A reason brides give · 41 accounts · updated September 2026
The Alterations Bill Nobody Warned Her About
The second invoice, arriving after the decision was already made. 41 brides here describe it, at a median $875 where they said what they paid. Another 2 name the same thing and still say they have no regret.
What brides describe
Every account filed under this reason, dearest first, with what she paid, when she wrote and what she did about it.
| Paid | When | What she did | The account |
|---|---|---|---|
| C$5,000 | After the wedding | Kept it and wore it | Spent over $5,000, then used the local small-town seamstress rather than driving to the city. The dress was effectively ruined, the wedding day was stressful and the sleeves were never given back. |
| A$4,000 | Before the wedding | Still deciding | Rush-ordered a Maggie Sottero, got a size 18, paid $1000 to take it in, then unrequested boning changed the shape. Wedding in 19 days, backups ordered, says she regrets entering a bridal store at all. |
| $3,000 | Before the wedding | Had it altered or remade | Three months of repeated alterations rounds costing $1500 because the shop ordered three to four sizes too big; her hips are wider than her bust so the gown flares at the waist. |
| $2,700 | Not stated | Had it altered or remade | Happy enough with a $2,700 dress but not with Kleinfeld's flat $1,000 alterations, which she thinks were not worth it and were done by a seamstress with no eye for the look she wanted. |
| $2,600 | Before the wedding | Had it altered or remade | 2,600 gown on a 2,500 budget, then 1,500 in alterations after an 8-month wait, a 20 lb weight loss and custom sleeves. She defends the bill as unavoidable. |
| $2,000 | Before the wedding | Kept it and wore it | Just under 2000 with tax, shipping and prepaid cleaning, then a 950 alterations quote that shocked her; at nearly 3000 for one wearing she has days of regret and hopes the finished fit justifies it. |
| $1,700 | Before the wedding | Kept it and wore it | Her mother paid 1700 for the gown and 700 for alterations against her own 500 budget; she says she would never have bought it knowing the tailoring cost and is unsure how she will feel after the day. |
| $1,500 | Not stated | Kept it and wore it | Thought a 1500 off-the-rack gown near her size was a win until alterations came to 1200; says she might have picked a different style knowing that. |
| $1,300 | Before the wedding | Had it altered or remade | A 600 sample-sale gown has run close to 1300 in alterations for a bustle, sides and three hem layers, plus 180 to let it out after weight gain; she loves the dress but would undo the spend. |
| $1,200 | Not stated | Kept it and wore it | Was shocked that a hem plus a slight take-in at the waist came to 1200 in alterations with nothing complicated done |
| $1,100 | After the wedding | Had it altered or remade | Talked into a size 12 while wearing a 6 to 8, which turned into an 1100 alterations bill; she feels cheated rather than guilty. |
| $1,100 | After the wedding | Kept it and wore it | A Casablanca 2232 bought off the rack at 30 percent off for 1100 with a 30 Amazon veil; she was fine with the gown price but the 580 alterations bill upset her even though her mother paid it. |
| $950 | Before the wedding | Had it altered or remade | Ordered the gown in her measured size and still paid 950 in alterations, floored by 230 for the under bustle and 110 for ironing on top of hips, straps, cups and hem. |
| $950 | After the wedding | Kept it and wore it | 890 in alterations on a 950 secondhand gown, charged 60 per skirt layer, and the reworked bodice cut into her back and armpits all day. |
| $900 | Before the wedding | Had it altered or remade | At 4 feet 10 she is paying 900 to alter an 800 David's Bridal gown, since the whole dress is being reconstructed with added lace over the deep front and back V. |
| $900 | Before the wedding | Had it altered or remade | A 900 gown drew a 750 bill for a bustle, hem and taking in the waist, and she says she regrets the choice now the invoice has landed. |
| $900 | Not stated | Had it altered or remade | Bought a 2900 Oleg Cassini gown on clearance at 900 and then paid 1200 in alterations alone, which felt extreme to someone who otherwise only buys thrifted clothes. |
| $850 | Not stated | Had it altered or remade | Paid 850 to have a lace gown fitted to her body plus hem, cups, boning and bustle; she went through with it but says spending another dress's worth stings. |
| $800 | Not stated | Kept it and wore it | Her $800 sample sale gown ran another $1,500 in alterations, which she describes as a shock even though she kept the dress |
| $760 | After the wedding | Had it altered or remade | Bought a 200 reception dress she now thinks was unnecessary and a 2200 gown for redwoods honeymoon photos; her firmest regret is the 760 alterations bill at a chain bridal store. |
| $750 | After the wedding | Had it altered or remade | Her measurements matched the designer's chart almost exactly and she still paid 750 for a bustle, cups, straps and letting out the hips, more than heavier alterations have cost her elsewhere. |
| £750 | Before the wedding | Had it altered or remade | £750 and four months with a tailor her bridal shop recommended; only the hem is right, the sleeves and neckline are wrong, her spare fabric was binned and she is now with a new seamstress and claiming. |
| $700 | Not stated | Had it altered or remade | Bought a sample at half price for 700, then cleaning, pressing and alterations came to another 700, pushing her past the 1000 she had planned to spend. |
| C$650 | Before the wedding | Had it altered or remade | A 675 David's Bridal gown drew a 650 alterations quote for shoulders, a three-layer chiffon hem and a bustle; she went alone, felt cornered and agreed on the spot, then asked whether it was normal. |
| $650 | Before the wedding | Kept it and wore it | Loves the 650 charity-shop sample but found out after buying that the bust take-in was quoted over 800; decided to wear it unaltered for the ceremony with sticky inserts and change into a traditional dress for |
| $600 | Before the wedding | Had it altered or remade | 600 gown plus about 500 in alterations kept her inside a 1k target, but she is annoyed the tailoring nearly matched the dress; she still loves it. |
| $600 | Not stated | Kept it and wore it | Agrees with the boutique owner's whole list but says her alterations still came to $600, which stung |
| $600 | After the wedding | Had it altered or remade | Her own alterations came to 600 just to shorten the length, which she raises as the hidden cost behind any gown price. |
| C$600 | Before the wedding | Had it altered or remade | Loves the poofy gown but paid 550 CAD just to hem eight layers, close to the 600 CAD she paid for it. |
| $575 | Before the wedding | Still deciding | Sticker shock at a quote just over 1000, with 575 of it to take in a bodice that already fits decently. Deposit paid, so switching shops is off the table; she is deciding whether to drop the bodice work. |
| $500 | After the wedding | Had it altered or remade | Was content to pay 500 for the gown but paying another 550 for alterations was what hurt. |
| $500 | Not stated | Kept it and wore it | Her $500 gown came with a $550 alterations bill, which is the whole content of her warning. |
| $400 | Before the wedding | Had it altered or remade | Measured across three sizes and bought the largest on the shop's advice; her alterations came to just under 400, and only about half of that covered the standard hem and strap shortening. |
| $250 | Before the wedding | Bought a second dress | The $250 dress needed far more alteration money than she would spend, and it made her feel like she was standing in a box, so she bought a $2,500 gown instead. |
| $180 | Not stated | Had it altered or remade | Kept the $180 Azazie try-on dress at a discount and then spent about $200 getting it altered over five weeks. Sews herself and rates the quality fine. |
| – | After the wedding | Had it altered or remade | Both daughters bought at David's Bridal; the younger tried a size 2 that fit but a size 4 was ordered, and taking it down cost $800. |
| – | Not stated | Kept it and wore it | Found her dress at a second-hand shop, new but out of season, and then got hit by a very expensive alterations bill |
| – | After the wedding | Had it altered or remade | Final-sale gown said to need only small adjustments cost close to three times the dress price across two seamstresses; the second refused a sticky bra and sewed cups in |
| – | Not stated | Kept it and wore it | Went in with the same save-on-the-dress plan, calls her own choice a mistake and blames the alterations bill she could not see coming. |
| – | After the wedding | Kept it and wore it | Went way over budget because of alterations plus cleaning rather than the dress itself. |
| – | Not stated | Had it altered or remade | Lost a lot of weight after buying and had her gown taken in three sizes; the cost blindsided her and nobody had warned her. |
The same reason, without the regret
2 brides name this same thing and still say they have no regret about the dress. Read against the table above, this is the useful half: the same situation that ended differently.
| Paid | When | What she did | The account |
|---|---|---|---|
| $2,500 | Before the wedding | Had it altered or remade | Spent the top of her budget and loved the gown until a tailor quoted $2,800 to alter it, more than she had planned to spend in total. A different tailor charged $800 and the regret disappeared. |
| £550 | After the wedding | Kept it and wore it | Sometimes wondered whether she should have gone elsewhere for the 550 pound alterations, but once the final dress came back she thought it was all worth it. |
What they did next
| What she did | Brides |
|---|---|
| Had it altered or remade | 24 |
| Kept it and wore it | 14 |
| Still deciding | 2 |
| Bought a second dress | 1 |
What they tell the next bride
- Do not let a shop keep re-cutting a gown it ordered too big, and skip the bridal salon entirely if you only wanted a small wedding.
- Leave the review once the wedding is over so the next bride knows.
- Get two or three quotes before you agree to anything; do not accept the first number in the fitting room.
- Budget for a second dress's worth of tailoring if the gown is lace and needs to be molded to you.
- If you are petite, expect the gown to be rebuilt rather than adjusted, and price that in before you buy.
- Do not treat a sample-sale bargain as the final cost, and hold your weight steady once fittings start.
- Ordering in your own size does not spare you the bill; an under bustle alone can run over 200.
- Lace and beading mean hand removal and reattachment; that is what pushes an in-size gown to several hundred.
- Get the alterations quote before you commit; she would not have bought the gown had she known.
- Buy the cheapest comfortable dress you do not hate, research the seamstress hard, and put the money into a veil and shoes you can reuse.
- Check the size actually written on the order if the sample fits perfectly.
- A cheap secondhand gown is not a cheap gown until you have priced the alterations
- Get a second opinion without guilt even if the first seamstress is a family friend; it is your dress
- Choose a gown with stretch so it needs less tailoring, and do not assume a flat-rate alterations package buys skill.
- If the site does made-to-measure at no extra charge, take it; her alterations cost more than the dress did.
- Skip the extra reception dress and think twice about chain-store alterations.
- Budget for alterations from the start; they can cost more than the dress itself.
- Save on the gown: alterations are an unknown until it is too late and can outrun the dress itself.
- Cancel while you still can if the sale felt pressured, and remember the hem alone can run into the hundreds.
- With a complicated gown, use the shop's in-house seamstress even at a premium; nobody else knows the construction.
- Wait until they alter it before you decide you are on budget.
- Cost the bra cups, hem layers and bustle before you celebrate a clearance price; the tailoring can outrun the gown.
- Get a written alterations quote before you commit to a gown
- Set the gown budget below your ceiling because alterations land on top; a hem and a small take-in still ran four figures
Questions
How common is this?
41 of the 917 brides here who describe regret or mixed feelings name this as the reason. Another 2 name the same thing and say they have no regret about the dress anyway, which is the more useful comparison.
When does it come up?
17 of these accounts were written before the wedding and 11 afterwards. Before and after are different problems: doubt before the day is usually comparison, and what survives the day is money and compromise. The split is set out on the regret page.
What did brides do about it?
Most kept the dress. 24 had it altered or remade, 14 kept it and wore it, 2 still deciding, 1 bought a second dress.
Is it normal to regret your wedding dress right after buying it?
Several brides report the same thing unprompted: one felt it within a couple of days of ordering and went back to the boutique, one still regrets her choice five years later, and regulars say regret posts appear multiple times a day in this sub. It is very common here: several said they panicked after ordering and then fell back in love with the gown, while two rebought, including one who replaced a $2,700 dress with a $400 one.
how do i stop second-guessing my wedding dress
Stop browsing other gowns online, and go back to the shop to try yours on again. Repeat browsing is named as the thing feeding the doubt. Stop looking at inspiration. The brides traced her doubt to California elopement content that skews very casual, and brides told her to get off social media and ask instead whether the dress makes her feel beautiful.
Should I try on wedding dresses above my budget?
Repeatedly called the cardinal rule of dress shopping: do not. The brides only put this one on to look at the back and ended up in tears in the mirror, which some brides read as the shop steering her toward a bigger sale. No. Brides repeatedly warn that stylists pull above-budget gowns and you fall for them; state a hard limit up front. One bride who gave a 1,200 budget was shown only gowns under it and paid 950.
does wedding dress regret go away
For the brides answering here it did. One had major regret a week out and now loves her photos; another wound up with something quite different from her vision and reports zero regret. the bride who asked later confirmed she was happy at pickup. For this bride it did completely. She wrote in a panic months before the wedding, wore the same dress, and came back afterwards saying she felt like a princess in it and was glad she had been talked off the ledge.
can you negotiate the price of a wedding dress at a bridal shop
brides say to ask the shop to meet you halfway or to sell it at your stated budget, and to ring other shops that carry the same gown to compare. The worst outcome is a no. Some brides did: one always asks for 10% off by citing another shop, one haggled a consignment gown to 500, and a shop honored a written misquote so a 10,000-plus gown sold for 6,000; a discontinued floor sample went for 50% off.
should I buy a second wedding dress if I regret the first
Everyone here who did says it was worth it, and the one bride who stuck with her regret dress still feels bummed looking at her photos. The caveat brides add is to pay for it outside the wedding fund rather than eating into other vendors. This bride did: she bought a $300 replacement, compared the two side by side and went with the new one for her barn wedding.
Sources
Price reports on this page come from 31 public discussions where brides answered in their own words. Each comment that stated an amount became one row; notes are paraphrased, never quoted.
Discussions used on this page (31)
- 2025-01: Wedding dress regret (368 comments)
- 2024-11: Does anyone regret starting out at David’s Bridal? (241 comments)
- 2023-12: How much did you spend on your wedding dress? Did you regret it? (210 comments)
- 2025-09: Where are y’all finding low cost dresses? Budget <$2k (196 comments)
- 2026-02: Buyers remorse wedding dress $1800 (182 comments)
- 2025-11: I’m a bridal boutique owner | Here are the most common mistakes I see brides make ($2k) (149 comments)
- 2026-06: Part 2. Major Wedding Dress Regret (127 comments)
- 2025-08: Do you regret getting an expensive wedding dress? (123 comments)
- 2026-03: How much is too much for a wedding dress? In your personal opinion. (117 comments)
- 2026-08: ($20k) Cannot afford to alter dress, will a bra that adds 2 cup sizes save me? (103 comments)
- 2026-04: Feeling sad, fell in love with a dress I can’t afford (98 comments)
- 2019-07: Your dress budget: goal vs reality (98 comments)
- 2024-03: Does my dress fit well enough as is, or does it need $575 worth of additional alterations to take it in? (92 comments)
- 2026-03: Under $1k dress, but does this look cheap? (79 comments)
- 2025-01: Affordable dresses other than David's bridal? (77 comments)
- 2025-08: (10k budget) Are ready to wear dresses that bad? (73 comments)
- 2018-05: how much is too much for a wedding dress? (71 comments)
- 2025-05: $7000 wedding dress, worth it or not? (63 comments)
- 2023-03: My wedding dress has turned into an expensive disaster and I don’t know what to do (58 comments)
- 2026-08: Wedding dress tailor charged me £750, kept my dress for months, threw away my spare fabric and I ended up paying just to get it back. What would you do? (56 comments)
- 2026-08: Does anyone else feel guilty about how much they spent on their wedding dress? (56 comments)
- 2026-08: (<$10k) Pretty Princess on a Budget: how to get a dress? (54 comments)
- 2018-09: How much did you spend total on your wedding dress after alterations and was it worth it? (52 comments)
- 2024-06: Brides who spent more than they budgeted for their dress, do you regret it? (41 comments)
- 2026-04: Those who spent a couple thousand on your wedding dresses - Was it worth it? (38 comments)
- 2026-01: Save or splurge on the dress??!! What is your opinion? (37 comments)
- 2026-02: Bought my dress today! Did anyone else end up going way over budget? (37 comments)
- 2026-01: Dress alterations/costs after weight loss? (25 comments)
- 2026-05: Offered dress over budget (20 comments)
- 2025-01: wedding dress shopping: budget vs. actual cost (18 comments)
- 2023-05: My alterations cost as much as my dress.. someone tell me it's worth it please 😭 (14 comments)