Scheduling: When to Start your Wedding Dress Alterations
Planning a wedding isn’t easy. And the timeline for every element, at least for me, was the most complicated. You need to book your venue how far in advance? When does catering need to have a final head count? Wait, the wedding dress I want will take six months to arrive and then I have to get it altered? When do you book that? How long do alterations take? While I can’t help you with the timelines for your other vendors, I can help bring light to the alteration process for your wedding dress.
Not all wedding dates are created equal
We live in Portland, Oregon which means that 90% of weddings seem to take place between June and October. If you are getting married during this time frame, YOU MUST PLAN AHEAD! This is our busy season, so do not wait until you want to be starting your alterations to schedule the appointment. If your wedding is mid-July, you should be contacting us by March to schedule your first appointment for April/May. On the other side, if you are getting married in February and you call us January 5th, we can probably get you in that day for a fitting and complete your alterations in a few weeks.
I work Monday-Friday and can only come to appointments on Saturday
That’s great, but you may need to take a longer lunch or leave work early for an appointment or two as Saturdays fill up the quickest. To put this in perspective, as of January 15thI am fully booked up for wedding dress fittings on February 23rd, March 9th, April 6th, and May 4th. I have two openings left on each March 16thand April 20th. Lindsay does have more availability the Saturdays she is working (we alternate). But as of mid-January, I can no longer accommodate a wedding happening before June 1st, if Saturdays are the ONLY day you can come in for fittings.
But my wedding dress hasn’t arrived yet
If you are getting married between June and October, we highly recommend scheduling your appointment when you order your dress. You will normally get an estimated arrival date from the boutique. If your dress is going to arrive more than four months before your wedding, we recommend scheduling your first appointment for about three months prior to the big day. If your dress is going to show up within two months of your wedding date, don’t panic, but it is crucial for you to contact us when you order. We can generally accommodate this tight turn around with foresight. We just hate getting the phone calls midsummer, “but my dress just arrived”. If you schedule with us in advance, and your dress fits perfectly when it arrives, you can always cancel your appointments. Better to be safe than sorry.
I have my dress a year in advance
That is wonderful. We generally still recommend getting started on alterations three to four months prior to the wedding. The only time we are comfortable getting started sooner is if you keep a consistent body weight within three to five pounds and already have the final shoes you plan on wearing. If your wedding is in July and you want to get started in January and be done in March, fantastic. But, if you try your dress on again in June, and you have lost/gained weight or changed the height of your shoes, you will be charged again for the alterations needed.
Another option is to schedule an educational consultation with us ahead of time. We offer these 30 minute consults for weddings at least four months in advance. We roughly pin the bodice for fit, go over bustle options, and address any restyling questions and concern you have. You leave with a full price quote for the alterations along with an ideal timeline. This is a great option if you have your dress far in advance and want to finalize the budget for alterations. We do charge $25 for educational consultations, unless you can still return/exchange the dress or it’s a vintage restyling.
How long does the alteration process take?
Generally speaking the process from first fitting to pickup takes one to three months with appointments spaced 3-5 weeks apart. If your dress doesn’t have lace, beading or an extremely full skirt, generally we can pin everything in one fitting and then just do a pickup appointment. For that route, we like to schedule the final fitting for 3-4 weeks prior to the wedding date. This ensures we will have time in case any minor adjustments are still needed. If your dress has a scallop edging at the hem, beading, or numerous skirt layers (like tulle), we do the pinning in two steps. At the first fitting we will pin for bodice fit, get the lining hem layers pinned up and finalize a bustle. Then at the second fitting we will check the bodice fit and pin the outer hem layers. This ensures a more exact hem length and breaks up the time you have to stand still. We still like to schedule pickup appointments for 2-4 weeks prior to the wedding date. Nobody needs to be stressing.
How does Silhouette schedule for bridal alterations?
Very carefully. The first couple years I did bridal alterations on my own, there were weeks in which I needed to get six dresses done for one day of appointments and would work 12-14 hour days/nights getting them done. That was terrible. I have learned that organization is my best friend. Now, when you request your first fitting with us, I will reach out over email to schedule your full series of appointments up front. I then go ahead and add your gown to the working calendar of my bridal seamstress that will be the best match. With this said, once our working calendars are booked, even if we have fitting times open, we unfortunately cannot take on more brides. We do not offer rush fees to squeeze dresses in. This is so we can ensure the best quality work on your wedding dress, and my team gets to enjoy work/life balance over the summer.
Now that I have just spewed A LOT of information at you, please refer to this beautiful chart to help with scheduling:
To use this chart, find the month you are getting married. Scroll over. If Saturdays will be the best day to come in for appointments, you need to book your first appointment online or over the phone, in the month(s) of the second column for your first fitting date in the last column. If you can come in during the week for appointments, you don’t need to schedule quite as far in advance, but we still recommend scheduling based off the 3rd column for an appointment date in the 4th column. Example: if you are getting married in May, you would need to book with us in December or January to schedule your Saturday appointment for February. But, if you can come in during the week, our calendar becomes more flexible and you can contact us in February for a February start date.
Still have questions? Please call or email us. We are always happy to help with scheduling.
