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Natalie
Just Said Yes August 2014

David's Bridal ruined my wedding dress in alteratons

Natalie, on August 19, 2019 at 9:48 AM Posted in Planning 0 22

I normally wouldn't go so far as to spread the word, but after my recent experience I want to warn people who have found their perfect dress.


I bought a dress, and I loved it. I needed some things altered, super simple things. The hem, the bustle, and a lining on the top of the dress. I went in for fitting, paid $500 for alterations, which is 2/3rds of what I paid for the dress.

On pick up day I put my dress on to find they had taken it in, cut the arm holes, used white string for the bustle, didn't line the top and didn't fix the straps. The end result? The dress is too small in the ribs now (that part fit without alterations), the bust is saggy, the bustle is so visible and looks incredibly cheap and nothing was done about the straps. Further, when expressing my concerns very calmly despite being in an internal frenzy the alterations Manager told me I failed to communicate it correctly ( my receipt says otherwise), that I was exaggerating the transparency of the top (I have a large bust that was very very visible from many angles). As I tried to communicate further, she went on to blame the lady that completed my fitting, she shushhheddd me!!, she said the directions were unclear and she didn't call me because " She only deals with customers in person".

She went on to tell me she will make an exception on charging me further to complete the work that I had already been charged for, that she can PATCH the sides to make it fit again and will find a fabric close enough to line the inside of my dress. I am in around $1300 bucks now and have a Frankenstein dress. I had to purchase a complete new off the rack dress from another store (Brilliant Bridal in Denver, Colorado who were amazing and supportive and did an awesome job at giving me confidence back since my wedding is in 26 days)

Even if they have the dress of your dreams, go somewhere else for alterations!!!!!

22 Comments

Latest activity by Ashley, on July 30, 2022 at 12:50 AM
  • Monique
    Master December 2019
    Monique ·
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    YIKES!! I am going to a local seamstress for alterations. I do not have much to be done. (Arms are a little too long, I want the neckline moved up, I need a bustle) she blocked off November to do that for me and I will have my dress right before the wedding. David’s would not even let me come in to get a quote on how much it would be.
    • Reply
  • Natalie
    Just Said Yes August 2014
    Natalie ·
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    Going to a local seamstress is the right move. I am doing so on my second dress because I had to buy a new one. They are way overpriced for such low quality.

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  • Samantha
    VIP October 2020
    Samantha ·
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    I’m so sorry! Thank you for sharing.
    • Reply
  • Ivy ORP
    VIP October 2019
    Ivy ORP ·
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    I can't stand David's anyway. They were absolutely horrible to me when I went in to try on dresses with an appointment, favorites chosen online, and additional choices I printed and brought in. They literally snapped at my friend and me after I had been left wandering for almost half an hour without my "stylist" helping me. They had NOTHING I wanted to try on and kept trying to force me to choose one I kept telling them wasn't what I wanted. Even had me sitting around for over 20 minutes so the seamstress could help me find ways to make it what I wanted even though the seamstress was busy working on alterations for an entire wedding party and didn't have time to get to me. I would never go back there. I am so sorry you had such a terrible experience, I do hope the new dress turns out even better for you.

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  • S
    Dedicated February 2020
    Stephnie ·
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    Thanks for sharing. I’m sorry that happened. I found a dress at David’s I thought I really liked for $849, which was a better starting point than the $1500 dress that made me go WOW! I asked to speak to the seamstress before making my purchase. I needed to add sleeves and wanted to be sure they could do that. I was told I’d have to buy some kind of shrug off the shelf and they could tack that onto the dress. When they hemmed the bottom they couod painstakingly remove the lace appliqué to add some on the sleeves but said it would be very difficult and costly to do so. The other bridal salon said they would be able to order extra fabric from the designer so that the sleeves would match the rest of the dress. And if I took it elsewhere to be altered they too wouldn’t have extra fabric to work with. I was worried it would end up looking like student project and said I would think about it. After hearing about your Frankenstein experience, I know I made the right decision to step back and think about it.
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  • Courtney
    Master December 2019
    Courtney ·
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    I'm highly considering going to a local seamstress as well. When I was at David's I had asked about the hem of my dress- I wanted to bring it in from a court/chapel train to a floor length train to avoid needing a bustle. I asked if that could be done as the skirt is multilayered and wanted an opinion first. The head seamstresses response, "I don't know...?"

    David's Bridal ruined my wedding dress in alteratons 1


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  • Virginia
    Super June 2021
    Virginia ·
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    Yea I have heard horror stories. I bought mine at David's but going to a local seamstress who's well known for bridal alterations and dress making.

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  • Natalie
    Just Said Yes August 2014
    Natalie ·
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    Honestly, I went for the 850 dress over the 1600 one too. With alterations, i still ended up paying 1200 for a dress I can't wear. Having to start over from scratch with not even a month left is costly and time consuming. I purchased my dress 9 months in advance to avoid last minute scrambles. There alterations are over priced and under quality. Thankfully I found an off the rack wedding dress that fit beautifully and a seamstress that comes highly recommended willing to get me in same day! My other dress is still being patched together and I will have my new one altered and back before they can even fix their mistakes. If its your dream dress don't roll the dice on using their alterations.

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  • Natalie
    Just Said Yes August 2014
    Natalie ·
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    The new dress is a million times better. This is how the dress fit me BEFORE ALTERATIONS. Neither of these dresses have been altered, my new one is designer off the rack, so really discounted. All in will be way cheaper, but the dress I had previously purchased fit me great until Davids got a hold of it. It blows my mind they were able to mess it up when it was already such a good fit.

    New one on the leftDavid's Bridal ruined my wedding dress in alteratons 2New one on the rightDavid's Bridal ruined my wedding dress in alteratons 3


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  • Cher Horowitz
    Master December 2019
    Cher Horowitz ·
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    I'm so sorry this happened to you! I'm happy you were able to find another dress in time!

    My dress is from DB also, but I found a local tailor to do alterations. I'm glad I did!

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  • Cher Horowitz
    Master December 2019
    Cher Horowitz ·
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    Wait, she seriously said "I don't know"? That's so unprofessional, she's supposed to know these things!

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  • Courtney
    Master December 2019
    Courtney ·
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    That's what I said lmao! I still have an appt on the books at DB, but I'm going to shop around first before I cancel it.

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  • Ivy ORP
    VIP October 2019
    Ivy ORP ·
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    The new one is gorgeous on you. It looks like it was made for you. I really like the first one and can't imagine how you could mess that up. I really feel for you there but glad it worked out.

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  • Natalie
    Just Said Yes August 2014
    Natalie ·
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    Yea, they apparently worked really hard on it to mess it up, Its now patched on the top. ugh. I love the second one. It feels like it happened for a reason, still hard to deal with so close to the big day!

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  • Ivy ORP
    VIP October 2019
    Ivy ORP ·
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    I can't imagine but I hope it's the worst you have to deal with.

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  • VIP September 2019
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    So I had an issue after my first alteration appointment. It was so devastating and she butchered my dress. This was a personal seamstress who came with lots of great reviews. There was red flags at the consult appointment. I should have listened to my gut instinct. Now I have a different seamstress who has done more on my dress in two weeks than the first one did in a month. Even though my dress isn't perfect like when I first got it she was able to restore the mistakes ( I can see where she had to hand sew the mistakes) but I was aware that the was inevitable. My advice is to take your dress to a different seamstress so they can fix their mistakes
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  • Kelly
    Super October 2019
    Kelly ·
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    I am taking my dress to a local seamstress as well. I bought it from David’s as well. The seamstress was able to quote everything within $15 based on a photo of me in the dress & the only reason that there’s a $15 fluctuation is that it depends on the bustle that I choose.
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  • Yam
    VIP September 2019
    Yam ·
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    I can tell you what my seamstress told me because I have a similar layered train and wanted it chopped off to floor length. It’s possible to do but it doesn’t come cheap. If you have horsehair(which it looks like you do) then it’s time consuming. A good seamstress can do it but you’re looking at prices just as high as a complicated bustle. In the end I just chose a simple American bustle, it was far less expensive.
    If you’re dead set on this, find the best seamstress you can because an amateur mistake could ruin your dress.
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  • VIP November 2021
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    Omg I am so sorry
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  • VIP November 2021
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    Not surprised though- I’ve heard awful things about David’s
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