Small rant about my alterations/ is this normal?

I think it’s strange that they want you to wait until after prom season, but most of my friends went for their first fitting 6-8 weeks before their wedding so that’s probably why they didn’t understand why you called in February.

I was supposed to get married last Noember, and my first alterations appointment was scheduled for September. You don't want to get it fitted too early. It sounds like they could have been more professional in their response, but I would trust their judgement in timing.

I'll be totally honest in saying that I picked up my dresses just a day or two ahead of when I got married. I had more work to be done (bustle, take in the bust, redo the back illusion panel) and my seamstress only began that about 2 months ahead of our original date. I wouldn't be thrilled with their less than professional demeanor with you (and that alone would probably make me hesitant to work with them), but I can see why they would say that your simple alterations wouldn't need much lead time. Also, unless your dress has any dirt marks, you shouldn't need to get it cleaned before hand (I, too, bought dresses off sample racks, but didn't get them cleaned until after I wore them).

My seamstress started working on my dress 3-4 weeks prior to my wedding and there were more alterations involved. It sounds as though the proper expectation was not set with you to begin with, but from my experience the timeline makes sense.

Yeah it’s a pretty normal timeline as shocking as it seems. My wedding is a bit over a month away and my ceremony dress is still being worked on and I have to go back for her to then do my hem.


For my second dress I go tomorrow to get measurements at the boutique and then have to order it. Once it comes in after about 5 days It will need to be cut into a short dress by a pageant seamstress as there will be a lot of beadwork and they said they’d still have plenty of time.
But the ppl you go to have a real crappy attitude and you have legitimate reasons for wanting your dress sooner. I personally don’t understand why seamstresses take these dresses way ahead of time, and then don’t start them until the last last minute. God forbid if anything goes wrong that doesn’t give anyone much time to figure out. And I still haven’t seen my dress with my veil that I recently got. But who knows, I might end up changing my veil all together, But I agree with you, it would be a lot easier if I did have my dress done sooner so I can figure that out.You’re definitely not in the wrong here

Thank you everyone for your responses and for calming me down- Sounds like aside from them being rude they are fine as far as timelines go.

That is horrible service and I would get your dress out of their hands ASAP. They could have politely explained their timeframes to you and eased your concerns. Its also common for brides to be nervous about their dresses so completely understandable that you wanted it done a couple weeks before the wedding.

I was told first fitting is typically 4 months out from the wedding, but that is generally if you need fairly significant alterations, like hemming on a dress that has lace appliques, adding sleeves, significant taking in in areas, etc. You may need multiple fittings if you are having a lot of alterations done. If you don't need any major changes and are just tweaking the fit or adding a bustle, those can be done closer to your wedding date, more like 6-8 weeks out for the first fitting, and then 2-4 weeks out for the final fitting. Of course this all depends a bit on how busy a tailor is and how many professional seamstresses they have on staff. If they have many people available to work, the timeline can be compressed a bit.

View Quoted Comment

I see. It is only simple alterations, but there is a small stain on the front that i need to get cleaned. I brought it in so early so that i could get the alterations done and get it cleaned, so that if the stain didn't come out I could re-evaluate options. Now it's too late, and i get what i get, so hopefully the small stain comes out. In the grand scheme of things not a big deal, i guess, it's just added stress that no bride needs! Thanks for your response.