Wedding Dress Alterations: Your Ultimate Guide To Getting What You Want

For many brides and grooms who plan their weddings, it can often be an endurance test of rescheduling, downsizing and making those dreaded wedding dress alterations to your once-dreamy wedding dress. Some might see it as the one thing they don’t have to worry about, having bought it in good time for their original wedding last year, while others might be looking at theirs with new eyes and thinking, ‘Is this still me?’.

If it’s simply a matter of fit, a good tailor will do the trick. For anything more extensive, some of the best wedding dress shops in London - along with most bridal designers - are prepared to offer wedding dress alterations, whether the change has to do with size or with style. From the addition of sleeves to the removal of trains, there are countless ways to alter a gown to suit the preferences of the bride.

At Halfpenny London, Kate Halfpenny has taken on extra seamstresses to accommodate the number of brides who are seeking wedding dress alterations. ‘It’s natural that bodies change and people’s visions too,’ she says, adding, ‘So many couples have to postpone their weddings, some of over a year or more, and have now decided to go all out with their look, adding capes or veils or one of our delicious overskirts.’

At Katya Katya, brides have been changing the sleeves on their dresses to create long-sleeved wedding dresses, perhaps because they were planning to marry in summer and are going to get married in winter. And if the venue has changed entirely, the brand has another solution up its sleeve. ‘We also have a skirt overlay to add some drama to dresses if brides have opted for a grander venue. Or sometimes it’s quite the opposite, when they have changed their wedding to a more intimate setting. We have been removing trains to create a more simple wedding dress,’ says Marina Kvasova, Katya Katya’s managing director.

All of these wedding dress alterations can be taken care of in-house by their tailor. ‘We understand that brides plan their weddings in much shorter periods now and we want to make sure that their dress is perfect for any occasion, no matter what.’

And after the big day wraps, more brides seem to want to alter their dress for life post-wedding. At Blake Ida, a made-to-measure bridalwear brand that also offers a bespoke design service, founder Carrie Matthews has noticed that people want to extend the life of their dress so that it isn’t just a one hit wonder. Not only are more brides gravitating towards dresses that aren’t floor-length, but, ‘people are increasingly interested in having wedding dress alterations afterwards so they can wear it again,’ says Matthews, who is also starting a service to dye people’s dresses after the wedding itself.