The Perfect Fit: Avenia’s In-House Alterations Studio
~by Nancy
Over the years, I have worked in a variety of bridal shops that had different ways of handling their alterations. Many shops outsourced their contract work, and in today’s market, it has become the norm for shops to rely on seamstresses who are willing to come into the store to pick up the alterations, take them home, and then return them. This is mostly due to cost; it is cheaper to outsource alterations. However, because of this, shops do not train their own staff and are not able to control the quality of the workmanship.
I once worked in a bridal shop that practiced this idea of outsourcing. Bridal fittings were not as accurate, attention to detail was not executed, and the overall workmanship of alterations was poor. Although I needed the job, I decided that I could not work in an environment that paid such little attention to the customer –the bride.
This is why at Avenía Bridal we have our own in-house alterations studio! It was of up-most importance to have a place where we could have a team of highly skilled and dedicated seamstresses who could work on site. We train our own people, and the shop provides all the machines and fabrics so that quality is never compromised. Because the studio is on-site, not only am I able to watch the work happen, and can assure that it happens beautifully, but I am able to sew many of the projects.
The ability to oversee the alteration work is very important because our overall goal is to create a memory for the bride that she will always treasure and not look back on with regret. In order to do this, the time must be taken to make sure the gown fits properly. This means alterations are often a necessity, and having an on-site alteration stuido gives us the sources to create a perfect fit for each individual bride.
Next Friday: Meet Avenía Bridal’s Seamstresses!