Kirsten Tucker Designs

AMAZING! Hands down the best PW referral yet! I was scheduled to meet with her in the beg. of June and I had a major meltdown with my schedule and was unable to make it. Kirsten was amazing with working with my schedule to get me back in. Round 2: I went to the wrong city..haha..stupid iPhone, but anyhoo, I was totally late and she still fit me into her schedule. Kirsten was very open about what we could do, and what we could not do (change the neckline due to it already being finished). Kirsten did an amazine 9 pt. french bustle that is to DIE for! The price didn't seem too bad, but I think throughout the entire planning process, I get pleasantly surprised if something isn't over $300, so I was happy with what I paid, because when I went to pick up my dress, it was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING..the hem was PERFECT and the bustle was exactly what she pinned at the first fitting. I have to say, if you want someone with a lot of experience who will work to make your dream dress perfect, Kirsten is the ONE!

UPDATE: So on 8/14/09 I picked up my wedding dress..the heavens opened up and my dress was absolutely perfect..I'm sooo so so happy!

Kirsten did my double french bustle and she did an amazing job. I intially wanted my bustles with more points, but sadly my train wasn't long enough. I'm happy with the end result though. Since the points are color coordinated it will be pretty easy for my BMs to bustle me up during the wedding. I'm so glad I brought my dress to Kirsten. She's a really sweet lady and she gave me some really suggestions. She finished my dress pretty quickly. I highly recommend her to future brides.

UPDATE 12/30
At least 5 people stepped on my dress, and I was amazed that the bustle lasted the entire night. I was afraid the darn thing would break off. But the bustle lasted throughout the whole night!

I used Kristen for my dress alterations. My dress was lace, with beading, and a sewn on satin sash. Although the dress did not need to be taken up, it needed to be taken in over 2 SIZES. The bodice was corset style with a drop waist and full skirt. She did a WONDERFUL job, you would never have known she took off so much material- 4 inches! She also made a 5 point bustle for the train. When I went for the final fitting she showed my MOH how to properly tie me into it, and bustle it for the reception so I would look my best. She does work out of her home, so be ready for that. Her pricing is incredible though. Much cheaper than any of the bridal salons, or dry cleaners/taylor. She also got the dress done on time with plenty of room to breath before the wedding. Additionally she took up the length on my MOH dress. A more simple task, but done wonderfully. Great Vendor

Kirsten is amazing! She definitely knows how to make the dress look great on you. I purchased a Vera Wang size 8 sample, I'm a size 6. So pretty much the whole dress had to be altered...really reconstructed. Being that it is a gown, I had five layers of fabric that had to be cut, sew, pulled, tightened, loosened...everything! I only went in twice and the second time was already completely done! She is so good that no wonder why she works with SF Opera in their costume department. If she can alter and create costumes for the Opera, wedding gowns are not a problem. Four other of my friends have gone to her for their gowns and were completely satisfied with their dresses. I've also gone to her for my maids dresses and they came out perfect as well.

Kirsten was a recomendation from a friend, and she is also a knot recomendation. She's just awesome. We had three fittings for a LOT of extensive alterations (fully re-designed the bodice of my lace gown, lots of removing appliques and re-positioning) and each time Kirsten was funny and attentive and just great. I even took my Mother and Aunt (two VERY fussy difficult women) to the second fitting and Kirsten was amazing with them. They had a lot of suggestions, some that were good, others that just wouldn't work and Kirsten was so patient in detailing exactly why certain things could work and others wouldn't. She's a person who appreciates people just telling her what they want, what they like and don't like, and she'll shoot straight with you and tell you what can be done, what can't, and give you options as well. And my dress just looked gorgeous when she was done! She also made my veil, and it was just lovely too. I wanted something simple and affordable, and since she had my gown and the skills, it was the easiest thing in the world to just ask her to make it.

Kirsten is really good at what she does. She is patient, sweet, and reasonably priced. I paid $100 since I didn't need that much altered on my gown, mostly just a little hemming in front and shift of a modesty panel in back, thanks to a corset back which I highly recommend if you like the look. It'll mean less alterations and safer in case of weight fluctuation. My gown fit like a glove the day of.

The most challenging part was designing the 14-point bustle because of the asymetrical skirt. At the 2nd fitting (last in my case), we redid the bustle to a pick-up look. I decided to wait for her to do them on the spot instead of a 3rd fitting. Bringing in an example pic was very helpful. It turned out gorgeous. My train was heavy, but the combo of the numerous bustle points plus the use of hooks and ribbon kept them from budging the whole day. Once my bustle was up, I was committed, and it wasn't really an option to take it down even at the photographer's request for post-reception shots.

In addition to the alterations, Kirsten sold me a petticoat nearly at cost. I had tried it on at the bridal salon where it was overpriced (2x at cost), looked up the vendor online, then asked Kirsten to order it since the vendor only works with businesses not consumers. FYI she supports made in USA labels and was excited that this vendor happened to be.

I referred one of my bridesmaids whose dress also fit perfectly. Unfortunately the alterations were such that Kirsten had to reconstruct bodice and ended up costing more than expected. My bridesmaid didn't ask how much the alterations were when she dropped off the dress and ended up paying $170 which could've probably been done with lower quality somewhere else for less.

I highly recommend Kirsten. I took a silk chiffon and lace cocktail dress to her recently, and she did a great job. I trust her with such delicate fabrics.

Very happy with Kirsten, as I knew I would be. She was super patient in working with me, very flexible in getting my dress ready for my August wedding. She fixed some beading (sample dress), created a vanity panel for the back and hemmed the dress. It turned out perfectly and fit wonderfully. Highly recommended :)

Kirsten was great, my dress fit perfectly, it looked so beautiful. My only issue was that my bustle broke right after I started dancing. I think that the dress was just to heavy for the attachment. So I ended up holding my dress for the entire dancing part of the night, but I for some reason didn't mind at all. Glamour and elegance had kind of left me by that point :).

Overall my experience with Kirsten was very good. I did have some issues during the process. At my second fitting my dress fit very strangely and I had to point out the problems and I felt like she didn't really notice. She was also very distracted during the fitting. When I left I was really upset about my dress and I was at the point that I wanted to pick it up and get it altered somewhere else. Kirsten called me the next day and we made an appointment to come back in. After this visit I was totally reassured and it came out beautifully.

Kirsten was excellent. She was quick, straight to the point and very affordable. I paid about $280 for hemming, taking the bust in, adding cups and building the bustle. The bust of my dress was detailed work over a single sheet of lace, so Kirsten had to remove the lace and rework it to make the bust line fit me. I was very pleased with her work.

Kirsten was wonderful! She took the time to listen to what I wanted, go through pictures and make my crazy bustle idea a reality. Not only that, but she color-coded everything to make bustling a breeze for my attendants.

By reputuation, she is known as one of the best for alterations in the bay area, and also for her very sweet and calm personality. She also does custom dresses too.

Kirsten was such a sweetheart and I loved how she made my dresses look! She pays a lot of attention to detail and is great at what she does!