Wedding Dress Alterations
Often not something that is thought about during the initial excitement of planning a wedding but certainly something you as a bride to be need to be aware of as part of your dress shopping journey and your budget.
You may have seen from our FAQ’s that we do not have an in house alterations service. This was a conscious decision when starting Eva Joyce and another area where we wanted to be different than other bridal stores out there. Here are the reasons why we think this works so much better.
designing your own dress
Here at Eva Joyce during your appointment your stylist will help you find your personal bridal style. This may sound strange and you may be asking “Well aren’t they helping me find my dress?”. The answer is yes they are but your dream dress may not have been designed yet!! For example you may love everything about one of the beautiful dresses in our collection but may want to add full length lace sleeves. Or the neckline might be too low for you…the list goes on. During your appointment your stylist will show you how we can create your perfect dress and make it for you! This all means that when it comes to the stage where your wedding dress needs alterations there shouldn’t be as many needed. This is something that very few bridal stores offer purely because they have in stock dresses created by other designers and there are only so many changes that can be made to those dresses. As we said this does not mean that your dress will need no alterations because every bridal gown ever made needs some kind of last minute finishing touches.
What alterations will i need?
Like we said ALL dresses need some form of alterations. This is because although you are able to have a say in small design changes to create your dream dress no wedding dress unless fully bespoke is made to your exact measurements. What we mean is, once you have said yes to your dream dress our stylist will then take some of your measurements in order for us to start making your gown. These measurements are then placed with our size chart and we order the gown that comes closest to these measurements.
Why don't we do made to measure?
This is a great question and has a simple answer. Cost! Each of our designs once created has a pattern cut in each size on our size chart. If we were to re-cut each pattern for every dress ordered to create a made to measure gown the prices of our dresses would have to go up by quite a lot. The other reason is that as women our body size fluctuates so being able to order a rough size and have tweaks closer to your wedding date is much more flexible. This is also the same for the length of each dress we allow you more time to choose your wedding shoes so that you can alter the length of your gown closer to the date.
The most common alterations:
Hem: The shortening of the front skirt of your dress to ensure you don’t trip or stand on it as you are walking. This is usually done from seam to seam and nothing is taken off the train of the dress.
Strap Adjustment: This is to ensure your dress sits in the right place on your body and that you are comfortable and supported.
Take In: This depending on the dress and how you would like it to fit could be only a slight adjustment. However if you find you have lost weight since your first measurements our dresses can be taken in by around two dress sizes.
Bustle: This is what lifts your train on your dress during your evening wedding celebrations. There are various different ways of achieving this but all gowns can be bustled to make moving around easier for you.
WHO WILL ALTER MY DRESS?
Because Eva Joyce believes in supporting local businesses we have chosen not to have our own in house alterations service. What we have done is research and find the most amazing local seamstresses that we are more than happy to recommend. Each seamstress has been chosen by us because they are incredible at what they do and are all local to the Halifax area so you do not have to travel far. We go through all the requirements you may need at your final fitting appointment. We can also communicate with any of these seamstresses to help you through your alterations process.
The other great advantage to using a seamstress not connected to a boutique is you will find more options on availability and dates. Stores that have in house alterations often wont let you come on a weekend for a fitting appointment as they need the shop floor for sales appointments. Our recommended seamstresses are much more flexible.
If you would like more information on alterations please contact our team today and they will happily talk you through in more detail:
01422 251847