My Girl Bridal — Local services in Altoona

DO NOT go to this woman for alterations. Initially, talking to her on the phone sounded too good to be true, and unfortunately, I had to find out the hard way that it was. I went to her for alterations to by wedding gown.

I'll go into excruciating detail, but the moral of the story is, if I could give her less than 1 star, I would. She was unprofessional, unreliable, and quite frankly not very good at her job.

During the first visit, she seemed very nice and quickly fixed a few layers that needed fixed under the gown. She was then going to fix the bust and straps prior to our next visit. During our next visit, the straps were WAY too short and the dress was all crunched up in the back... clearly needed fixed which she then charged us for (thought it was her mistake).

During our 3rd visit, she told me she could get a veil for me at a less expensive price, so I put $40 down on a veil and she ordered it and also was going to work on the hem of my dress prior to our next visit. The dress was still not even close to being right after 3 visits.

During our 4th visit, she said that she could not get the right colored veil in, and she told me that I needed to get a veil somewhere else (with only 2 months until my wedding). The bust was still way too big, but finally the length of the dress was at least right. She said for the next visit, she would fix the bust and also complete the bustle.... Yet again... another visit.

During the FIFTH visit, the bustle was completed with BLACK HOOKS on my beautiful ivory dress. She thought that the black hooks would blend in better than white ones.... She was clearly very wrong and once again, another visit needed scheduled.

During our 6th visit, my mother and I finally decided that it was time no matter how the dress looked or fit to take the dress out of her shop and take it elsewhere to finish the alterations and get it steamed with only about 1 month until my wedding left and still worry that the dress was probably not right after SIX visits.

Not to mention, the first time we showed up for our appointment, she forgot about the appointment, and we had to call her to remind her. Out of the next 5 visits, she was late for 4 out of the 5 (as in wasn't even on the way until we called her and told her we were sitting at her shop), and then was upset with us when she had to come in at a different time. The worst part is, these appointments were all scheduled weeks in advance.

She is incredibly rude, unprofessional, and also not a very good price for her work. She did my hem, bustle, bust, and attached a belt to my dress and charged me $300. She also tried to tell me that I didn't give her the $40 check for the veil that I never got and acted like she was doing me a favor taking that portion off of my final bill.

My mother and I asked her if she would consider taking a small percentage off of the cost since she had greatly inconvenienced us MANY times, and at that, she called in a male friend to make sure things didn't get out of hand at which time they threatened to take back MY WEDDING DRESS! She clearly expected us to be upset after 6 visits since she had him on stand-bye. They then threatened to call the cops if we did not pay in full.... We regretfully paid her and took my dress elsewhere to be fixed.

Needless to say... SAVE YOURSELF THE HEADACHE/MONEY/TIME!

And just for the heads up... the reviews from the "Walls" are her friends and family. I hope my review can even save a few brides...

Karen is so talented and professional. She has done many alterations for us in the past and they were always top notch. She has also made custom costumes for my children and custom bridal and formal gowns for me. She is so knowledgeable about fabrics and she knows what she is capable of. I really hate to see negative reviewers post their garbage to damage someone’s professional reputation. I guess that a person should not expect much when they buy a $99 wedding dress from China. You get what you pay for. The quality of the fabric and lace must have been poor. She has been a miracle worker for me and I will continue to refer her to everyone that needs...

Karen did an amazing job hemming my bridesmaid dress! I came to her very last minute to get my dress altered. I'm very poor with time management and came to her with less than a week until the wedding. She got the dress done in one day! I was very satisfied with how quickly she got it done and how well she did! They were super friendly here and very reasonably priced. Will definitely...