a dress "taken in" before so i didn't know what to expect.

do you/anyone have any idea if there's a cost difference for how much it's taken in? Like if it has to be taken in 2 sizes versus half a size is it a price difference? Or does it not matter much since they've got to open it up and do all that stuff regardless? (i ask becuase i was considering just waiting another month or so to order the dress)

I wonder if db could give me some sort of estimate on that exact dress's alteration costs. other posters have said their db's had alteration people allover the place but i guess i'm going to a slow store and didn't see anyone. hmm.

bean- thanks i'll check that out!

RecoveringActor · March 2011

I don't think so... it's more the difficulty of the dress.

I'm not a seamstress by any means, but I used to do costuming in college, so I understand fabric and alterations. If they just need to take things in at the seam, that's better than if they have to take the dress apart in order to do the alteration.

paprika28 · March 2011

Peanutty- My mom used to work for a high end bridal shop in DE altering wedding gowns. She's kinda shared some of this with me... basically, like RA said, if there's any type of detail/beading/rouching on the bodice... the more work they have to do, the more of a charge it is. Especially matching patterns on lace/beading. Boning can be a pain to work with as well if it needs to be taken in.

Same goes with the hem. If it needs to be shortened at all, if they have to do it from the bottom and there's a lot of detail on the hem/train, the seamstress will have to take off and re-sew all of the detail back on. Usually by hand. If they can do a hem to hollow type hem, it's usually a little less.

RecoveringActor · March 2011

Peppericka.... Gzilla's mom used to do the same thing in Delaware..... Hmmm....

Ms.BriarRose · March 2011

I used Sophia's Creative Alterations. She was fabulous. I didn't have one issue with my dress. I believe I paid $240 (maybe a little less), and i had the sleeves taken in, the bustle done, something else that I can't remember, and she steamed out the wrinkles and went over it for stains and such. Everything fit well, everything held together. She was easy to work with, funny as anything- she told stories the entire time we were there, so standing for a long time didn't seem so bad. She also did my mom's dress, straps and hemming and taking in a little on the sides, and her dress turned out great as well.

Considering that people like Jill Biden go to her, as well as Miss Delaware (Miss America pageant), plus her walls are filled to the brim with pictures and thank you notes of happy brides, well, she was A-OK in my book.

Paprika is right- DB is about the right price. The problem is the quality of the alterations. Dh is not known for the quality of the alterations; I have known too many people, including my sisters, who had bad experiences with DB.

Sophia is located on 202 right below the PA/DE line. Here is her contact info; if she doesn't pick up, leave a message because that means she is doing a fitting.

1601 Concord Pike
Suite 66
Wilmington DE 19803

(302) 777-7515

paprika28 · March 2011

RA- I share my name with the same place she worked....

peanutty2 · March 2011

oh thank you thank you this is all very helpful!!!

this is the dress btw
http://www.davidsbridal.com/Product_Organza-Draped-Pick-up-with-Beaded-Lace-Empire-L9479_Bridal-Gowns-Features-All-Gowns

it does have some beading on the top (although i wouldn't mind if it got "lost" on the sides because it kinda is irritating under my arms! but i still want the dress! and then the rest of the dress is all that lacy material. i think there's some beading on the end of the train but not aroudn the rest of the dress. i may not even need a hem if i get the right shoes. if i did it'd be slight. i'm more worried about taking it in for size. the back is a corset too. which means if i don't lose that much weight it can just be tightened and my problem is solved lol but i'd like to lose a dress size which may cause the issue then.

thank you so much again.

paprika28 · March 2011

No problem.... and it's a gorgeous dress. But don't push off the idea that it's killing under your arms. You had it on for 20-30 minutes at the store. You'll have it on for 8-9 hours on your wedding. Do you want to be miserable because under your arms is raw? You may want to see if they can take some of the beading off under the arm. For real. For your own comfort. The last thing you want is to be in pain. And chaffed arm pictures.

ButtonsPepper · March 2011

I used Nilah and loved her. Nilah.com and i'm going to use her for a BM dress I have to order for a September wedding. She's fantastic.

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