Weddingbee boards

I just got back from my first wedding dress fitting, and the fittings for my two bridesmaids. The lady was nice, and she comes highly recommended. But when I got the final price I am totally floored! The dress alterations for two bridesmaids, and one wedding dress is $1,600. Which doesn't seem that insane with some dresses, but that is more than I spent on all three dresses combined. That is more than all of the dresses, the veil, the shoes, the undergarments, all of it. Half of that is for my dress, for it to be taken in and hemmed. No fancy bustle, no her custom making me crinoline, just the dress to be taken in and hemmed. Same with the two bridesmaids, just taken in and hemmed, nothing fancy. I am still in total shock though. Just WOW

She is really nice, very experienced, highly recommended by every bridal salon in the city. I mean, I am freaking out about the price....but I don't know what else to do.

I think that is way too much. I don't think I've ever heard of alterations being more than $500 for a wedding dress and that's for extensive stuff. I would definitely at least talk to someone else. It seems like this lady is taking advantage of a desperate bride!

Well here(Stockholm) they charge by the hour instead of the project. They make roughly $100 an hour. Her price is about the same as everyone else as for the hourly rate. I don't know how much time it takes to alter dresses, but I don't think 5 hours sounds insane, or 4 hours for the bridesmaid dresses. And someone that is experienced seems like they could do a good job faster than someone else? I thought of calling to cancle the two bridesmaid dresses, then just find a family friend that isn't an expert since their dresses are simple. My dress has beads and a corseted bodice. I didn't want to leave my bridesmaids to just "figure it out" with less than a month to the wedding.