Wedding Dress Alterations: What You Need To Know
When it comes to alteration questions in regards to your wedding dress, this is something we get asked about A LOT at The Aisle! And rightly so. It’s super important that you not only understand the process, but make sure you use a seamstress service to absolutely get the best possible fit from your dress. If there’s one time in your life, in particular, that you want your dress to fit your body perfectly, it’s on your wedding day when it has been meticulously tailored just for you. So allow us to be your bridal alterations guide and see our top tips below on how to get the best out of your seamstress appointment, why you need one and everything else you need to know regarding alterations. Your bridal alterations appointment is going to be the next most important appointment you have after picking your wedding dress from us, so let's hone in on how to get it right!
When to book your seamstress.
The short answer is - as soon as you’ve bought your dress!
Once we’ve finished your final appointment with you, we’ve measured you on the designer size charts to know what size you need, and we have drawn up your contract, it’s time to talk about your seamstress. We’ll take you through our list of highly recommended and skilled seamstresses and once you’ve picked one, you should call them as soon as possible. A lot of our recommended seamstresses are very popular and they get booked up extremely quickly! So please book them straight away to avoid any disappointment.
How to book your seamstress
This might be an obvious one, but we get asked a lot. We would always suggest calling or texting directly. Instagram and social media is a great place to follow their work and have a look at the amazing talents they present, but as we all know, messages can get missed or lost due to busy schedules. The best thing to do is always call ahead and visit their websites for opening business hours before doing so. Most importantly, your seamstress will ask you when your wedding date is and (roughly) the month that your dress will arrive at The Aisle. This will all be on your copy of the contract so have it to hand when speaking to them. Once they know what time frame they have, they’ll work backwards from your wedding date and book you in for your first fitting around three months before your wedding. If you have a tighter schedule to handle then this may be sooner than three months and that all, of course, depends on their availability. If you’re on the opposite end of the scale and you’ve already discussed big detailed changes and alterations to your dress, for example - adding stitching, beading, changing necklines, sleeves etc, then the seamstress may need a longer time frame so you can have more than two fittings. That way they can give you as much time as needed in order to perfect your more custom style dress.
How to choose your seamstress.
We’ll hand you over our list of recommended seamstresses before waving you off after your appointment. Some are local and some span a little further afield. We’ve based this list on several things combined. Firstly, we’re recommending you seamstresses in geographical locations we think will suit you, so that normally is reflective of where our brides have travelled from. We’ve created a golden list from North, South, East and West Yorkshire. A couple are very local to us in Skipton and tend to take the lion share of Aisle brides. This makes them incredible choices as they are really familiar with our dresses and designers. This is worth taking into consideration as they will know the cuts, the fabrics and the fits of a lot of our dresses on a lot of different body shapes and sizes.
If you’re not local, then it’s probably not as convenient for you to use one of our Skipton girls. Based on a lot of our beautiful brides hailing from Yorkshire areas we recommend other seamstresses around Otley, Leeds, Hebden Bridge, Colne and York. We do, however, get brides visiting us from all over the UK, so if you’re not from Yorkshire - don’t worry! You can of course use someone closer to home if that’s more convenient for you but please make sure that before you book them you look at these important points:
Are they specifically a bridal seamstress? This is hugely important. We would never suggest using anyone who has not tailored bridal gowns before.
Check out their social media pages to see their work and their following.
Do they come highly recommended by a friend/ family member? Either way, make sure you know someone who has had a good experience with them. A great reputation is always best and is usually reflective of the price they charge.
It’s worth pointing out that all of our seamstresses are recommended, not just because of where they are situated, but because of their unique skills and talents. At The Aisle we have had great experiences either personally or professionally (usually both) with all of them and all have dealt with Aisle customers previously. Please also take into consideration that although I’ve referred to them throughout as “our” recommended seamstresses, they are all completely separate to The Aisle business. We take great pride in recommending them as we have confidence and trust in them. We don’t work in any association with any of them and we don’t take any kind of commission for recommending them to you. We recommend them purely based on just how good we believe they are! We’ve done this for a long time and we know just how important it is to get your dress absolutely spot on.
What to do if your body shape or size has changed since your initial appointment at The Aisle
This is, again, another important point and it’s probably what we get asked the most, so we’ve saved you the best ‘til last!
Let’s be totally honest here, it’s not unusual for brides to want to change their body shape before their wedding day, it’s not something that we personally advocate for but that is completely at your discretion and you should take that into consideration when choosing your dress. Some of these things will seem really obvious but others aren’t, so let us help be your guide.
We’ve worked with the most wonderful brides who are on both sides of the spectrum. Whether that be they are on weight loss journeys for their own personal reasons, or they’re actively hoping to gain weight (yes - we’ve catered for some EPIC and inspirational body building legends) we can provide you with the right advice.
Our seamstresses are super creative and we are always in awe of the things they can achieve with a needle and thread. That said, there will usually be a limit to what you can or can’t do with your dress. Usually a dress, depending on whether or not it is heavily boned, corseted, pleated or uses extra fabric for draping, can be taken in by up to three sizes. You don’t want to completely change the look of the original dress you fell in love with, so always bear that in mind and know that your seamstress will work their magic as much as possible. Alternatively, a dress can always be let out by up to one size, so if you need the fabric taken out in certain areas then please don’t fret! This is quite common and a seamstress's job is to make you feel as happy, confident and comfortable as possible on your special day. Even if, for example, a dress is intended to fit nice and snug around your hips to accentuate shape, but you feel like this is too snug for you, it’s possible to have that slightly adjusted. You need to feel like the best version of you! Between us here at The Aisle and your highly skilled seamstress, you can achieve that.
It’s incredibly unusual for a dress to fit you absolutely perfectly during your pick up appointment in the studio so please don’t feel stressed or anxious - this is exactly what a seamstress is for! Once the seamstress and her trusty needle and thread have finished their work, you’ll be leaving with a dress that makes you feel like the bride you always wanted to be.
We can’t wait to see you in your finished bridal looks!
See you at The Aisle,
Georg x
