Alterations & Fittings

Understanding the fitting process

When your dress is ordered, it will come in the nearest standard dress size for your body measurements. It is not a bespoke dress made to your measurements. Because of this, it is very unlikely that it will fit your perfectly and you will need to see one of our recommended seamstresses, they will help you achieve a perfect fitting dress.

Seamstresses recommended by the staff at The Wedding Room do NOT work for The Wedding Room, they are all freelancer and work for themselves. Each seamstress has years of experience in this specialised area of work and if you would like more than one option then please let us know.

IT IS CRITICAL that you have your shoes and underwear options when you first attend your fitting. Keep all your receipts and labels and if you need to return anything then there shouldn't be a problem. We have an extensive knowledge of underwear in the market place that we can recommend especially for those tricky backless dresses. We share these details with our brides at this stage of the process.

STAGE ONE - When your dress arrives you will be invited into the shop to try on your dress, this will give us an immediate idea of what we will need to do to your dress and how long you should plan for these alterations to take place. We recommend that you allow a minimum of 3 months for your alterations especially in the busiest months of the season May - Oct.

STAGE TWO - Once we have assessed what 'needs' to be altered you may also wish to tell us of anything that you would 'like' to alter, add or subtract. We will have discussed this previously in your appointments when you were choosing your dress, but now is the time to get to the nitty gritty and make some concrete decision as we may need to source extra lace, more tulle etc.

STAGE THREE - Once we have pinned, measured and agreed the work your dress needs it will then but worked on over the following couple of weeks. You will be expected to attend your second appointment promptly which will be arranged between yourself and the seamstress, not forgetting your shoes and underwear FOR EVERY FITTING APPOINTMENT.

The most common adjustments are as followings: Lift at the shoulders, nip in at the bodice sides and waist, reshaped the neckline, shorten sleeves, add more sparkle, attach a belt permanently to a dress and of course shorten the length.

HEM LENGTHS - do not worry about hems which have a scalloped lace trim, there is a very simple ( if not time consuming) method of achieving this. Some labels will offer the option to have a hem shortened by a specific amount but you MUST know your heel height at the time of ordering your dress. You will be charge extra for this service too by the designer.

STAGE FOUR - all our dresses are steamed after your final fit, we will advise you how to hang your dress. We are happy to keep your dress safe in the shop if needs be and if we have room, until a couple of weeks prior to your wedding at no additional cost. Please call ahead to make arrangements to come and collect your dress.

Most brides require a minimum of 2 appointments but this will largely depend on what work will be carried out on your dress.