Many times when a wedding dress is tried on at the store it may not be in your perfect size whether it is your actual dress or the sample. Sometimes the sample wedding dress may be too small or too big so it needs to be clipped close or maybe left unbuttoned. Sometimes when your actual wedding dress arrives in store you may feel that the dress doesn't fit you perfectly or you may not love the way it fits to your body. This is absolutely normal!!!! This is also why using an expert bridal seamstress is extremely important! Altering wedding gowns is an art form and unfortunately it is getting lost. It takes years of practice and patience to become good at altering wedding dresses. It is an intimate knowledge of how a dress fits and what is going to happen to other pieces of the dress when you take parts in or let parts out. It may feel like alterations are very expensive and it can be tempting to choose someone who is cheaper, but be aware that cheaper is not always better and you may be sacrificing expertise to save a few dollars.
Every wedding gown designer chooses which way their wedding dresses can be ordered but most offer either with custom measurements or based on a size chart. When you are ordering based on a size chart you will need to order your wedding dress based on your biggest measurement which is usually your waist or hips. This will mean that one or more parts of the dress will probably need to be taken in to fit you correctly. When your dress is ordered based on custom measurements it doesn't mean the dress is going to fit you perfectly but it does mean that you don't need to decide on a size because basically they can put multiple sizes together to fit your measurements. Either way the dress is ordered you will need a seamstress to sculpt that dress to perfection.
We see many brides who want to tone up or lose a little bit of weight for their wedding day. Brides may start working out, eating healthier and lose a few pounds or stay the same weight but gain some muscle prior to their wedding. All of this will affect how that dress fits you. Don't worry if you lose weight! We always say, “bigger is better in bridal!” It is much easier to take a wedding dress in a few inches then to let it out. Generally speaking a wedding dress can be taken down a few sizes, so don't fret if your dress comes in and it is now too big. Also don't fret if you started taking kick-boxing classes and now your wedding dress is a little tight through the booty! All of this can be fixed but to have this fixed you should work with a bridal seamstress as they will be able to know how taking something in or letting something out will affect the look in other areas of the dress.
You may also be looking for some customizations to be done. Maybe you want to add straps to your wedding dress or make the straps thinner or deepen the v of the neckline. You could choose to accessorize by adding a belt to the dress or a bow. All of these types of customizations take extra time for alterations and creating something that matches and is beautiful is an art. It is not just about adding a strap but how thick it is, where is the lace placement is going to be, where exactly that strap should be attached to the dress and so on. This is all something you want your expert bridal seamstress to be able to imagine and execute on your dress.
This is going to probably be the most expensive piece of clothing that you ever wear in your lifetime and these pictures are going to last forever. You would never want to look back at your pictures and say I wish I just spent that $100 more to get my dress looking perfect. A bridal seamstress is going to work with you and take the time they need to sculpt that dress to perfection. It will be a conversation between you and the seamstress, “do you want a little pinch in the butt, does the waist feel loose?” There are also multiple ways that the dress can be bustled and that is why you work with your seamstress on the way that you like the best.
Bridal seamstresses will only work with so many brides a weekend to ensure that they can give their brides ample attention and work on the dresses with the attention to detail it deserves. This is why we stress the importance of ordering your dress early enough to be able to work with a knowledgeable bridal seamstress. We highly recommend calling a seamstress at least 20 weeks out from your wedding and while they may not make an appointment right away, they will put you on their calendar for the weekend of your wedding. Once they completely book that weekend full of brides, they won't take any more brides for that weekend. In 2021 we are going to be having more weekends then ever, utilizing more Friday and Sunday dates to fit them all in. Seamstresses are going to book up quickly so it is imperative to have your dress ordered in time and that it arrives in plenty of time before the wedding to get in with a recommended seamstress.
*All photos taken from one of our recommended seamstresses Lauren Rush. If you want to see more of her fantastic work you can view it on her website https://www.facebook.com/RushBridal