Your Rolling In Roses Fitting - what to expect

Photography by Zach & Grace for Love My Dress

So you have bagged your dream dress, but what happens next?

After you have chosen your dress and paid your 50% deposit we will get you booked in for your fitting, we normally advise anywhere between (no closer than) 2 months, ideally between 3 and 4 months before the big day. All Rolling In Roses fittings (unless ordered through a stockist) are held at RIR HQ, where you purchased your dress from. Your dress is made to order by Ellis and Sophie in the Boutique in York, each dress is made from start to finish and Ellis and Sophie know your name and your wedding date, they personally take care of every last detail, no faceless factories here. Your dress doesn’t leave the building until you walk away with the perfectly finished gown a few weeks before your wedding.

Fitting appointments are an hour long, sometimes it only takes 20 minutes but its nice to have the hour so you are not rushing any decisions, the fitting should be as relaxed as your initial dress appointment was. Fittings tend to take place in the smaller fitting room so we advise bringing 2 people with you for the fitting but if you would prefer to bring more people just drop us a mail before your appointment and we will try and accommodate. We can do fittings Wednesdays and Fridays most weeks, and book in one Saturday a month so it’s important if you can only do a Saturday to get it booked in as soon as possible after you have picked your dress. We can be flexible so just let us know when booking in your fitting if you are concerned about dates and times. Don’t forget to bring your underwear (bring a few options if you are unsure) a change in underwear can effect the fit so it is worth deciding on this at your fitting, and the same applies for shoes.

You’re all booked in, it’s getting a bit real now!

When you arrive for your fitting with Ellis she has spent weeks making & prepping your dress and it will be bagged up ready to be revealed. A few brides are surprised when they see their dress at their fitting as its pretty much made up at this point, just the hem is unhemmed which you will decide on shortly when you finalise your shoe choice. There are occasions when we have tacked a dress together if a bride is still a little unsure on a neckline etc but for most brides at this point your dress is looking pretty complete.

Ellis will then show you your dress and it’s time to try it on and have a really good swish around in your actual dress! You will know from your appointment that we make the dress to order in your closest dress size with any major adjustments done at construction stage, this includes building up backs and slashing necklines, all other adjustments are made at this point, your fitting. Once you have your dress on and have had time to admire its beauty Ellis will talk to you about adjustments, Ellis can advise on what areas she would suggest alterations but it’s also completely up to you what you would like adjusting too, armed with pins she will then start to pin you in.

Once you are happy with the pinning and the adjustments you have made it’s time to decide on a hem length. If you have brought along a few options of footwear it is at this point you need to make a decision about your shoes, once the hem is cut and stitched there is no going back. Ellis will pin and check you are happy with the length, we advise having it ever so slightly off the floor so that when you walk it will fall on your feet and not get tucked under your feet, but again the choice on length is completely yours.

Accessories

Pins aside your dress is looking pretty good and fits you perfectly, this is a great opportunity to decide on accessories. We have loads of veils, earrings, headpieces and belts for you to look at and try on, and please bring along any accessories you already have that you want to wear with our dress, we love collaborating with other brands so you won’t offend us by bringing another brands accessories with you.

Booking your pick up appointment

Before finishing your fitting appointment we like to get you booked in for a pick up appointment, this is normally booked in around 4 weeks before your wedding and is an opportunity to try the dress on one last time with your underwear, shoes, veil and all adjustments in place. There are very rarely any further amends to be made at this point and most brides will leave with their dress. We never let a bride leave without being 100% happy with their dress so if you have any concerns at this point just let us know and we will do our best to rectify them, this is the reason we like to leave 4 weeks just in case any further adjustments need to be made, all adjustments will be invoiced and will need to be paid at this point.

And just like that it’s all done and you are pretty much ready for the big day, we suggest that brides or parents storing the dress hang it up as soon as they get home in a dry space, and depending on fabric we would advise getting a good hand steamer in preparation for the big day, we can make some recommendations for this at your fitting. We can’t put into words how incredibly proud we are seeing your wedding photos so please send us some over after the wedding, it genuinely gives us so much joy seeing our dresses out in the wild. And thank you so much again for picking RIR.

Photography by Simone Franzel