average wedding dress alteration cost

Styles can increase the cost based on the number of layers in the bridal dress, the fabric and the bottom finishing, such as beads. Bodice: Bodice alterations on wedding gowns are normally done on the side seams. Simple bodice alterations will range in price from $40 to $80.

Expert Wedding Gown Alterations

Expert Wedding Gown Alterations We offer expert dress making skills necessary to handle the most complex alterations for your wedding gown, Mother of the Bride Dresses and Bride’s Maid Dresses.

From redesign of a vintage wedding dress or a second-hand wedding dress, addition of a bustle, a simple hem or even taking in or letting out the bodice, our dressmaker is well-qualified to handle all of your wedding dress alterations needs. We can complete a simple hem in a day or two and more complex alterations - well just tell us how quickly you need it and we'll do our best to get it done for you.

We'll be glad to set up an appointment to meet with our wedding gown alterations specialist. Just call our wedding gown division at 205.588.4120 or click on the link to the right to set up an appointment via e-mail. The cost of wedding gown alterations can vary depending the nature of the alteration and the structure of the gown.

Here are some ranges of alterations for typical wedding gowns: Length: Most gowns need a hem. Hems to your wedding gown will typically range from $40 to $80, but this price range can increase depending on the style and fit of the dress.

The main complicating factors to gown bodice alterations are the number of layers and the trim. If the bodice must be altered at the zipper, the price can increase to over $100 for these more complicated, time consuming gown alterations.

Other factors influencing the cost include the trim on the gown such as beading and lace that must be removed and reapplied.

Sometimes lace and beading must be used to cover a seam line when doing bodice alterations. Sleeve Length: If your bridal gown is sleeveless or has short sleeves, this is usually not a factor. But hemming long sleeves can cost from $30 to $80, depending on the decorations on the sleeve. Bustle: A final area requiring a wedding gown specialist is when adding a bustle. If you have a long train and want to bustle your g own, the cost could range from $25 to $100 or more.

The cost will depend on how many points are bustled and how many layers are involved. When you lift the train to the waist area, each “point” is secured to the dress in different ways. A longer train may require 5 to 10 points. A shorter train may require only 2.

Most wedding dresses need some adjustment, and unless your wedding gown does not have a train, at the bare minimum it will need bustles sewn in the back. So be prepared for add a bit more onto your wedding gown costs than the price tag states. The average a bride spends between $75 and $250 on alterations. If you know the wedding dress alterations you will need, feel free to call around and get some telephone bids. You do not necessarily have to use the alterations service from your bridal shop, but do not cut corners that you might regret.

Wedding Dress Care Quote

Alteration Costs Can Every Wedding Dress be Altered? Can I Do It Myself? Wedding Dress Alterations Timeline Tips for Wedding Dress Alterations Wedding Dress Alterations Every Dress Needs a Little Tweaking So you found the perfect dress. The only problem is that it is too small. “No problem!” says the sales clerk. “It can be altered.

We will take a little from the train, add it to the sides and Presto!” Is this really possible? Perhaps. Costs of Wedding Dress Alterations The truth is you will be a very unusual bride if you did not need some wedding dress alterations. But how much can a wedding gown be realistically adjusted? And how much will it cost?

A seamstress experienced with altering wedding dresses will probably do a better job than your average tailor at your local dry-cleaner. Wedding Dress Alterations For Any Dress? Not every dress can be altered to fit exactly the way you would like.

Remember two rules of thumb: It is easier to take something in than it is to let it out. If you are wearing your mother’s wedding dress it may be worth going to great lengths to get the gown to fit to you. But, if you are buying a new wedding dress, get the correct size. Making a dress larger is difficult, and you may not like the fit afterwards. Don’t buy a wedding dress more than one size larger than your own size. Larger wedding gowns are cut proportionally larger all over the gown.

The neckline, the bodice, and shoulders will all be over sized. This means the wedding gown may not fit quite right if only the side seams are taken in. However, some dresses are designed to fit several sizes, with a corset back that ties instead of zips.

To get the best fit, stay as close as possible to your correct size. Could I Do The Wedding Dress Alterations Myself? If you (or a friend or family member) are a competent seamstress you could make many of your alterations easily and save quite a bit of money.

For instance, a hem from a professional tailor might range from $55 for a very basic hem to $200 for multiple layers but might not be a difficult chore for someone who knows their way around a sewing room. It all depends on the construction of the wedding dress. Hems can be very simple, but be aware that if your wedding dress has lace at the hemline, it may require more extensive work. Some alterations are more difficult and should be reserved for someone who really knows what they are doing.

But wedding gowns are designed to be altered and many are constructed in such a way as to make adjustments easier. Take a good look at the interior construction of your wedding dress to determine how difficult it will be to make the necessary adjustments before you take it on. Wedding Dress Alterations Timeline If possible, order your dress at least 12 weeks before your wedding to allow enough time for the necessary adjustments.

Plan your last fitting several weeks before your wedding so you have time to make last minute adjustments if needed. Weddings can be stressful and you may find that you either lose a little weight or gain a little weight during your engagement.

Tips for Wedding Dress Alterations Try your wedding dress on without any make-up. You want to be as clean as possible to avoid soiling your gown. And wear your nicest under clothes as it is likely you may be only partially dressed during your fitting.

Be sure to wear the bra and shoes that you will be wearing for your wedding. Don’t try to find shoes with the right heels after your gown has been altered.

Buy your shoes prior to having it hemmed. Keeping these tips in mind will help you when selecting your gown and your tailor. And remember, for a less stressful wedding preparation, shop early for your wedding dress. Once you have your wedding dress, be sure to store it in an acid-free environment. Our 100% cotton garment bag works great for this. Your special day will be here before you know it.© Copyright 2014 Heritage Garment Preservation Want to use this article in your ezine or web site? You can as long as you include the copyright notice above and a link to our website.

l If you just need your wedding gown shortened, the cost runs between $40 and $225. Taking in the dress on the sides ranges in price from $40 to $200. Adding a bustle ranges from $25 to $100, depending on the number of layers on your dress’s skirt. These prices go up if your dress has a lot of embroidery or beading.

Why Does Your Wedding Dress Cost So Much?

Why Does Your Wedding Dress Cost So Much?by Bride Box Wedding Albums · May 20, 2013As a bride-to-be, your wedding dress is one of the biggest decisions you face. The cost of a wedding dress depends a lot on your location, size, materials used and design. Fabric, craftsmanship and alterations are three key factors to consider as well.

According to surveys completed by the Wedding Channel, the average price of a dress in 2012 was between $1,200 and $1,300.

Specifically, brides in New York City paid more than other regions. To get a better understanding of what your dress will cost, it helps to understand how a dress is priced. Here is a video done by NPR entitled, “ Why Do Wedding Dresses Cost So Much ” that discusses in detail the factors that are associated with a the price of a wedding dress.

Why Do Wedding Dresses Cost So Much? Your browser does not currently recognize any of the video formats available. Click here to visit our frequently asked questions about HTML5 video. Wedding Dress Fabric Most bridal gowns come in polyester/satin, silk or velvet. The material used to make your dress dictates a portion of the dress cost. Silk is the most expensive option. On average, white silk costs about $18 to $30 per yard. Satin ranges between $6 and $12 per yard.

Velvet is a little pricier with the average cost ranging from $13 to $35 per yard. Photo Credit: Fabric and Art Wedding dresses usually have multiple layers. With a polyester organza, the average cost of materials is a $5 per yard. Chiffon is less than $4 per yard.

Netting is about $6 per yard. Lace is very expensive and often costs upwards of $20 to $80 per yard. Dress designers who mass produce wedding dresses do get hefty discounts for buying the fabrics in bulk, so that does save them money. With a standard dress size, the layers of fabric alone generally costs about $300 to $500. Plus-sized dresses use more fabric, and that drives up the cost.

Clearly, the type and amount of fabric you choose for your wedding dress directly influences the cost of your dress. Craftsmanship and Decorative Touches Many wedding dresses purchased in stores or online are manufactured in clothing factories. These machine-made gowns are less expensive to purchase, but there are still labor costs for the employees running the machines.

Some gowns have additional decorative touches, however, that are sewn or attached by hand. For each item that is attached by hand, the cost of the dress goes up. Dresses with lace appliques, beads, embroidery or rhinestones cost more. First, you have the cost of the decorations.

Beaded silk is approximately $120 per yard. Embroidered satin costs around $60 per yard. Rhinestones alone cost about $12 to $18 per yard. If they are already applied to bands, they range in price from $14 to $100. The more intricate details you have on your dress, the more expensive it will be. Photo Credit: Vogue Magz Dress Alterations It’s very rare for a dress to fit perfectly. Most brides have to take their wedding gown for alterations to ensure that the length and fit is ideal. Prices range from state to state. Expect to return to the seamstress you choose at least twice before your wedding day. Photo Credit: Twir

The Entire Wedding Cost Beyond the dress, the total average cost for a wedding tops $26,000, and that’s before you add in the cost for a honeymoon.

Saving money on your wedding gown is important, especially if you have a limited amount of money for your wedding ceremony, reception, and honeymoon. Here are some tips to help cut the cost of your wedding dress. Check out vintage and consignment shops.

With a high percentage of marriages ending in divorce, many dresses end up in used clothing stores. You may find a beautiful dress at savings of at least 50%. If you have a Goodwill store in your area, it’s not uncommon to find wedding dresses for less than $100. There are pre-owned wedding dress websites which you can save up to 90 percent off retail prices. Photo Credit: Crown Tailor Shop for sample dresses.

Wedding dress designers need room for new designs. To get this room, they put up their samples for sale at huge discounts of up to 90 percent off. As most dress samples are in size six or eight, sample sales only work if you’re the ideal industry size. Sell your dress after the wedding. Most brides want to preserve their wedding dress to hand down to their children.

If you’re not attached to your dress, sell it after your wedding for about half of what you originally paid. Another bride is thrilled to get the discounted dress, and you can quickly regain half of your money.

Finally, consider renting your dress. For years, grooms have rented their tuxedos. Stores are starting to catch on and now offer wedding dress rentals.

Instead of paying thousands for a dress, you pay can rent a current style for as little as $100. There are plenty of wedding dress websites that offer good wedding dress rental options Summary Article Name Why Does Your Wedding Dress Cost So Much? Description As a bride-to-be, your wedding dress is one of the biggest decisions you face. The cost of a wedding dress depends a lot on your location, size & materials. Author Bride Box Wedding Albums

It is not uncommon for a maid's dress to need $100 worth of alterations. I have had a few that went to $200 though it's rare. Some times a maid's dress can be just as expensive at the wedding gown to alter.

What is this going to cost?

What is this going to cost? The Bridal Gown If this is not the first question a bride asks, it certainly is at the top of her list of concerns.

Weddings are expensive and wedding gown alterations is up there on the list of items a bride needs to consider in forming her budget. I know that many bridal stores in my area advise the bride to budget about $150 for gown alterations (not including steaming).

Some gowns can come will under this amount while others are much higher. As of the editing of this page today (April 22, 2011) my average gown this year has been over $200. I have written this page to give brides and idea of what their alterations may cost. It is not a declaration of what I think alterations should cost. Each alteration specialist has to set their own pricing system according to their experience and cost of living in their area.

I get letters daily asking what a certain alteration is going to cost. I truly can not answer this question for I do not know the person who will be doing the work. I can not set prices for anyone but me. The alteration specialist you use will have her own set of experience and skills. Something that takes me 10 minutes to do might take her an hour and visa versa. I may know how to do something easily and she may have more difficulty doing it.

It is also impossible for me to set a price without seeing the bride in the gown. Pictures are helpful, but there are so many factors to consider that I need to see the body and the dress for real before I can give a good estimate of cost. The same dress on different body shapes will result in different costs. The factors of how the dress was constructed restricts what I can do to it and therefore may raise the cost considerably.

These are things I can not determine from pictures. This page will give you an idea and ranges for what I charge for the most basic alterations that many gowns need. What do bridal alterations cost? Basic fitting in the bodice area is usually done at the side seams.

Side seam bodice adjustments start at $40 but can go up to $80 depending on how the seams are configured. If the seams have boning in them, the extra work to adjust that can add another $40. Gowns have been designed with extra corsets inside the lining lately.

That adds more layers of seams that need to be dealt with at the side seams. This can double the cost to size a bodice. If this work needs to be done at the zipper than it can get over $160 easily because of the complications the zipper may add.

Other alteration needs in the bodice area can raise the alteration cost considerably. Lace and beading that has to be removed to accomplish the adjustment must be reapplied, sometimes creatively for the space it came off of has changed so much.

In the case where seams have had to be pieced, sometimes it is necessary to add lace and beading to camouflage the ugly seamlines. This process can get very expensive. My fee for this type of work is $30 an hour. I can give a guess as to how many hours I think it might take, but it's only a guess.

I do let brides know when this situation is necessary for her gown and do my best to predict the final cost, but sometime it's just not easy to predict accurately. Most gowns don't need anything this complicated in the bodice area and many need nothing. A good guess would be around $30 to $80 for the average gown. With replacement of beads and other decorations or boning, it can easily go over $100. Sleeve length is another area I check for alteration needs. If the gown has no sleeves, or short ones, this is not a concern. Long sleeves with much decoration can be as much of a problem to shorten as the bodice adjustments.

A cost of $80 to over $100 is not uncommon. Most gowns the past few years have been strapless but I have had several with shoulder seams that need adjusting.

This runs anywhere from $20 to $80, depending on decoration that need to be removed and replaced to get to and adjust the seam. The biggest area of cost in altering a bridal gown is usually for hemming. There are 3 main hemming processes most gowns may need. The first is a horsehair braid hem. This is usually found in satin gowns and can be identified by the stiffness of the hem.

There is a plastic webbing (often called horsehair because that's what it used to be made of) sewn at the edge of the hem, often between the outer layer and the lining. This needs to be removed and resewn to the proper level for the new hem length. It can be a tricky process to get it sewn back on at the right tension so that it properly stiffens the hem without buckling it into ugly permanent wrinkles that do not steam out.

Cost for this is usually $90. Shear fabrics like organza and chiffon, need to be roll hemmed. This hem can be identified by the tiny roll of fabric that is topstitched very precisely on the edge of the hem. This is a delicate and exacting process that often has to be done on more than one layer. My pricing starts at $90 for the first layer and $80 for the second, and so on.

Lace fabrics are sometimes rolled, but most often there is an edging lace that is sewn onto the hem edge that will need to be removed and sewn at the proper level for the new hem length.

This type hem starts at $90 and can be more if beading has to be removed and reapplied along with the lace. There are other hemming methods I use for gowns that don't fit into the 3 main techniques. These can range from adding tucks to the front of the gown as is seen on my Creative Hemming page, to bustling the front of the gown.

After these main areas that usually need alteration, the last item to check is the need for the gown to be bustled.

I will show the bride the alternatives in the ways gowns are usually bustled and then discuss which looks best. Depending on the decoration on the train one version may look much better than another, but they all are determined by what I call points.

The train is lifted to the waist area at these points and secured in various ways. My charge for bustling is dependent on the number of these points, $40 for up to 4 points then $10 per additional points. The longer the train, the more points will be necessary. It used to be that the average gown had around 6 to 9 points.

Last year many gowns used only 2 points. This year (2011) I have done many bustles that don't fit easily into one category of Ballroom, French or Pick-up. I am working on adding pages to the Bustle section of this site with several new techniques that brides are loving.

Some of these bustles have been quite time consuming and labor intensive to get the train up decoratively. I have had some bustle fees go over $200. There are many other things a bride may want done to her gown. Depending on her figure and the construction of the gown, these could range from no big deal to major work.

These situations I will discuss with the bride, give her all the options I can creatively think of and the cost for each, and then let her decide which is best for her and the gown.

You should be able to see now how bridal gown alterations can put a major dent in your wedding budget, but knowing what you are getting into should help you plan for an easier alteration process. Bride's Maids Dresses Most bride's maids dresses I've done lately come in around $40 to $90. Unless there are extra problems like pregnancy, the bride's maids should need only a hem and maybe a little taking-in on the bodice.

I've been doing maid hems at $30. Taking in the bodice ranges from $20 to $60 depending on where and how this needs to be done.

I look first to do it at the side seams, but if decoration at the sides makes it difficult, it can be done at the zipper. The cost is usually the same. For some situations this is not enough and the dress has to be taken in at the princess seams also. This will add another $30 per set of seams. So if both the front and back princess seams need it that will add $40. And like wedding gowns, if there is decoration, inner corset or boning on these seams that will need readjusting that price will be more. If you have the unfortunate problem of the maid's dress being too small, letting seams out can cost more than taking them in.

It is not uncommon for a maid's dress to need $100 worth of alterations. I have had a few that went to $200 though it's rare. Some times a maid's dress can be just as expensive at the wedding gown to alter.

What is this going to cost?

What is this going to cost? The Bridal Gown If this is not the first question a bride asks, it certainly is at the top of her list of concerns.

That adds more layers of seams that need to be dealt with at the side seams. This can double the cost to size a bodice. If this work needs to be done at the zipper than it can get over $160 easily because of the complications the zipper may add.

Other alteration needs in the bodice area can raise the alteration cost considerably. Lace and beading that has to be removed to accomplish the adjustment must be reapplied, sometimes creatively for the space it came off of has changed so much.

A cost of $80 to over $100 is not uncommon. Most gowns the past few years have been strapless but I have had several with shoulder seams that need adjusting.

Lace fabrics are sometimes rolled, but most often there is an edging lace that is sewn onto the hem edge that will need to be removed and sewn at the proper level for the new hem length.

After these main areas that usually need alteration, the last item to check is the need for the gown to be bustled.

These situations I will discuss with the bride, give her all the options I can creatively think of and the cost for each, and then let her decide which is best for her and the gown.

I've been doing maid hems at $30. Taking in the bodice ranges from $20 to $60 depending on where and how this needs to be done.

It is not uncommon for a maid's dress to need $100 worth of alterations. I have had a few that went to $200 though it's rare. Some times a maid's dress can be just as expensive at the wedding gown to alter.