ALTERATIONS & CLEANING
ALTERATIONS:
Belsy's Tailoring (High Bridge, NJ)
REVIEW - SpillerExtraordinaire: Used May/June 2010. Under $100. Belsey is just a small shop
and I wanted to find something close to my parents house and didn't
know of anything. She did a good job since the dress needed to be
taken in about 2 inches on either side. I was very nervous since I
only was supposed to have one fitting put she did a good job. It was
tight at the bust (I had a strapless dress) so I had a bit of back
muffin top which I wasn't entirely happy about. But it I was concerned
about falling out of the dress which is why I think she made it tighter
than it should have been. Also, I had pleats on my dress which in
some places didn't match up perfectly but no one could notice other
than me.
David's Bridal (various U.S. locations)
REVIEW - flochan07: I went to the New Brunswick Branch for my alterations simply because the drive was a mere 15 minutes away from home versus nearly an hour to the Springfield Branch. I had a single point bustle put in by the seamstress which was completed to my satisfaction but that was about it. Since we bought the gown brand new from the Springfield branch and had not altered it at any other location, David’s bridal was obligated to fix any problems with the dress (ie – beading that was beginning to unravel from the border) since the dress was literally straight from the factory. My mother and I had pointed out numerous items to fix but these were never completed. Ultimately, these were fixed by my mom and I since I didn’t have enough time to bring back the dress. I would not recommend this branch for alterations.
Hollywood Bridal (Kenilworth, NJ)
REVIEW - N/A: July 2011 wedding. Both mothers purchased their dresses at stores where they didn’t trust the alterations department. Hollywood Bridal was recommended on this board as a great place to go for alterations and I’m so grateful for the recommendation as the women in the store were beyond nice and they really did an amazing job with two very different dresses that required more than just basic alterations.
REVIEW - N/A: May 2011. My FMIL purchased her dress from David's Bridal, but because we had heard so many horror stories about their alterations department I did some asking around on The Knot and decided to bring her to Hollywood Bridal. I was concerned that we wouldn't get very good service only because the dress was from another store and it was clearly a not-too-great-quality dress. I couldn't have been more wrong, though! They treated my FMIL like every other customer they had in their store, they were incredibly nice and patient, and the atmosphere of the store as a whole was just very pleasant. A couple weeks later when my FMIL went to pick up her dress she called me up and was thrilled with all they had done AND the price for which they did it! The dress had to be shortened a good 8 inches or so and the bottom hem looks like it was never even touched (that's how well they hemmed it) and we provided them with fabric to make straps on her strapless dress and they came out better than either of us could have ever expected! They truly know what they're doing in their alterations department and I can honestly say that they treat each and every customer/dress (whether you bought your dress from them or not) with the utmost care and concern. I'd definitely recommend them to anyone in need of alterations!
REVIEW - smw42: October 2010 wedding. Worked with Maria and Angela mainly, but everyone was wonderful. $175 for bridal alterations, $245 or preservation, $175 for BM gowns with alt. I cannot say enough good things about Hollywood Bridal. They saved my
gown and my sanity, as well as keeping the costs down. Preservation
(while it did take a while) was seamless and I was very happy with the
end results. Everything was great and I recommend them to everyone.
Sylvia's Tailoring (Metuchen, NJ)
WEBSITE
REVIEW: August 2011. B-:
Sylvia did an absolutley fantastic job with my dress! It was way to long and way to big in general for me and when she was done with it, it looked like it was made for me! My only complaint is that she was a little flaky with her appointments I made a few appointments that she had forgotten to write in her calendar and then had to reschedule, it was a little bit of a pain but all in all my dress came out perfectly so I was happy!
REVIEW: August 2011. B-:
Sylvia did an absolutley fantastic job with my dress! It was way to long and way to big in general for me and when she was done with it, it looked like it was made for me! My only complaint is that she was a little flaky with her appointments I made a few appointments that she had forgotten to write in her calendar and then had to reschedule, it was a little bit of a pain but all in all my dress came out perfectly so I was happy!
CLEANING:
Madison Dry Cleaners - Spotswood, NJ
REVIEW- mbcdefg: August 201. My wedding gown needed a desperate cleaning after my wedding. It was filthy from the photos in the muddy park, and apparently someone had spilled red wine on it at some point during the reception. I took my wedding gown to Madison Dry Cleaners, and when I got the dress back from Madison a short time later it was perfectly clean and good as new. I was amazed that they could get those stains out. I got kind, prompt service. Highly recommended!
Restoration:
Ann Hamilton -- Veil Restoration NYC
WEBSITEREVIEW - McJays: November 2011. Ann did an amazing job restoring my Mom's mantilla-style lace veil from the 70's. She was able to update the headpiece, remove the blusher, and clean up the lace, all for a fraction of the price it would have cost me to buy a new, similar veil.