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What is this going to cost? |
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). This is a pretty good estimate, but the actual cost can be more than this. In my experience, if you carefully follow the shopping rules above, some gowns can come will under this amount.
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.
Most gowns need a hem. I start pricing these at $80 but it can easily go up with the type of hem needed (at-the-waist, or at-the-bottom), the number of layers and type of fabric in the gown and the type of bottom finishing and decoration. Some gowns need crinoline slips that sometimes also need hemming. A hem alone can easily top $200. My average this year (2008) has been: $120.
Basic fitting in the bodice area is usually done at the side seams. Depending on how these are constructed it can be $60 to $80 to take them in or let them out. Gowns have been designed with extra corsets inside the lining lately. That adds more layers of seams that need to be delt 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 $100 easilly 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 $40 to $80 is not uncommon.
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.
After these 3 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. Lately, I have had several gowns that used only 2 points.
As mentioned above, I also offer a finishing service that includes steaming or pressing of the gown and veil. The charge for this depends on the gown. It starts at $80 for a very simple, one layer gown with little or no train and short, one layer veil. For a very full, multi-layer gown with long train and multi-layer, long veil the cost could reach $100. Veils are $20.
The grand total for most wedding gowns I have done this year (2008) has been in the $200 range. This doesn't include finishing services.
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.
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. Usually they are simpler and take less fussing, but the cost can still be a concern for bride's maids are already shelling out money to buy this dress they probably won't ever wear again. The same goes for mom's and flower girl's dresses. Alterations are always an unwanted added expense.
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