Specialize in Bridal Fitting & Wedding Dress Alterations

Have you been wondering how much your wedding gown alterations are going to cost? This is a problem that every bride faces as they pick up their gorgeous wedding dress from the bridal boutique and then need to trust someone to take scissors and a needle to their gown to make it fit like a glove! While every bridal seamstress or tailor will charge a little differently, you can expect the same type of pricing if shopping correctly. One thing you should understand as a bride however is that you DO NOT HAVE TO USE the seamstress or tailor that your bridal boutique suggests. You have options. As a good consumer you should at least look into those options. You did just spend endless hours looking for the perfect wedding gown didn’t you? Why would you just trust the first person that has a pair of scissors to work on your treasured wedding dress then?

Common Wedding Gown Alterations and Cost:  ————– ( Price based on 2018 )

The hem (the bottom) : average cost :  $120-$200
The bottom of your bridal gown will almost always need to be shortened. As such the hem is many times much more complicated than it looks. You may see some plastic webbing around the bottom, or feel it in the dress. This is called horsebraid or horsehair, and as a result of that little bit of plastic your price is higher. Have more layers with it? You will be charged more. Have a layer of lace on your bridal gown down there? Yep, the price goes up with that. Is the bottom of your wedding dress beaded? Guess what, the price goes up even more… So what does an average bridal hem cost? From our experience you can estimate $120-$200.

The sides $50-$100
Many times brides need the wedding dress taken in at the sides. Don’t be mad at your bridal boutique for ordering a size too big though as you wouldn’t want to be stuck with a bridal gown that was too small, would you? Again, lace and beading will increase the amount that taking in the sides of your wedding dress will cost. Additionally, most places charge for how much they need to take the wedding dress in, whether it is just in the bust area, the hips, or along the entire seam… So what does is the average cost for taking in the sides on your bridal gown? From our experience you can estimate anywhere from $50-$100.

The bustle (picking the back of the bridal gown off the floor so you can bust a move on the dance floor!) $55-$95
If you have a train a bustle is needed. This is where we see many seamstresses make the most profit as they put an insane number of bustles into wedding gowns. In our experience you should rarely need more than 6 or 7 bustle points, but we have seen as many as 35 in a wedding gown. Can you imagine having your friend or mother under your dress trying to decipher 35 bustle points? Neither can we… So what is the average price for a bustle on a wedding dress? From our experience you can expect to pay $55-$95, but beware, many seamstresses will push that number as high as $250. This is something to ask about!

The cups (if you aren’t wearing a bra) – $20-$30
Cups are one of those things that almost all brides want in their wedding dresses, but rarely think about before their bridal alterations appointment. The cost to put cups in will vary slightly but you can pretty much expect to pay in the $20-$30 range.

So, in final you may be still wondering… what will the cost of MY bridal alterations be?

From our experience in San Antonio, TX  you can expect to pay somewhere between $250-$450 for your bridal gown alterations. Designer bridal gowns with lace, beading, and complicated hem lines may be more.