Nile Bridal = Miracle workers
It is not hyperbole to say that Su and her team at Nile Bridal and Alterations saved my wedding. She transformed my wedding dress from an ill-fitting, painful-to-wear nightmare into the dress of my dreams on an impossibly tight timeline.
I had bought my dress and had alterations completed from a local salon. Throughout the alterations process, however, it became clear that the salon seamstress didn't understand how to alter the dress to best suit my body - the bodice gaped in the bust and the dress' boning dug into my rib cage. When I communicated these issues to the salon, I was told that this was the best they could do, and it was because of my body shape that the dress couldn't lay flat across my chest. When I took my dress home from the salon (after 4 fittings), I hated it, and I couldn't imagine wearing it all day on my wedding.
I met Su in early May when I brought her a few dresses I needed altered for my honeymoon. Immediately when I met her I was impressed by her understanding not only of her craft, but also of the female body (a key component of actually making a dress look good on a woman!). Su is a stickler for the perfect fit - when, for example, one of the dresses I brought in still seemed a little loose on one side (as it turns out, one of my shoulders sits a little lower than the other), she altered it on the spot, and then had me try it on again to make sure it was perfect.
It was during this impromptu second fitting of the honeymoon dress that I told her I wished she had done the alterations on my wedding gown (this was Friday, May 17 and I was leaving on Monday, May 20 for my destination wedding). Su asked what I meant, and I told her about my wedding alterations experience and showed her some pictures of my ill-fitting gown on my phone.
And she told me to come back that night with the dress.
I actually couldn't believe it - I mean, I'm leaving on Monday, what on earth could she do, right? But she was insistent that she wanted to look at it. So I drove home, loaded up my wedding dress, and headed back. When I arrived (at about 6pm) she had my try on the dress, and she just kind of... stared for a while. "I need to think," she said, and I stood there, quiet and very hopeful there was something, anything she could do. She had me take off the dress, and then she started pulling the top apart - taking off the bra cups (which I guess had been sewn in in such as a way that they couldn't actually cup and push up my bust), and pulling out tons and tons of wire. She put the dress on her dress form and started pinning it. When she was satisfied with how it looked, she had me put it on again.
And even with all the pins in it, and with the top stitching undone, it looked so much better. It sat flush against my skin, even when I moved my torso and arms. I could have walked down the aisle with the dress just like that, and I would have been so much happier than I had been even an hour before. The dress looked like the dress (sample) I had originally tried on and fell in love with. It was my dress.
We then started tweaking it - adding in different bra cups, lowering the mesh under the arms, pinning various pieces of organza. I was there until about 9:30. Su told me to go home and that she'd call me tomorrow late in the day (because she had her regularly scheduled fittings from 10-5). As I was leaving, I just felt so much lighter. It was as though an incredible pressure that been exerted on me had been lifted. I could feel my shoulders dropping and my chest expanding. It was almost dizzying. "You've just saved my wedding," I said, and I meant it.
Friday night, and Saturday, I just felt so happy. It's hard to adequately articulate the difference in my mood - from dreading the wedding to once again anticipating it, from feeling like everything was wrong and miserable and awful to everything being fun and exciting and new. There's really something to be said about being able to trust someone to do a good job because you trust that they're competent.
I went back on Saturday, May 18 and Su and her assistant Thuy continued to tailor the dress while I was there (do one thing, put the dress on, take the dress off, do something else - very time-consuming!). Each incremental change was a revelation - and as the ladies worked, and as the dress started to come together, I could -- finally!! - see myself getting married in this dress, could see myself dancing the night away in this dress.
And, on May 25, that's exactly what I did. :-) I happily wore the gown of my dreams to marry the man of my dreams. The dress fit perfectly, and it felt so comfortable and light. This is all the more incredible when you consider that Nile Bridal and Alterations had only 24 hours to effect this miracle, while also dealing with multiple other clients.
What makes Su so very exceptional is not only her work, which is immaculate, but also her immense compassion - it's possible that another seamstress could have fixed my dress (though maybe not in 24 hours!), but I can't think of another person who would have made the offer and truly meant it. I also really appreciate Su's body positivity - my body was never the problem (as it 'apparently' was at the salon), and instead, it was her job as the seamstress to figure out solutions to make the dress work for me. As any bride reading this will know, during the wedding planning process our bodies are constantly scrutinized and found wanting - we're never tall enough, thin enough, curvy enough, etc, etc. It was so nice to work with someone who made me feel beautiful! I'm also very happy to support a small business owned by woman - I'm a firm believer in patronizing locally owned businesses and helping to build a strong local economy.
Su is a consummate professional with an unparalleled degree of personableness and kindness. Her work is meticulous and also intelligent - her suggestions on how to alter garments to best fit reflects a deep understanding of their materials and construction. I will never bring my alterations anywhere else - I am a customer for life! Nile Bridal and Alterations has my highest recommendation.
(photo credit: Zekar Photography)