Altering a wedding dress: how many fittings you need and when to plan them

Why alteration is not a formality

A ready dress from a catalogue is made to a standard size grid, and every bride's figure is her own. Even when the measurements match exactly, the fit at the bust, the waist and the length almost always needs adjusting - that is normal, and it does not mean you chose the wrong design.

How many fittings to allow

• The first fitting - straight after the dress is made, or at the moment a ready dress is bought. We mark what needs taking in or letting out, and the length for your heels.
• The second fitting - two or three weeks later, after the first round of corrections. We check how the corset sits, how the zip or the lacing works, and the length of the train.
• The third and final fitting - one or two weeks before the wedding, in the underwear and shoes you will wear on the day. At this stage everything is judged: from how the hem lifts to how the dress behaves when you move and when you sit.

When to start the process

Best three or four months before the wedding if the dress is being made to order, and one to one and a half months if it is a ready design from a catalogue bought for alteration. Do not plan the final fitting closer than a week before the day: if your weight changes (which happens often before a wedding, from stress or dieting), there will be no time left to put it right.

What can be adjusted

• The measurements at bust, waist and hips - within one or two sizes.
• The length of the skirt and the train.
• How the straps sit and the depth of the neckline.
• How tightly the lacing or corset is set for a particular figure.

What is hard or impossible to change

• Changing the silhouette outright (turning a full skirt into a mermaid, say) - a bad idea in terms of cut and construction.
• Taking a dress in by more than two sizes - the fabric and the decoration start to distort.
• Letting out a dress with dense embroidery or beading - matching material almost always has to be bought in, and an exact match is not guaranteed.

Advice from FREYA

If you are hesitating between two sizes, take the larger one: removing fabric is always easier than adding it. And tell the maker in advance about plans to lose or gain weight before the date - it affects the fitting schedule.

Making a dress with several fittings to the figure from the very start is how we work at FREYA. More on wedding dresses made to order in St Petersburg is on the "Wedding dress made to order in St Petersburg" page.