Wedding dress alterations: the timeline that works

Six to eight weeks before the wedding is the sweet spot for a first fitting. Your weight is unlikely to change dramatically, but there's comfortable time for even complex work — bodice reshaping, multi-layer hems, a bustle.

Bring your wedding shoes and the underwear or shapewear you'll wear on the day. Both change how the dress sits, and we pin everything around them.

Two to three weeks later, you'll try the dress with the main alterations complete. This is where we refine: a hem levelled by a few millimetres, a strap eased, the bustle tested so someone in your party can learn to hook it.

One to two weeks before the day, the dress should fit perfectly and need nothing. You collect it pressed, bagged and ready. We schedule this close to the wedding deliberately, so the fit reflects you on the day itself.

If your timeline is shorter than any of this, don't panic — contact us. Rush bridal work is something we handle regularly; the earlier we see the dress, the more we can do.