What I Wish I Would Have Known #2

Alterations can be a pain!

This post doesn't pertain to wedding gown alterations ~ the bridal salon that sold me my dress did all of my alterations, and my dress fit perfectly. Rather, this post pertains to bridesmaid dresses.

My bridesmaid dresses were purchased in Cincinnati (from Carrie Karibou Bridesmaids in the "bridal district" of the city). I found the perfect dresses online and the closest store that sold both of the dress lines (yes, I had to be difficult and choose two different lines), was in Cinci. My maid of honor (my sister) wore a Simple Silouhettes coral double-v neck tea-length dress in silk shantung. The rest of my girls wore Lynn Lugo tea-length silk shantung dresses in various styles.

Simple Silouhettes A-line V-neck dress (below) Various Lynn Lugo dresses (below)


Since 4 out of my 5 bridesmaids live in Indianapolis, we had to search for a place to do the alterations on their dresses. I really wanted everyone to get their alterations done at the same place so we could have little "alteration outings" where everyone met at the tailor's shop and I could see everyone in their dresses. One of my bridesmaids suggested that we should all get our alterations done at the bridal salon where I bought my wedding dress. I called the salon, and they could accommodate everyone's alterations. Yay! A bridal salon's seamstress should be an expert on alterations, right? Right??

Now for the not-so-fun part of the story: All the girls and I met twice for 2 sets of dress fittings (normal). Alterations cost each of them about $75 total, which they paid for out of their own pockets (my family paid for half of their dress amount, so they didn't have to pay for everything). Because I didn't shop around to see what other tailors would have charged, I thought this was a reasonable price. Until... my best friend called to say there was something seriously wrong with her dress. She said it didn't fit her right at all and the altered areas seemed a little sub-par in terms of craftsmanship. I told her to go to my family's tailor to see what he could do. The tailor pointed out numerous areas where the seamstress had left hanging threads and gaps in the seams (holes!). He charged my friend only $12 to fix all of the alterations. TWELVE DOLLARS!

Bottom line: This is another scenario where I didn't shop around for prices. If I would have known that my family's trusty tailor would have charged less than 20 bucks for alterations AND have better results than the bridal salon, I would have had the girls go there instead. This could have saved them at least $50.

All in all, my bridesmaids looked amazing on the day of the wedding. Just take a look (photo courtesy of Lemongrass Photography):