I brought my designer wedding gown in for alterations. This after looking at 4 other alteration places around town. 2 stated specifically that they altered wedding dresses. One was very expensive,(also a national wedding dress chain). Another was comparable in price but was also a dress boutique and I was unsure of their ability to work with the intricate fabric that my dress was made of. The 3rd was run by a smoker, no way. The 4th had a, for rent sign in the window, I didn't want to run the risk of leaving my dress and then having them close shop with my dress inside.
I checked out Willard's and right away I liked what I saw. They are a real professional shop. I read the reviews online. There are 3 positive ones and one negative there. So I decided to go take a look for myself. They have 3 seamstresses. They have a dressing room for you to change in and a 3 way mirror to check things out.
The seamstress wasn't sure about the best way to take in the back of my designer gown so the owner came out and did the pinning herself. I told her I wanted a bustle and she showed me a double bustle and I loved it. She noticed that there was a string where some of the beads had come off the dress and they restrung them for me without charge. I thought they would just remove the string but when the dress came back the packet of beads were opened and the beads were restrung.
I brought my dress in on Monday afternoon and it was finished on Thursday afternoon. My dress is made of a delicate lace with heavy beadwork with different colored and shaped beads,in a flower and leaf pattern over the entire dress. Their work was seamless. My dress fit me perfectly in the front but was very large in the back and they fixed this.
The price for the alteration was less than 1/4 of what the national chain wanted.
I highly recommend Willard's for the most complicated jobs. I will be bringing all of my alterations there from now on.
Pros: Worked on fabric with intricate beadwork all over it.
Cons: I didn't see any.
more