How Much Can You Take in a Wedding Dress?

If your wedding gown is too large, it will be necessary to alter it by taking in the fabric to ensure a better fit. But to what extent can a wedding dress be taken in? Continue reading this article for detailed information.

Finding the perfect size of the designer wedding gown is a very hard job. That is because these dresses don’t come in a lot of sizes. Most of the time, the wedding dress are made bigger so that a larger number of brides the dress suitable for them. So, if you find a dress bigger, then you can keep it to fit by alteration.

How much you can take in a wedding dress will depend on a lot of factors including the wedding dress style, fabric, and some other things. In the below paragraphs, we will let you know generally how much a wedding dress can be take in.

How Much Can You Take in a Wedding Dress?

In case you don’t know, take in is the process of making the wedding dress smaller when it is bigger than your size. There is another related term which is Take out. Take out is the complete opposite of taking in. Take out means making the dress bigger when it is very tight on your body. Usually, taking in the wedding dress is pretty easy compared to take it out. You can take in the dress and take out it up to a certain level.

As we said earlier, how much you can take in or take out the dress will depend on the particular dress. However, in general, you can alter a wedding dress to make it two sizes bigger or smaller. Sometimes, the wedding dress can be taken in up to several more sizes based on its style, fabric, and other details. You should consult an expert seamstress to find out how much size you can alter the wedding dress.

Based on your body measurement, if the size requires less taking in, the seamstress can do this without cutting the dress. If it requires to be altered three sizes or more, the seamstress might require cutting it. The good news is it’s pretty easy to take in the dress and even a beginner seamstress can do this efficiently. However, you need to still be aware while selecting the seamstress as there can be complex designs and patterns.

Taking in a dress so much can also destroy its integrity and it might not look as elegant as it was before. So, be aware while you are taking in the dress to three sizes or more. Make use of a good seamstress to get the best performance.

How Much It Cost to Take in a Wedding Dress?

How much the alteration will cost depend on a lot of things. It will vary on the fabric of the wedding gown as well as the design, details, and complexity. Moreover, it will also vary based on your location and the specific seamstress you are picking for this job. The more talented and expert seamstress will ask for a bigger amount where the local and less experienced can do this at less amount.

But if your wedding dress only requires taking in, then you don’t need to worry much. That is because taking in the dress is usually the cheapest alteration work as it is very easy. The cost of taking in the side of the dress will be around $35 to $50. When the dress is flat, it will be easier for the seamstress and it will cost less. If there are details or complex patterns on the sides, then it might cost more.

Note that you might require some other alterations with this which may increase the overall alteration charge. Apart from taking out the dress, you might need to hem it, add a bra cup, add a neckline, customize the shoulder, strap, belt, bustle, steaming, etc. They all will cost you different amounts of money. Considering all the alterations, the average alteration cost is around $350 to $600 which can go up to $1000 based on the dress.

When Should You go For Alteration?

It is very important to go for altering the dress as soon as possible. This will make sure that you are going to get the dress at the right time. The timeframe of alteration will depend on the range of the work or how much alteration it will require. Some dress might require fewer works while other can require more. If you only require taking in or taking out the dress, it will not require much time.

Taking in or taking out can be done in less than 1 week. However as there can be other alteration works, you should go to the seamstress as soon as you get the dress. In the USA, it is a common practice to purchase the wedding dress six to eight-month prior. So, consider the seamstress for altering around six months earlier.

As you will want the best alteration to assure the elegance of the dress, you must offer enough time to the seamstress for the work. Of course, they can do this faster by overworking. But the dress will never be perfect in such cases. Furthermore, you will require paying more as the seamstress will add an extra fee for the quick turnaround time.

The wedding experts recommend going to the seamstress around 3 to 6 months prior to the wedding. The seamstress will return the dress as soon as it is done. You will require going through three to four appointments to find the perfect fit for the dress. If you have any specific preference for the wedding dress alteration, make sure to let the seamstress know about it in the very first appointment.

Conclusion

As we discussed above, you can take in a wedding dress of around two to three sizes. More sizes might be taken in based on the details of the dress and fabric. Taking in the dress usually requires around one week and it will cost you around $35 or a bit more based on some factors.

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