I'm a Bridal Seamstress AMA!!

Seamstress, Tailor, Bridal Alterations Specialist, call me whatever you want, just don’t call me a week before your wedding!

Here are the things I wished my brides knew:

Please be so honest. I’m gonna ask you “How does this feel?” pretty much the entire fitting to make sure it’s perfect for you. I view it as a two way street, I trust you to be honest with me, and you trust me to fix all the problems.

Buy the size the bridal shop tells you to buy. If the number on the tag bothers you, your seamstress can remove it and you can call it whatever you want, it does not matter to anyone but you. Going up or down 3 or more sizes can be stressful for you and your seamstress.

Don’t fall in love with the way a dress looks when you’re at a bridal shop, standing in front of a mirror with a bunch of clips at your back. Bridal shops do the best they can to give you an idea of what the dress will look like, but you still have to be able to walk, sit, dance and eat in that dress. Move around and sit if you can to get a realistic idea.

Book your alterations shortly after you order your dress. We all work differently and prefer different timelines, but you don't need to have your dress in hand to make a phone call. I take in dresses 6 weeks before the wedding, not a moment before. The longer you have between picking up your finished dress and your wedding day the higher chance of something needing to be changed. My brides pick up their gowns a week before the wedding, some even pick up the day before.

For the love of God, know what shoes you’re wearing before you come in. Do not think you can wear stilettos all night if you have not done that before. You will have to stand still, on a box, for probably 45 minutes during your fitting. On your wedding day, you will be in your shoes all day. Unless you decide to change to flats and completely ruin the bottom of your dress.

You are about to be a wife, which means you’re a big girl. Don’t have your mom or maid of honor call and make your appointments, unless she has your schedule right in front of her. It’s annoying and takes up too much of my time.

You can’t buy a cheap dress and expect cheap alterations. Most dresses from Lulu’s (and the like, but especially Lulu’s) fit strangely, and those girls are charged as much if not more than they spent on the dress. It sucks for everyone, I don’t want to charge you as much as you paid for the dress.

Side note, if you ask a pregnant woman to be in your wedding after she has the baby, just know that she is going to spend what she spent on the dress in alterations.

FAQ That I Can't Answer

Pricing - dependent on where you live. Alterations are not easy or hard. They are inexpensive or expensive. 

How to find a seamstress - Word of mouth! Ask around, friends who have recently gotten married, local bridal Facebook pages, read reviews. It is not a good idea to go with the cheapest option, this is something you want to be done right the first time because there might not be time to fix it. 

AMA! I’ve been sewing since I was a little girl, I learned how to sew before I learned how to read. My first wedding season was 2017, and I have altered 500+ gowns out of my shop since I opened Feb 2020.

Looking forward to hearing from y'all!