A wedding professional who specializes in custom made wedding dresses and alterations tells the story about the bride who came to her three weeks before the wedding for some "minor alterations".

The bride searched for a wedding dress since her engagement. All the dresses she saw either weren't what she wanted or they were way too expensive. After weeks of searching, imagine her surprise when she found the dress of her dreams for one-third its original price. She tried it on and thought with some minor alterations, it would fit perfectly. She purchased the dress on the spot and carefully placed it in her guest closet for safekeeping.

"Scratch that off my list," she thought. Feeling very lucky, and she went about planning other details of her wedding. A month before the wedding, she called the seamstress to make an appointment for a fitting.

A week later, she proudly carried the gown still wrapped in plastic into the fitting room. She tried the dress on and loved it every bit as much as the day she bought it. Her elation quickly evaporated when the seamstress said, "Dear, we have a problem. The front of your dress is a different shade than the back." Turns out theThe dress was on sale because it had been in the bridal shop's window for months, yellowing in the sun.

MORAL OF THE STORY:
If it seems too good to be true, it probably is!

TIP:
Whenever you purchase an "off the rack" or discounted wedding dress, take it to your seamstress immediately. What may seem like minor alterations can create a host of problems when alterations begin. You'll want to know that up front while there is still time to return the dress if there's a severe problem. This, of course, holds true when purchasing either a wedding gown or bridesmaids dresses at consignment shops.

Recently we've heard some stories of brides purchasing their wedding gowns on the web. Approach this option with extreme caution. It's difficult to know exactly what you're getting - you can't feel the material, determine exactly how it drapes, etc. Sizing is also a problem with dresses purchased on line. A cocktail dress in size 8 does not correlate with a size 8 wedding gown. If you decide to purchase your dress on the web, in spite of our cautions, schedule a fitting with your seamstress immediately following its delivery.