I went to the Altered Bride last August and was treated wonderfully. I wanted to alter a full-skirted, strapless, lace gown into a tea-length dress with an illusion neckline. The woman assisting me assured me that this could be done easily and even brought in the seamstress who showed me swatches of french netting and repeated the assurance that this wouldn't be a problem. The dress did not arrive until January, and this was after I had called repeatedly about its arrival and had received vague answers. When I tried on the gown (two good friends were with me), I mentioned to the seamstress what I wanted altered. When I mentioned the neckline, she stopped and said, no, this would be quite difficult and expensive to do. She then quoted me over $900 for these alterations. If I had known that my $2200 gown would require that much more in alterations, I would have ordered one closer to my specifications. When I complained to the receptionist, she asked me if I had been unaware that my gown would require alterations since it was not a custom order. The seamstress laughed when I told her I had expected to pay only around $400-500 for these special alterations. I felt humiliated and insulted by the employees. I paid for the rest of the gown and took it home, uncertain of what to do. Angry at my experience at a supposedly well-reviewed place, I wrote them a letter. The owner offered to help with alterations for the gown that I would ultimately select, although there was no indication of my receiving a discount. She also offered a free veil for my troubles. When I went into the store, which clearly has beautiful accessories, the receptionist showed me old sample veils, some of which had clearly been tried on a few times. I chose a very simple one, biting my tongue about them adding insult to injury, and left the store. I know the markups of even simple veils can be quite expensive, but this one's netting was clearly of inferior quality. I felt so stupid and embarrassed by my experience at the Altered Bride. I was married in June in a beautiful Vera Wang silk organza gown purchased a Vows in Newton, a bridal outlet, and I'm still trying to sell this other dress. I wish the Altered Bride had been more honest about its prices and services, particularly since I had been interested in making significant changes to the gown. If they had even indicated the difficulty of adding an illusion neckline, I would have been more cautious about throwing down a $1100 deposit. Furthermore, two weeks after I bought the gown Boston had its tax-free weekend (I was new to the area and unaware of it). It wouldn't have cost them anything, and it would have been courteous and friendly of them to mention this opportunity to save a couple hundred dollars. I'm sure other brides have been happy with their Altered Bride experience, but don't be lulled into complacency no matter where you ultimately buy your dress.
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