Wedding gown alterations are an essential part of your wedding day preparation. By tailoring your wedding gown to fit your body you are ensuring that you feel and look your absolute best on your wedding day.
For over 30 years Bridal Alterations Brisbane has been creating the perfect fit for hundreds of brides from all over South-East Queensland. We offer full wedding gown alteration services as well as wedding gown customisation. Our team of highly skilled professionals are the number one choice to have you looking your absolute best on your wedding day. Whether you need a hem taken up, a bra built into your gown or you want to change the design of your gown with the addition or subtraction of sleeves, lace or beading - we are the team to make your wedding day look perfectly complete.
Image by Amelia Fullerton
Why do I need to alter my wedding dress?
Fit is everything, which is why when it comes to your wedding dress, alterations are also everything. A well-fitted gown should support and shape the bust, accentuate and complement your body's shape, and be long enough to cover the shoes but not so long that the skirt becomes a tripping hazard - the last thing you need on your special day is to deal with a wardrobe malfunction. . Every ready to wear gown will require some alteration - no matter how small the detail, it makes a world of difference to the appearance of your wedding gown. You may require a number of fittings to achieve the perfect fit, so please book in for your alterations consultation at least 6 weeks before your wedding date.
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The most common alteration we do is adjusting the length of the hem so you can walk with ease down the aisle. Whether you have a slip style dress, a multi layered ball gown, or a detailed lace gown, our seamstress’s have great experience with all styles.
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For dresses that sit a little too tight or loose, the best way to fit the dress to form is to alter from the sides. This can be just a little at various points from under the arm all the way down to the hem, or the whole length of your body depending on your unique dress and shape.
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The bustle is a little adjustment that helps lift and secures the train from trailing out behind you, it functions to give you freedom to move amongst your loved ones when you choose.
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Whether your straps are on the shoulder and structural, or off the shoulder and decorative, having your straps adjusted to the right length will make a remarkable effect to the look, fit, and feel of your gown.
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If taking the dress in from the sides does not suit your dress, we may have alternative points we can adjust. This could be altering the length of your bodice, creating darts, and adjusting bust seams. We will work with you and discuss the options available for your dress to find the best solution to make your dress fit perfectly.
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The fit of your dress to your bust is a very important aspect of alterations. Adding cups can add the structure needed to give the dress a fuller feminine form and give you the comfort and security you need on your wedding day.
Trusted by
"We have been working with Ella and her team at Bridal Alterations Brisbane for over 8 years as our preferred seamstress. The team pride themselves in consistently offering a competitively priced, quality service and the work is always completed immaculately. We value the relationship we have with Bridal Alterations Brisbane and look forward to referring many more White Lily brides to them in the future!"
ALERA KINGHAM / WHITE LILY COUTURE
“I had such an amazing experience receiving my alterations. The girls were so lovely and caring with a great attention to detail. My dress fit perfectly on the day and I felt confident and comfortable.”
SARAH C / BRIDE
Frequently Asked Questions
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Our most common alterations are bodice adjustments (either taken in or let out), bust adjustments, shoulder straps, the hem line, and bustles.
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Yes, we do! We often do customisations in the form of sleeves, overskirts, adding lace, adding splits and much more! We recommend giving us a call or email regarding your unique customisations; so we can go over topics such as style, fabric choice and extra time it may require. We have a limited range of fabric here at our store, so it may be that you will need to acquire fabric from your dress designer directly. Inspiration photos of the customisation and seeing your wedding dress will often help us find the best option for the look your after with the dress you have.
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This depends on the dress. The most straight forward alterations require only two appointments, initial fitting and then the pickup appointment (which we book with you during the initial fitting). We ideally leave two weeks between pick up and the wedding date/travel date as to allow time should another appointment be required.
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The average amount of time to do alterations is 4 weeks. We like to have the final pick-up appointment two weeks before the wedding, that way if there’s any adjustments that need to be made, we still have time.
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For your appointment you will need to bring your exact wedding shoes (substitutes, even with the same heel height are not recommended), any shapewear you plan on wearing, or accessories such as the veil that may affect the fit or look of your dress.
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We can only alter the hem to match one particular pair of shoes, usually the pair you will be getting your photos taken in. Please be aware that the difference in the shoes, even if slight will affect where the hem line sits in relation to the floor. If your second pair are a lot shorter in height than the first, then the hem line may come under your feet as you walk or dance.
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Yes. We need to see you 6 weeks before the date you leave for the wedding.
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Yes, we often do express alterations. However, we recommend calling in to check availability.
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Yes, we often do express alterations for brides who must fly into Brisbane for their alterations. You will need to be able to stay in Brisbane for at least three weekdays and have time for multiple alteration appointments. We recommend calling in to check availability for this express service.
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At every appointment we need you to try on your dress to make sure of the fit, and you feel comfortable and happy with the outcome.
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While you can organise another person to pick up your dress, we don’t recommend it. When you pick the dress up yourself you will have the opportunity to try the dress on and make sure the dress is fitting you perfectly before collection.
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We steam the dress as we are working on it as needed, but we do not steam the dress to be “ready to wear” as creases occur from travel and storage in the garment bag.
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Usually, we recommend steaming the dress the day of the wedding if you are having an afternoon wedding. Allow plenty of time to steam the dress as the thickness and volume of fabric can take time to remove creases. If you are unfamiliar with steaming, we recommend contacting your wedding venue to enquire if they have a steaming service available.
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We strongly recommend buying a dress as close as possible to your size, but bigger is better than smaller. Very large differences will ultimately change the structure of the design and will not always look like the original dress.
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Depending on the style and the fit of your dress depends how much it can be altered or if we need to do major works on the dress to make it fit. We always recommend going on the larger side of your size if you’re between sizes as it’s much easier to take a dress in and not always possible to let a dress out.
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Yes, any change to your body will have an impact on the fit of your dress. Please advise us of any planned changes to help us achieve the perfect fit of your dress. We can offer you an express service closer to your wedding date to accommodate any dramatic changes, we recommend this for brides who are in the later stages of pregnancy.
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It is our priority to see our brides leave here happy and satisfied! At each appointment you will try on the dress, during this time it is essential that you let us know how you are feeling and if there are any issues with the alterations so we can fix them as quickly as possible. We are here to help!
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The bustle is a small alteration to assist lifting the majority of the train from the floor. Depending on your style of dress, we have different bustle options. The bustle is a useful aspect of alterations, yet it is fragile, and we recommend taking care while in use, and not to sit on or put unnecessary strain on the bustle.