Dress Drama

[diadiamond]

Hi Brides!

 

I apologize in advance for the rant, but I just feel like I need to let it out to people who understand.

 

I bought my wedding dress second-hand in September, 2014.  It was a gorgeous dress that is satin, A-Line, corset back with just the right amount of beading!  I fell in love with the dress and the price ($300) and it had never been worn!  Although it didn't quite fit, I took the plunge and bought it confident that if I lost a bit of weight and had it altered it would fit perfectly.  

 

I tried to lose the weight, but I ended up gaining weight instead, it turned out that I was suffering from PCOS (Polycystic ovarian syndrome).  It's been almost impossible for me to lose weight =(  I'm now on birth control pills and I'm happy to at least be maintaining my weight instead of gaining.  

 

Anyways, I took my dress to get altered this past weekend and the seamstress told me that the dress was way to small for me.  I knew I had gained weight, but I didn't feel a difference, my clothes still fit the same.  I'm 5'10' and a pear shape (small bust and bigger in the hips).  The seamstress said that she would have to add material and couldn't guarantee that the dress would look the same (she said that the material she would add might be a shade or two off!) and that she couldn't replicate the beading on my dress (so I would have a plain patch of dress with no beading at the back) after being quoted more than $500 for the alterations alone I decided to think about my options before paying to have my dress altered.  

 

I was in LOVE with my old dress and couldn't picture myself wearing anything else.  I was devastated and had a major break down!  Especially since there's about two months till my wedding!    

 

I made an appointment at David's Bridal since they have a sale going on and amazing plus size wedding gowns.  My consultant was AMAZING and the experience was everything I hoped it would be.  I ended up spending about $820.00 on a gorgeous lace, ivory sheath dress with beading.  I also got a belt and a plain veil.  Now I'm super over-budget on my dress for the day, but I do love my new dress more than the old one.

 

Has anyone else gone through anything similar?   

[TinkerSofi]

Hey I'm so sorry you're going through this. I know how stressful and discouraging it is to go in and find out that the dress you love is no longer an option. 

 

Have you thought about selling your old dress? After all it's unused and unaltered and you might be able to get some of that money back to help out with the budget. Another idea, and I know this isn't for everyone, but even trying to sell your new dress after the wedding. That would mean you're over budget now but you'll be ok after everything is said and done. It's a very personal choice though as some brides really cannot see themselves parting from their dress. 

 

Otherwise I'd try to see if there's any other areas where you might be able to cut costs. For example, if you're doing OOT bags you can eliminate them completely or make them simpler. That can free up quite a bit of money. (I'm sorry, I don't remember from your thread if you've already bought things for them or not). 

 

Other times, at least in our case, we kind of stretched the budget a little on things that we thought were worth it haha, in my opinion attire for the two of you is worth it . 

 

Good luck!

[calgarybride2015]

Awe hun I am so sorry to hear what you have went thru.

 

I hate to admit this, but I feel that maybe your seamstress was inexperienced!!!   The only reason I say this is because I had my dress taken out twice and she had to replicate the bead work and you couldn't even tell she touched it.  I understand if they have to add more material the shades could be off (but you would think she would find one that matched) but not being able to duplicate the bead work shocks me!!!  I had spoken to a few seamstress' and none had any concern over replicating. I guess it's quite common.

 

Why did I have to have my dress taken out you ask?  Well, I was misinformed at David's Bridal. Well I believe I was.  When I tried on the dress in the store it fit like a glove. I was over the moon I would have to have NO work done except a bustle and a hem.  Well I got it in May and when it arrived I was like 'what'  It did up but it was super snug.  I lost some weight, did my thing, and it just never felt the same.  When I brought it in for alterations the lady basically was like 'I don't want to do this up or I will blow the zipper' LOL!!   I called David's Bridal and they re looked at all my measurements and said they would have done the same size -- apparently you can tell I would need to have it taken out in the back, but she said that if I had gotten the size up I would have needed extensive alterations, so taking it out some was easier and cheaper.  OK BUT NOONE TOLD ME THAT!!!      So that's my story!  (there is the full story in my planning thread somewhere)

 

I am so glad you were able to find a dress that you love, even if it is over budget a bit.  I think once you got all that work done on the old dress you would probably have paid more!!  So this is probably just for the best.  Less stress about worrying if you will fit into it or not.  I cried a lot worried my dress wouldn't do up in Mexico!!  Not worth the stress my dear.

 

I agree with @@TinkerSofi that you should definitely try to sell your original dress and even your new dress if you didn't want to hold on it. I have been thinking about selling mine but I honestly don't want to spend the money to clean it, because I know I can't get that money back! I may sell it super cheap but they have to clean it themselves.

 

Can't wait to see your new dress.

Edited July 15, 2015 by calgarybride2015

[TinkerSofi]

@@calgarybride2015 That's exactly what I thought when I read the post. I remembered your dress and how they had to replicate the beading. I thought it was strange for a seamstress to say that they couldn't do it.  

 

From my experience, even when my dress didn't close, they offered to change the back from a zipper to a corset and the lady at the store reassured me it would not be a problem to have the color matched or anything like that. I didn't need it in the end, but they let the bodice out a little bit at the hips because it was destroying my obliques hahah. I honestly can't tell where that was done, and it's full of beading too. With that said, I did pay $300 for the alterations, which, for a $500 dress might be quite a bit, and it ends up being about the same price as your new dress. In the end I think you made the right choice. It is a lot less stressful to have a dress that you know fits instead of stressing about a dress that might fit. Trust me, the last few months come with enough stress as it is. I can't wait to see the new one! Please post pictures soon! 

[KatieMcBride]

Damn, that sucks! I'm sorry to hear!! But in the end, it looks like you found a dress you love more, so that's a positive!! I would definitely try to sell the dress second hand. Even if you don't get back what you paid, any little bit helps, right? And if you love your new dress, I think it's worth it if you can afford it.  Maybe just cut back on some areas that aren't super important (ie: decorations for example?)

[diadiamond]

Thanks for all the feedback ladies!  I've already bought pretty much everything for the wedding, so at this point I'm not sure what I can cut back on.  I am hoping to sell the dress and at least make something for it.  The seamstress said she had 30 years of experience, and I took her word for it.  I'm really happy about my new dress, but I should have taken it to another seamstress for a second opinion.  

 

I'm glad to know that I'm definitely not alone and that there are other women out there that had a similar experience with their dresses.

 

I feel so much better after reading all of your supportive posts =)

[diadiamond]

@@diadiamond I'm in a VERY similar situation. I purchased a dress for $750 and I actually bought the sample size which was a few sizes too small. I should've been more logical, but I was excited, I loved it and it was an amazing deal. Once I got closer to the wedding I had a change of heart because the dress was small and I got worried that I wouldn't fit into it. It was stressing me out. I decided to try to sell it and I looked at other dresses.

I went to a dress appointment at Felichia in Toronto and I fell in love with a dress over my budget. I ended up purchasing it ($1800 later). Now i'm freaking out because I still have my old dress to sell. I'm SOOOO stressed out about it right now.

 

 

Good luck to you and I hope you are able to sell yours. I know exactly how you feel since i'm in the same boat.

 

Thanks for sharing your story hun!  I'm glad to know that I'm not alone.  I'm hoping that I'll be able to sell mine.  I'm nervous because I bought it second hand to begin with and I'm not sure if brides will be iffy about that.  I'm sure you'll be able to sell yours.  You might not get exactly what you paid for it.  When I bought my old dress second-hand the woman who sold it told me she originally paid $1,100.00, for it, but wasn't able to get a buyer (me) until she dropped it down to $300.00.