Does it cost money to get fitted for a brides maids dress?

Question

A friend of mine is getting married in about 8 months. She wants me to go to my first dress fitting 2 weeks after i have my child. I plan on losing A LOT of weight in the next 8 months. I think it's pointless to go to the first fitting because i know i'll be nowhere near that size. Plus doesn't this cost money to have to keep getting alterations? Or does the seamstress not sew anything until the last fitting?

Answer 1

As a professional seamstress who designs and makes wedding gowns and who used to work in a bridal shop doing alterations...........



I will tell you that knowing you just had a baby, I would not even take you in for a fitting at this point because your body will change, for absolute certainty. Two weeks after a baby is born is not the time for a fitting, not even close, since the wedding is 8 months away. I would want to see you 6 weeks before the wedding if I were doing your alterations. Maybe 8 weeks prior if you were not local.



Yes, a fitting means the seamstress is pinning to alter the dress as pinned. If you come back after the fitting and the alterations and you have lost more weight, prompting another fitting and pinning, that means there will be another alteration, and an additional expense for having to do the work twice. Don't do that.



I do understand that the bride is anxious and wants to check things off of her list, but this is unreasonable to have a fitting two weeks when you have so much more time than that to get this dress fitted correctly the first time.



If it is an issue of location and travel time to a city or state far away, have the dress shipped to you and have an outside qualified seamstress do the alterations in your town. A private seamstress will charge you far less to alter a dress compared to a bridal shop as their prices are super duper inflated, I know that for sure.



I hope this has been helpful and will set your mind at ease. Think about what you want to do and then talk to the bride to calm her fears. She may just be anxious that you will have no time once the baby is older. If you do decide to use a local seamstress, find one before you call her to discuss this matter. If you have all of the answers, she will have a sigh of relief, I assure you that.



EDIT: My above answer was based on if your dress was already at the bridal shop and needed to be fitted to you. If you mean to ORDER the dress, two weeks after the baby is born, then go ahead and get measured and insist they order you a dress a size smaller -- which can be altered when it comes in and yes, you will have to pay for any and all alterations. There is no charge to get measured to order a dress as this is how they know which size to order.



If you live in a distant city, a bridal shop in your city will measure you and forward those measurements to your friend's bridal shop and there will be a charge for that. You need to figure out if the travel time with your baby, the gas and all that is worth the trip or if it is easier to get measured locally. Hope this covers it all.

Answer 2

Do you mean getting a fitting or getting measurements for the dresses to be ordered?



If you mean to get fitted for alterations, it is ridiculous to get fitted for a dress in October for a wedding that isn't even until next June...new baby or not. That's just silly. Of course, if you decline, you'll probably be labeled as the "uncooperative bridesmaid" even though there is no legitimate reason for you to have a fitting 2 weeks after you had a baby for a wedding 8 months in the future.



When I got married, I only had 2 fittings. The first one was about 6 weeks before my wedding. I took my dress to a local seamstress and she pinned my dress where I needed alterations. Then about 4 weeks later I went back and tried my dress on. It fit perfectly...no additional alterations were needed. All of my bridesmaids had their dresses altered by their own local seamstresses and didn't need to have alterations done more than once. They all had their alterations done a little more than a month before the wedding.

Answer 3

8 months is WAY to early to be fitted for a dress.... it seems to early to even order a dress simply because you may need a different size by then... I think if the alterations person knew that it was 8 months away they would advise you to wait. And yes, it does cost money every time. AND the more you play with the dress the more chance you have for it to be messed up. Does not sound like a good idea to me.

Answer 4

The fitting (getting measured) is free, but yes, the alterations cost money.



Just tell her that you know the first fitting she has planned won't be accurate for your size, and you'll go on your own a couple months later to order your dress so that it will be closer to the right size. Once your dress comes in, you can have it further taken in if necessary, since almost every dress needs some alterations after it arrives.

Answer 5

Getting fitted shouldn't cost you anything, its the alterations that cost you money.



I am guessing that she is sending you in to get fitted so they can get your measurements to order your dress. Sometimes getting the dress you ordered can take several months, that is why she wants you to get in, so they can fit and order your dress.



You won't need to start getting alterations until a month or two before the wedding. Go in, get fitted, explain that you just had a baby, see what size they suggest you order. Don't order too small down though, loosing that baby weight isn't always as easy as you think it will be.

Answer 6

Ask the bride. All these things are the bride's option and how she made the deal with the dress shop.Usually they may do a fitting free the first time but not a second unless it's the bride or she asks them and they agree...I think you need to just ask her and explain...that's a lot especially if you are having a baby and traveling is involved. Don't be shy and afraid to ask. She should be happy to tell you and find out for you for herself as well. :) Have fun and congratulations on the baby!

Answer 7

If it's not covered under the bride's "umbrella," then they don't charge for fittings. They charge for alterations. Since you will not have lost the weight, I would let them know you plan on losing weight. Perhaps they will only do the length.

Answer 8

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Answer 9

It shouldn't cost you any money because usually the cost for bridemaids fittings is covered in the price for the bride to get fitted. Have fun at the wedding :)