Bridal shop software: what a bridal atelier needs

Most tailoring work forgives a slip. A suit that is a week late causes an awkward phone call. A gown that is a week late misses the wedding, so a bridal atelier has to plan differently from a general tailor. Any software you choose should support that way of working.

The lead times are long. In one round-up of advice from bridal shops, one store says most gowns take 4 to 8 months to arrive, and suggests starting alterations 8 to 12 weeks before the wedding. Another says a custom-made dress needs 6 to 9 months. Your own figures will depend on your work, but those spans show how long a job can sit open, and how much can go wrong in that time.

Plan the gown backwards from the wedding

Start from the wedding day and work back, so that every stage has a latest safe date. Put the dates on the job on the day of the order. If the bride arrives late, this plan shows you at once what has to shrink, and whether you can honestly accept the work.

Example stage	Weeks before the wedding
Consultation and design agreed	30
Toile fitting	24
Cutting	22
First fitting	18
Beading and embroidery finished	10
Second fitting	6
Final fitting	2
Collection	1

This table is an example, and a heavy gown may need much longer. Two things are worth copying: the last week is left empty as a cushion, and the handwork ends well before the second fitting, so a problem found there can still be fixed.

Know exactly where the fittings stand

A bride's measurements move between the first and last fitting. Keep each fitting's numbers as a new dated set, and do not write over the old ones. If a seam was let out at the second fitting, you can then see why, and how far it moved.

Fittings also pile up in wedding season. Ten gowns can want the same Saturday, so two people double-booking the fitting room is a real risk. Ask any system to show you how it handles a clash, and how it treats a day you are closed.

Follow the beads, as well as the gown

A heavily worked gown holds a lot of its value in beads, crystals and handwork, and hand embroidery is slow to redo. Three habits help:

• Issue embellishment to the job, and weigh or count what comes back.
• Record the dye lot of the lace or fabric, so a late top-up can be matched. Keep a little spare for repairs at the final fitting.
• Buy for the design when it is agreed. A bead that takes a month to arrive can use up the cushion in your plan.

We cover the counting in detail in our guide to tracking beads and crystals.

Keep hold of work that leaves the building

Many ateliers send beading to a specialist. From that moment, the gown is out of your hands and your date depends on someone else. Before it goes, record who has it, what materials went with it, the agreed price, and the date it is due back.

Agree the date with slack in it. Then check in partway through, because a late return discovered at the end leaves you with nowhere to turn. When it comes back, count the material and look over the work before you sign anything.

Separate samples from made-to-order

A bridal shop often runs two kinds of gown under one roof, and they should not sit in the same records.

Samples are stock. They wear out from try-ons, and you will want to know where each one is, how old it is and when to sell it off. Made-to-order gowns belong to a bride from the first day, with their own measurements, deposit and date. A gown bought off the rail sits between the two: it is a stock sale that turns into an alteration job.

Answer the bride before she has to ask

Much of the distress in bridal comes from silence. On a wedding forum, a thread about in-store alterations running late drew this reply: "I couldn't get in touch with the seamstress all this week". A gown can be on schedule and still cause that worry if nobody says so.

Set a regular point for contact, such as a short update at each stage. Staff should be able to see the stage, the promised date and the balance as soon as the phone rings. Payment matters here too. A long job usually has several payments, so write down the amounts and dates at the order, and show what is left at every fitting.

Questions for a bridal software demo

• Can the wedding date sit on the order, apart from the stage dates?
• Can I rename the stages to Toile, First, Second and Final?
• Does each stage have one named person?
• Are measurements kept as dated sets I can compare?
• Can materials be issued to one gown in the units I buy them in?
• Can a job go to an outside embroiderer and show as overdue?
• Can the bride see progress and her balance without calling?

Tailoq has a Bridal and couture preset that runs from Consultation through Toile fitting, First, Second and Final fittings to Ready, and you can change those stages. Each material keeps its own unit, so beads can go by the gram and crystals by the piece. Read how it fits a bridal atelier. One limit to plan around: fittings book within the coming seven days, so longer plans sit as stages on the job until each fitting comes close.