Alterations by Dawn

My first bridal gown fitting took place at Dawn’s home. A month later for the second fitting I arrived at Dawn’s house and she was not home. I knew she worked at a nearby bridal shop so I thought to drive over there. She was there and said she had confused my dress for one from that shop and thought the appointment would be there (which makes no sense because I did not buy my dress at that store). I felt very awkward because I was not a customer. She asked one of the other ladies to lace me up into the dress and she had a lot of trouble and then told me to wait for Dawn. I asked her if everything was OK with it and she said yes, but I could tell something was off. Dawn finally came over she stuffed me into the dress. I had concerns about the fit but she assured me that it was supposed to fit that way. 2 weeks later (2 weeks before my wedding) I tried the dress on at my sister’s. There was no way she could get me into the dress. I immediately called Dawn and left her a message. I also called my bridal shop and they called me back right way and gave me the number of a seamstress they work with. Dawn didn’t return my call for a day and a half. When she did, she left a message to call her back if I wanted to make an appointment. I had the appointment already with the other seamstress for the next morning and couldn’t cancel at that point. And I am so glad that I didn’t cancel! This time I took my sister with. The seamstress was shocked that another seamstress would tell me that the way that dress was on my actually «fit» properly. She found many other issues with the dress as well… crooked bustle, cups outside the dress (should have been inside the dress), hand stitching (should have been machine stitched), crooked stitches, too short hem… the list goes on. I hadn’t noticed things given I felt so rushed in the store during the second fitting. I called Dawn right away with these issues first thing the next day but she never called me back. Instead she sent me an email refuting everything I told her and said I didn’t «give her a chance» to fix the mistakes. If it was just the fit that was wrong with the dress I would not have been upset with Dawn at all but it was all of other issues and the way the problems were handled that I was very disappointed with. She also said in her email that she would refund me $ 100 dollars but never did. Even worse, she called my sister (she was also working on her MOH dress) instead of me and asked if she still wanted the work done since I was so unhappy, but never called me. The only positive things I can say was she did do nice beading work to the back of my dress. It was a terrible experience and I do not wish it on anyone else. Maybe Dawn was having an off day when she was working on my dress but it’s not worth the risk with your precious bridal gown.

I was looking to see if Dawn was still around, as I think I couldn’t find her a few years ago for a friend.
Dawn did my alterations on my wedding gown in 2003. I had heard about her on some of the bridal message boards.
Everything you’ve read anywhere is true. She is a delight to work with, has very reasonable rates and can turn things around FAST if needed.
I used to live in Shepherdstown and have a business in Hagerstown. If I need any formal alterations in the future, I’ll be heading up H-​town way!
So glad to see you’re still «local» Dawn!