I went to Laurel's purely on a recommendation by my MIL, no questions asked- I'm not completely sure if they were friends, friends-of-friends, or just simply knew of Laurel since Sierra Madre is a small town. My dress is a sleeveless, sheath dress with an A-line skirt, a lot of lace, beads, and sequins.
Timing- 4/5 stars- I went to Laurel's to get my wedding dress altered- about 6 months before the wedding. I went in for about 4 fittings, each of them were spaced 2-6 weeks apart. My final fitting was 2 weeks before the wedding and everything was completed in a timely manner so no complaints here. But sometimes I wondered why it took so long between fittings when it seemed like not very much had been done.
Attention to detail- 3/5 stars- I bought my gown off the rack so Laurel said she would fix the beading/sequins because many were loose and hanging off the dress, but she didn't. It was a minor detail but the loose beads were noticeable and it bothered me at the end of the day because she said she would fix them and did not. She also made it a point to mentioned the amount of time she spent on the beading to justify her high price even though she did not touch up the loose beads/sequins. For the most part, I agreed with her on her suggestions and she was mostly receptive to my input but not without arguing with me first (refer to professionalism/attitude section).
Pricing- 3/5 stars- she initially quoted me $200-$400 for the alterations which was a lot less than the place where I bought my dress (they wanted $600). I was honestly thinking it would be around $300 based on the alterations I needed but I'm not an expert. At the end of it, she charged me $450 (cash only) and I did not think it was worth it especially since my dress was $399+tax = about $433. The nice thing is she let me pay in "installments". Each time I came in for a fitting, I paid her $100 so it was nice not to have to pay it all upfront. The alterations I needed were:
1. Remove the train (I could've/should've done this myself)
2. Remove the bottom tier and shorten the hem of the lining. The skirt was 3 tiers, and by simply removing the bottom tier, the length was perfect (I could've/should've done this myself). The lining just needed to be shortened.
3. Take the dress in- I am a size 00 and my dress was a bridal size 8. It needed to be taken in from the back and front (bodice). This was probably the most difficult part but probably not $450 difficult.
4. Shorten the straps
Professionalism/Attitude- 1/5 stars- Laurel had a tendency to get snappy and scold me for the littlest things. For example, when she was pinning up the lining of the skirt, I was standing facing the mirror on the wooden stand thing. I was trying to be helpful so I turned 90 degrees so that the area she was pinning up was directly in front of her. It turns out what I did wasn't helpful and instead of just asking me to turn back to face the mirror, she snapped at me saying, "Why would you turn like that?!?!" It wasn't like I messed her up or made her prick her finger by turning so I didn't understand why she had to scold me. It was then that my MIL told me that Sierra Madre business owners are generally cranky people (thanks for telling me that after the fact) but that doesn't make it ok to be rude and snarky for no reason at all, which she did several times. Another thing she did that irked me was basically call me fat. When I bought my dress at the bridal salon, they clamped and pinned up the dress on me and it looked fabulous (specifically the booty and hips). Since I have more booty than boobies, I was hoping to recreate that fit with the alterations. So I told Laurel that I wanted to look sexy and I wanted it tighter around my hips/butt (but nothing like mermaid-dress tight). She said she didn't want to make it too tight because it might be difficult to sit down and it wouldn't be a good idea if I were to gain weight before the wedding. Now, I can see how she said that as a precaution because weight gain can happen, but I assured her that I wasn't going to gain any weight because I have been 5' and 95 pounds for the last 10 years and no amount of stress has ever caused me to gain weight. She didn't want to take my word on it so she basically ignored me. At the next fitting, I told her again that I wanted it tighter around my hips/butt but she still argued with me about the hypothetical weight gain possibility and didn't do what I asked her to. BTW I didn't gain any weight!
Bottom line- if you have ample time to spare (3+ months), patience and come to fittings prepared (shoes, hosiery, questions, money, etc.) things should go smoothly. Don't expect to be coddled. It'll be more like having your own conservative, cranky, judgmental mother doing the alterations instead of a professional. The shop smelled of cigarettes by luckily my dress didn't. Not outrageously expensive but more than what I expected to pay considering she didn't do everything I asked. read more