Realistically how much can a wedding dress be altered?

The shop I bought mine from told me as a general rule of thumb they could take it in by 2 sizes, or let it out by one size. I guess it depends on the level of detail on the dress too though.

Depends on the dress - mine couldnt really be taken in as a lot of the detail was down the sides, but a really good seamstress should be able to alter it at least one size I should think. I did Cambridge as well before my wedding and you can expect to lose about a stone a month so depending on your size now, you may be surprised and not need to have the size altered

Realistically anything can be altered by a skilled seamstress.

The big question is, which is very much going to depend on the type of dress, is how much its going to cost you?

You may find that with the amount of work, it may be prohibitive.

I once brought a lovely antique coat, that was way to big for me, but I loved it, on recieving some crazy quotes, a couple of seamstresses were nice enough to explain and show me in detail, just how much work it was, and I was suprised at everything that was involved to keep the shape.

I was told 2 dress sizes is about the most you can take my style of dress in before you start to spoil the detail.

WSS! mines being taken in 4sizes and the shop said its common enough!!

Ooo bugger I'm aiming to lose at least 3 dress sizes (fingers crossed) I think I may have come down one size already as I've lost 7 cms from my waist. My dress was ordered in January the size I was at the time, to be on the safe side! ?