Gown Countdown Sheet Template from VeilFittings

At the deposit

Write the wedding date and the venue city at the topNot the fitting date, the wedding date. A destination wedding two weeks before the ceremony means her real deadline is the day she flies, so write that date beside it.
Record the designer, style, color and size orderedInclude who made the size call and what measurements it was based on. When a gown arrives and the bride questions the size, this line is the difference between a conversation and an argument.
Log the designer production window in writingPut the range the designer quoted plus your own shipping buffer, then mark the week the gown must land to leave time for three fittings. That week is the one you monitor.
Book the first fitting before she leavesSet it against the expected arrival, not against her availability alone. Good looks like a first fitting six to ten weeks before the wedding, already on the calendar the day the deposit is taken.
Give an alterations estimate in the same conversationA range for hem, bodice and bustle at the point of sale prevents the pickup day surprise. Write the range you quoted so nobody later quotes a different one.

When the gown arrives

Inspect fully before you call the brideShade against the sample, seams, boning, zipper, beading security and hardware. Your claim window with the designer is short, so a gown that goes straight to the hold rack unchecked is a risk you are absorbing for free.
Photograph the tag with the ticket in frameOne photo showing the designer tag, the style number and your own order ticket together. It settles any later question about which gown arrived against which order.
Note the hold rack location on the sheetSection, rack and bag number. A shop carrying forty gowns loses real hours to searching, and a bride waiting while three people look is not a confident bride.
Open any claim the same dayIf shade, size or construction is off, contact the designer before the bride sees it and record the date, the person and the reference. Good looks like the claim open before the end of that business day.
Reconfirm the first fitting against today's calendarIf the gown landed late, move the fitting now rather than at the reminder call. Check the same week for other gowns already booked so you do not stack three finals together.

Through the fittings

Pin one gown to one worksheetEvery pin gets written where the seamstress will read it: hem length with shoes on, bodice takes, strap adjustments, cup placement. Verbal handoffs at the end of a Saturday do not survive the night.
Convert the pinned work into hours that dayWrite the estimated sewing hours beside the work while the gown is fresh in your mind and book them into the workroom week. Hours that are not booked are hours you will discover you do not have.
Decide and price the bustle at the fittingType, number of points and cost, agreed in the room with the train up. Pricing a cathedral train bustle at pickup is the single most common cause of a bridal price argument.
Set the next appointment before she changes backSecond fittings booked in the room happen. Second fittings booked by text drift two weeks, and two weeks is exactly the buffer you built at the deposit.
Put any outside seamstress handoff in writingIf she is taking the gown elsewhere, record the date it left, its condition and her signature on your release language. Good looks like nothing leaving the shop unsigned.
Update the balance owed on the sheetAlterations added at each fitting go on the line the same day. A bride who watches the number grow gradually rarely disputes it at the end.

Final week and pickup

Hold the final fitting at least two weeks outThat leaves room for one correction without rush labor. Closer than ten days and any surprise becomes an evening at the machine, priced at nobody's advantage.
Steam, bag and write the pickup date on the ticketThe date goes where anyone can read it, not only in the system. A gown finished early and parked without a visible date is a gown that gets forgotten on the rack.
Walk the bustle with whoever will tie itThe mother, the maid of honor or the planner, in the shop, with hands on the loops. Photograph the tied bustle and give her the photo. It ends the wedding day phone call.
Clear the balance before the gown leavesCheck the sheet against what has been collected, including alterations added at each fitting. Nothing goes out the door on a promise to settle after the honeymoon.
Record actual sewing hours on the way outTwo minutes per gown gives you the average you need for pricing and capacity planning. After twenty gowns you will know whether your menu matches your workroom.

How to use it

Print a stack and keep them with your order tickets, or run the same fields on a screen if your shop is already digital. What matters is that one sheet exists per sold gown and that it travels with the gown, so the person holding it always has the whole history rather than the part they were present for.

Once a week, pull the sheets for gowns with wedding dates inside the next ninety days and read only the blanks. A missing bustle price, a missing hours estimate or a first fitting that was never rebooked after a late delivery are all fixable in September and expensive in April. That ten minute review is the cheapest scheduling work a bridal shop can do.

Send me the editable copy

Send it to yourself as an editable copy you can put your own shop name and alteration menu on before you print a stack for the workroom.

Questions about this document

Can I change the stages to match my shop?

Yes, and most shops do. Some add a receiving photo step, others add a preservation and cleaning line at pickup. The editable copy is meant to be marked up, which is why the fields are plain rather than locked.

What if the bride uses an outside seamstress?

Fill the first two stages exactly as normal, then use the handoff line to record the date, the condition and her signature. Your liability on a gown you sold turns on that written handoff, so it is the field you least want blank.

Do I need software to use this?

No. It works on paper clipped to a hold rack tag and plenty of shops run it that way for years. It becomes harder once you carry enough open gowns that no one can hold the calendar in their head, which is the point where a shared board earns its keep.

When one sheet per gown stops being enough

This sheet works because every stage from the deposit to the tied bustle is written where the next person will read it. It gets harder the season you carry enough special orders that no one can hold the pickup weeks in her head, or the week a gown arrives late and three finals are already stacked behind it. Send us a handful of filled sheets and we will load them, so you can see the same stages and the same sewing hours on a board every stylist and your seamstress can open.

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The gown countdown sheet