Wedding Dress Alterations Disaster or Should I Say, Potential Disaster

For all brides who have trusted the lady who sold them their wedding dress - this story is definitely for you. As I mentioned in my last post, my gown is a little snug around the hips. This past month I have been working out and eating light in an effort to loosen the dress up around my thighs a bit. As is the case with many woman and definitely the case with me, my body likes to store up little extras in the thigh/hip/backside region. If things worked the way they were meant to work (in my perfect world) - my body would be happy to get rid of that extra baggage first. But NO!!! I lose my weight in my upper body first, especially my face and arms leaving me (in my opinion) extremely disproportionate to my lower half.

When I posted the last blog, I felt confident that I would be able to lose a little weight in time to allow my dress to lay flat and fit properly. The fabric is a silk chiffon - so it bunches up when it's a little snug and that is really distracting, in my opinion. When I left Priscilla of Boston the last time, I felt confident that my alterations lady would be able to work her magic and that the dress would fit and we would be good to go. But my concern was heightened yesterday when I received a voicemail from her asking me to call her back. The connection was really bad so I could barely understand who she was or what she was saying on the voicemail that she left. So I called back the last number just to find out. A lady answered, "Priscilla of Boston," - so I connected the dots and realized it must have been my alterations lady. She transferred me to my alterations gal who hurriedly explained a couple of things, non of which I could understand until I heard her ask, "have you lost any weight?" That I heard and understood as clear as night and day. All I could think about was, she must be extra concerned, why else would she be asking? I told her that I had been toning up and that it was hard to say if I'd lost weight per say but perhaps I had lost an inch or a little less (which is more relevant to the dress fitting, wouldn't you think?) She didn't say anything, so I continued to assure her (for some strange reason I felt that I needed to - shouldn't the tables have been flipped in this situation) that I had barely ate anything and that I definitely had not gained weight.

The next topic she brought up was that of her manager calling all over town to the other couture boutiques to find my dress in a size larger. This officially set me into panic mode - why is her manager stressing out - if there is give in the inseam (which is what she told me last time), what's the big deal. So I asked my alterations lady about that and it turns out there is less than 1 inch of fabric to help them loosen it up a bit. Noticing that I was beginning to get worried, she tried to reassure me. She said that she would go to the store and get fabric and they could remake the skirt. Well, I know this is going to sound pretty high maintenance - but I hated this idea! I paid extra to have a couture gown and I went to Priscilla of Boston because I heard that they are experts in the business and would make sure the appropriate size was chosen for me based on my measurements. My alterations lady started saying something about the woman who took my measurements (mentioned in the last story) and it sounded like she was blaming her a bit. Towards the end of the conversation I asked her, why did you call me to ask me these things before my fitting today? To that she replied, I was just calling to see if we could reschedule for an hour later - apparently her shift had changed and she wanted to make sure she was the one helping me out because she had worked for me before. That was very thoughtful of her - now if only we could have avoided the entire first half of the conversation, I wouldn't currently be dreading my appointment to try on my dress this afternoon. To make things even worse, my friend who was supposed to go with me is not feeling well so I might be all alone in this.

One thing I know for sure, if things get a little emotional this afternoon - I am dialing my Bestie, Jordyn, one of my two MOH, and she is going to help me get this sorted. She used to work in one of the fanciest bridal boutiques in Orange County - I'm sure she can help me understand what the situation is and help me work through this with the manager and alterations lady. Stay tuned for part II - after the appointment this afternoon....