Well, I didn't ever really have a final fitting. Pics below are from when I finally got to try it on at Mum's, but the saga leading up to it has left me very stressed and I need to get this off my chest.
Rewind to last summer. I chose my dress, assisted by a fantastic bridal consultant called Jenny. Due to the cost of the dress I was offered a free BM dress. I explained I am marrying abroad, with no friends/family, and so didn't need a BM dress. However, Jenny persuaded me to have one anyway (my best friend was with me) which my friend could wear to our reception. So my friend chose and ordered one. At the same appt I asked about alterations, and said I would need the train taking off, hem shortening, and sleeves added. Jenny said that I could have a one off alterations cost of £175 for everything I needed doing. It was expensive, but I knew I'd want lots of changes made to the dress, so I adjusted my budget so we could afford it. Crucially, nothing about the cost of alterations was written on the agreement with the shop, but Jenny assured me it would all be fine.
December 2011, the dress comes in. And it fits perfectly apart from the length. I am happy. Jenny says I need to arrange alterations from about May/June. At this point I pay for the dress in full.
Early June, and I go for my first alterations fitting. The seamstress isn't there, she had to cancel last minute. Jenny asks if I want to wear a bra with the dress or have cups sewn in. I opt for cups. She then asks if I want the bodice nipped in a little at the top, and I said, well, OK, it doesn't need it, but if she thinks it's best then OK. New appt is made with seamstress for the following week.
Fitting 2, and no Jenny and no seamstress. The shop owner is there instead. She says she will pin the hem of my dress to the right length and get it tacked by the seamstress for my next fitting. Cups have been tacked in and are fine, but the bodice now gives me back fat. I'm told there's nothing that can be done about that. Re-make appt for seamstress since I also needed to discuss lightening the weight of the dress by taking out some underskirts.
Fitting 3. FMIL comes with me. The dress is hanging up and has developed a stain on the back which I'm told not to worry about. Despite saying I couldn't have a train and needed it taking off, they had taken about 6 inches off a 5ft train. Oh, and the hem is tacked but nowhere near straight. Shop owner again is there alone. She unpicks all the tacking and re-tacks it. At this appt I am told the seamstress has cancer and therefore can't meet me. Of course I am sympathetic yet still need someone to sort my dress. Has the shop found a replacement? No. They assure me that the poorly lady will do my dress, but deep down I wish they'd find someone else so poorly lady can rest/get better etc and I get my dress done.
Fitting 4. Mum comes with me. Finally the train has been cut off and the skirts lightened. Shop owner says that she will mock up the detachable sleeves I want and get the seamstress to make them. I ask for pleated chiffon to match the bodice of the dress, and mention that maybe a lining will be needed to support the pleats. Shop owner says it will probably be OK without lining. Fair enough.
Mid July: I get an email saying my alterations are complete, my dress is ready to collect, and I owe them £350ish. I mail back saying there must be a mistake and we had agreed £175. Shop owner replies saying I would never have been offered that. I tell her to speak to Jenny because it was all agreed. Next day she mails back saying that Jenny did indeed make that offer but shouldn't have, because I was given a free BM dress "instead" and if I had both offers they would be out of pocket. I reiterated that, with no actual BM, I wouldn't even have had a dress had they not persuaded me to, and that it was hardly my fault they had offered me too much. I added that as a businesswoman myself, if I offer a client a price that is too low, by mistake, I have to honour it regardless of the consequences for myself. At this point shop owner says "maybe we can agree on £260". Errr no. I ask where she expects me to get the extra £85 from 3 weeks before I get married? The next email from shop owner says that the alterations "agreed" only covered the hem, train and sleeves, yet I also had bodice and bust cup alterations. So I reply that again, I was offered these on the understanding that all alterations were a fixed price, that I had no problem in wearing a bra, and that after the bodice was altered it gave me back fat! She then asks for £230. 2 days of arguing later and the dress has ceased to be anything special. I really don't care about it. I will marry OH in tshirt and shorts if it comes to it.
OH sees how little I care about the dress now, and calls the shop. He says that OK, the alterations aren't paid for, but the dress is, and legally it is mine. He goes to the shop with £200 cash while I'm at work and tells them that's all we're prepared to pay. Spitefully, the shop then take out the bust cups before handing over the dress. (Very very pointless since the time/effort in removing them surely cost them extra work - cups themselves are only £7 a pair in John Lewis!)
Monday 30th July: I finally get to see the dress when I take it in its bad to Mum's to try on. And I'm so unhappy. The "sleeves" are shoddily made, no pleats in the chiffon. VERY ugly gathered seams right across the shoulders (no need for any seams to be there), no backing fabric to support the shape. If I arrange them right, one movement and they fall off my shoulders. The only way they don't fall is to wear them as thick straps, yet the whole point of having them made is to stop my shoulders being uncovered in front of the priest. I wasn't brought up to be immodest in front of a minister of religion, yet now I'm being forced to do just that. Oh, and to top it all, they weren't finished off correctly, there were stray cotton threads everywhere that Mum had to tidy up, and whereas the dress is ivory, all the alterations have been stitched in white.
I'm well aware that only I know about the problems, and no-one else will care. Yet for £1375 for dress and alterations, I feel completely ripped off. Who knows if the seamstress ever did any work herself? I never saw her, and certainly the "sleeves" aren't the work of a professional. I have emailed the shop again expressing my disappointment in what they have done, but with 3 days before we fly, there's nothing that can be done now.
Anyway, the dress:
