how much does alterations cost for your dress?

[sosheksi]

so today i went in to have an estimate how much my dress would of cost if i get it alteration... the gal said since my dress has so much beading all over she would take piece by piece out.. from $200-500 and if i choose to have a padded bra inside another $50...

and she told me all this complications about my dress how impossible it is..but since she know my family she''ll just going to charge me $250 but for other people she''ll charge $500 and i have to wait for 1month at least... .. does that price sound right? . Luckily... i didn''t bring cash with me so i told her i will be right back

... i call my mom on the phone literally crying because i don''t care how much the alteration would of cost me but the way it sounds it just impossible to have it alter...

So my mom told me bring the dress over so she can take a look at it.. My mom been sewing every since she was 12yrs old and have years n years of experienced in tailoring... it just being the daughter that i am ;i don''t want my mom going through all the headaches so might as well pay someone for it but after hearing the word impossible it scare the heck out of me....

Oh after my mom take a look at it she was like whoever the gal who said this dress is impossible is trying to make money out of you...

it only takes my mom like 5mins to undue everything and when she have time she''ll sew it for me this sunday vs the gal who saids my dress would take a month this and that all the BS complications .....have any of you have that happen before?.....

im lucky to have my mom to the rescue otherwise another $$$$ going down the drain...

 

[neatfreak]

Doesn''t sound that out of the ordinary to me. My dress alterations were quite pricey and I didn''t even have beading on my dress.

 

[Rhea]

That''s a lot of smilies!

Alterations do seem to vary a lot from person to person and with beading it''s not unusual for it it cost quite a bit. Ask how the alterations are being done. Sometimes with a heavily beaded skirt or lace trim then the alterations person will take the dress apart at the waist and hem from there to keep the bottom of the dress in tac. Otherwise they have have to take off the trim of the skirt, hem the dress, and resew the trim on which can be quite expensive to do.

My alterations on a simple silk dress in a medium sized city on the East coast cost $150. I had three layers of skirt hemmed, the halter taken up, and the back of the dress lowered. This was considered to be reasonable for my city and I had no beading on my dress and it wasn''t a strapless dress that needed prefect fitting.

Honestly, I won''t let my mother or mother in law touch my dress. I was afraid that while I could save money that way, I could damage our relationship if it didn''t turn out right and I blamed my mother. This also has the potential of not saving money if my mother messed up my dress and I had to buy another.

 

[Gypsy]

I've budgetted 300 for my alterations because I need the majority of the lace appliques on the bodice removed from the bridal illusion fabric it's sewn to, then the bodice needs to be re-designed, and so does the back, cups and some extra support needed to be added in, and then all the appliques need to be put back on the newly designed top. Plus I need a bustle, but the bustle is going to be a very simple and inexpensive one. Oh and techincally, this is something one of my aunts and I could to together, but I would NOT want to mess it up, or have them mess it up then be upset about it. I'd rather pay someone else who I can yell at if they mess up.

 

[KimberlyH]

My dress was a sheath with a lace overlay, I paid $550 to have it altered; it was definitely worth it, that dress fit me like a glove.

 

[Courtneylub]

I''m expecting to spend about $200 on alterations with the push up bra sewn in, the hem taken up, and possibly the bodice taken in. I wonder if I will even need to get the bodice taken in since it''s a corset back. I had to get a size 6 because of my bootie and hips, but my waist is a 4 and my non exsistent chest is a 2.

 

[happy in love]

my alterations are going to be $280.
It is a very delicate fabric with lace that needs to be cared for, and the bustle is kind of detailed because of the fabric, so even though the train is short, she has to put in a little effort to make everything look right. She is also taking it in quite a bit and having to take the length up the tiniest bit too. (if only I got shoes 1/2 and inch taller!)
So, your quote doesn''t sound too crazy to me unfortunately!

 

[Class n Sass]

Don''t ask how but my dress shop does it but alterations are included in the price of the gown. Same thing goes for my BM dresses. You would think that with that kind of a deal that the dress prices would be jacked way up, but they''re not. In fact they were the cheapest that I found out of all the stores that had my gown.

 

[Haven]

My alterations will cost $275 at the bridal salon. I''m wearing the Melissa Sweet Mila, which is taffeta and not too complicated. However, they do these types of alterations all the time, and I love the way they do the bustle, so I''m just going to suck it up and have them done at the salon.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

I understand feeling frustrated about the alteration costs, mine were $650 AFTER negotiation with 3 seamstresses. My bust is a 2, my waist a 6 and my hips a 4, so I ordered a 6 and had to have the rest taken in. Because my bust was so much smaller, the seamstress had to completley dismantle the bust, take out the boning and do all of the hand-beading from scratch. I also had pads put in, the hips taken in and the the hem done. Whenever they have to re-bead by hand, the price skyrockets.

 

[K&L]

Wow, I feel like I got a good deal after reading all of these posts. While I was looking for dresses, one shop said alterations start at $300, which surprised me.

My dress was made to my height, so I didn''t have to have it hemmed, but it was 1-2 sizes too big, so I had it taken in just about everywhere. My dress is two layers with beaded lace over satin. They had to redo the beading in some places.

I spent a total of $70 on alterations, and I can have things changed until I''m happy at no additional cost. They said if I needed it hemmed, it would have been another $70.

 

[lucy.lucy.80]

the salon where i bought my dress has a maximum of $350 charge for alterations. Not sure exactly how much I will pay, but they will be under $350

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

i just had my appt today, i needed a hem, bustle, bust taken in, added cap sleeves, and had my jacket sleeves shorted, it came to 225 and i''m pretty happy with that.

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

Does your mother have beading experience? If not, DON"T let her mess with the dress. Each individual strand of beads will have to be resewn back into the dress, which in very heavy beading can be literally hindrads of strands, I have done it. Otherwise, the beading will unravel very quickly and you will have lost what makes the dress special.
The alteration prices you were quotes were not unreasonable if she was going to do a good job because even for a beading pro like me, that kind of work takes hours to restrand and sew in each area of beads. Especially if a lot is being taken out where the beading has to be done on the back and all the side seams so as not to distort the dress.

 

[sosheksi]

yea my mom she really good at beading n sewing.. im glad i let my mom does it bc she has more than 30yrs of experienced in sewin''.. at first i don''t want her to do it cuz its alot of work for her n headaches... i think if i were to pay the gal to do mine i think she would ruined my dress cuz the way she was tellin'' me how she was going to do it sound very unsafe and unsure of her........... plus i think she was going to charge me more afterward .. it was just an estimate but she said could be more later on........ sooooo no thank u.......

my dress is turing out pretty good so far... its half way done but so far im very please....

 

[scarlet16]

My salon told me to estimate 10-15% of the cost of the dress and unfortunately they don''t cap their alteration fees. I''ll find out in May how much it''ll actually cost.

 

[Elmorton]

Somewhere between $400-500. I had the train and full-length cut off so it was tea-length, we had the bodice taken off and then re-attached to the skirt with pleats to make the skirt fuller, put a curve in the neckline so it was more of a sweetheart neckline, had the zipper taken out so it was a corset-back, had the ribbon (sash) re-attached and made the bow into a square bow instead of a droopy one, and then it was taken in about 3 times because I kept on losing weight. My dress had a chiffon skirt and a beaded/sequined re-embroidered lace top, so I''m guessing some of those changes weren''t fun, but my seamstress (with the bridal salon) was amazing.

 

[blinkydoll]

Oh! i''m so glad this thread is here.
I just went to meet with my first alteration lady tonight. I bought my dress from the Filenes bridal event-- and it''s not exactly my size

sooooo it needs some work. It almost zipps up now.. ( i have been doing my part at the gym--- my my ribcage prob won''t change much

so anywho-- well it needs work--
okie-- so the lady said she would add little things to the sides that woud be sim to a corset.. but be fabric criss crossed and then.. it needs to be hemmed.. and then i want some sort of capped sleeve added and she will add some more beading to give it a little more sparkle--- and for all this she came to $450.00 is this reasonable? for all this work?

she is the first person alteration person I have met with. She works at a big deal bridal salon in my area-- and she actuallly is the maninager of alterations-- she would take this on as a side job. I''m a little scared in general ab giving someone my dress.. and they keep it at their house. It makes me start to think of scay things like--- what if that person has a fire-- and my dress burns!? or what if someone breaks in and steals my dress... etc.. eek!
Now that i have read your prices--- i''m starting to think-- that her price might be reasonable.?
It felt really good when she told me that my dress would easilly cost $4000 to $5000.00 at the store she works at.
Yay!

I didn''t pay even close to that! wooooo-hoo

Sosheksi---thats great your mom will be able to alter your dress! that will save a chunk of $$

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