ADVICE FOR WEDDING DRESS ALTERATIONS & FINAL FITTINGS
We’re sharing our best advice for brides who have found their dream wedding dress and how to handle the wedding dress alterations and final fittings for their bridal gown.
Wedding planning is a very time-consuming process with so many details to coordinate and organize, from choosing a caterer and photographer to smaller details like what color your wedding party will wear. Many brides find shopping for their wedding dress to be one of the more enjoyable parts of wedding planning. Who doesn’t love to play dress up in gorgeous gowns? But once you find your dream wedding dress, don’t forget about the alterations process and the fitting schedule.
While this may not be the most glamorous aspect of wedding planning, wedding dress alterations and fittings should not be overlooked.
Wedding dress fittings and alterations appointments will ensure your bridal gown fits you perfectly on the wedding day. If you are a bride who is not very familiar with tailoring and alterations, as bridal stylists and wedding day dressers in charge of making sure that our brides are picture-perfect on their wedding day, have tips for you when it comes to your final wedding dress fitting.
Any bride who is ready for their final wedding dress fitting will not want to miss this advice.
Wedding Dress Alterations
The wedding dress alterations timeline will vary slightly for each bride and each wedding dress because alterations greatly depend on the extent of the alterations being done to your wedding dress. For example, if you are adding sleeves to your wedding dress then the alterations process may begin earlier than for someone who simply needs a hem and or a wedding dress bustle added.
Typically, bridal dress alterations will begin two to three months before the wedding day. At this first wedding dress fitting, brides will try on their wedding dress and the seamstress will mark out where the dress needs to be hemmed.
It is important to bring your wedding day shoes with you to your wedding dress fittings so that your bridal dress can be properly tailored.
You will then likely have another fitting a month before the wedding and then a final fitting one to two weeks before the wedding day.
Final Dress Fitting
At your final wedding dress fitting, you will try on your wedding dress to ensure everything turned out correctly and is done to the proper specifications. If any additional work is done at this appointment or after this appointment, it is very important that brides try on their wedding dress again after all final alterations and adjustments have been made.
Always be sure you try on your wedding dress before taking it home so that there are no surprises on the wedding day.
Your wedding planner or a bridesmaid may want to do you a favor and pick up your wedding dress for you after it has been altered, but it is imperative that you try on your wedding dress before you leave the bridal dress shop and bring it home.
It may be an inconvenience in the week or two before your wedding day for you go and pick up your dress yourself and try it on one last time, but it’s much better to be inconvenienced now than to find out on your wedding morning that your wedding dress does not fit as expected.
Wedding Dress Bustles
One last tip for brides to know about their final wedding dress fitting is for any bride who has a wedding dress bustle. It is so helpful if your wedding planner, your mom, your maid of honor or anyone who will be with you on your wedding day can attend your final bridal dress fitting.
Whoever will be helping to bustle your wedding dress on the wedding day should try to attend this fitting dress fitting appointment with you so that your seamstress can show them how your dress bustle works.
Every wedding dress bustle is unique and is added during the alterations process so there is not one guide or video you can reference to help with your bustle.
It is also a good idea to take pictures or a video of how to properly bustle your wedding dress at your final fitting so that you can easily reference this on your wedding day.
Do not rely on trying to remember how the bustle of your wedding dress goes!
Day Of Wedding Dressing & Bridal Styling
Luckily, our team of bridal stylists can help you with all of your wedding dress fittings and wedding dress bustling questions.
We also provide day-of-the-wedding dressing services where we come to your wedding festivities and ensure that the bride and the entire wedding party and family are looking picture-perfect and feeling their best. Our goal is the ensure that our clients not only look beautiful, but feel comfortable and confident so that they can be present and enjoy every moment of their special day. If you need help on your wedding day, be sure to get in touch.
Beth Chapman Styling is a full-service bridal styling company specializing in on-site wedding day dressing for chic couples around the globe. We believe a bride should look and feel beautiful on her wedding day, but doesn’t need to be stressed to achieve it.