04Visit and appointments

Book a bridal appointment in Seattle. Bring two people, not six.

Six opinions and you will leave with none. Every visit to our bridal boutique in Wallingford is booked ahead, runs about ninety minutes, and the fitting room is yours for all of it.

1423 N 45th St, Seattle, Washington 98103 +1 206-550-7948 First appointment about 90 minutes

01Request a time

Tell us the date first. It decides which gowns are still possible.

We reply by phone or email to confirm a time. Nothing is paid through this site and no card is asked for to book. The more you tell us here, the more of the right samples are already on the rail when you walk in.

Tell us your name so we know who we are fitting.

We need a phone number we can reach you on.

That email address does not look complete.

So we can plan around how far you are traveling.

Add your city or ZIP so we can plan the appointment.

Month and year is enough. Under six months out, we check with the designer before you come in.

Days and times that suit you, the season, and any silhouette you have already tried elsewhere and hated. That last one is the most useful thing you can tell us.

Inquiries are kept for 24 months and never sold. See the privacy notice.

03Finding us

A door on North 45th Street, and a fitting room booked for you alone.

Street parking on 45th and the side streets is metered or time-limited. Give yourself ten spare minutes so the appointment starts on the hour, not twenty minutes into it.

The door may be locked when you arrive, because the room is booked for one bride at a time. Call +1 206-550-7948 from the sidewalk and one of us comes to let you in.

The street door of The Dress Theory bridal boutique on N 45th St in Wallingford, Seattle
Fig. 08 The boutique door 1423 N 45th St, Wallingford

What to bring, and who to leave at home

Most appointments that end without a decision went wrong before the bride walked in. Wrong shoes, or eight people on the sofa.

  • Shoes near the heel height you will wear. Two inches changes the hem and the whole line of a Mikado column.
  • Seamless nude underwear. A strapless or low-back bra if you own one. If not, we have options in the room.
  • Your wedding date, confirmed if you can. It is the first thing we ask and it rules gowns in or out.
  • Daylight photos of the venue. Silk crepe reads differently in a barn than in a stone church.
  • Two people whose taste you trust. Or nobody. Brides who come alone often decide faster.
  • Leave the self-tan and body oil at home. Both mark ivory silk, and a sample cannot be cleaned between every bride.
  • Skip the dark lipstick. It transfers when a gown goes over your head, and on Chantilly lace the mark does not always lift.

What happens in the ninety minutes

The first ten minutes we talk, with you still in your own clothes. Date, venue, season, what you tried elsewhere. Then we pull four or five samples, never the whole rail at once, in the order that teaches us most about your shape.

Samples come in one size and are clipped to fit you. We do the clipping, not your guests. By the third gown we usually know whether you want the structure of Mikado or the movement of silk crepe under Chantilly, and we will say so plainly.

In the last fifteen minutes we talk about anything you are seriously considering: how long that designer usually takes, and what the price conversation looks like. The price you see on the tag is where the conversation starts. Alterations are quoted separately, in writing. Nothing said in the room is a binding quote until it is written down for your size and options.

If you want to think, go home and think. The terms set out how orders and deposits work, and how we buy explains why the rail is so short.

Order eight to ten months out. Six is possible. Four costs you in rush alterations.

Count backwards from the wedding. Here is the arithmetic for a wedding on June 12, using the spans we work to. Designer lead times vary and are given as a usual range at the appointment, never as a promise.

First appointment, about 90 minutesJuly to September, the year before
Order placed, 8 to 10 months beforeAug 12 to Oct 12
Gown made in the designer's workroomUsually 4 to 7 months
First fitting, 8 to 12 weeks beforeMar 20 to Apr 17
Middle fitting, if the gown needs oneAround 6 weeks before
Final fitting, 2 to 3 weeks beforeMay 22 to May 29
Wedding dayJune 12

Most gowns need two or three fittings. A bustle is added at the fitting stage and quoted with your alterations. If your date is closer than six months, put it in the form and we tell you on the phone whether it can work, before you book, not in the fitting room.

1423 N 45th St, Seattle, Washington 98103

Call, and we will find you an hour.

+1 206-550-7948 [email protected] By appointment only