Wedding Dress Bustles and Alterations

I took my dress in for alterations today, otherwise known as zero hour.  I was told that it will be ready one week before the wedding (eek!).  For all you brides out there who haven't gone through the alterations process, be forewarned:  if you have a big poufy ball gown with a long train, alterations are going to be pricey!  I opted to find a tailor on my own due to negative reviews online about the price and quality of alterations done by these big wedding dress stores.

I went with the place closest to my home - Ann's Tailor & Alterations (not to be confused with Ann Taylor).  I figured it would be less expensive and I would get my dress back fairly quickly.  Ann is a lovely little gal and her little tailoring operation has been in that shopping center for 20+ years I think - so I trust her sewing expertise.

So my Mom and I head to Ann's, I get my dress on and she is getting ready to pin the correct length.  Then she starts counting the layers of this dress.  It is 11 layers.  And wouldn't you know, my dress has this gorgeous detailing on the hem, so basically she is going to unsew the whole dress and take it up from the waist.  The thought of my dress in a bunch of unsewn pieces makes me slightly panicky, but I am trying not to think about it...

Then we had to figure out a bustling situation.  I was only concerned with it being secure to hold through the evening without it making my back end too big.  I already have enough junk in my trunk!  I didn't get to see the bustle due to my dress being on my body, but my Mom was oohing and ahhing so I assume it is fine.  The train has a bunch of detailing on it too, so this was the best way to show it off.  It is just a basic over bustle like this:

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I thought I wanted an under bustle when I first came in because I thought the look was cool, but I think it really depends on the style of your dress to determine what will look best.  This is an under bustle aka French bustle (can also come in double and triple too!)

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Then there is an Austrian bustle, but I don't really get it...  It looks pretty though!

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So that is my short bustle lesson, lol.  My alterations ended up costing $230 for the hemming(which is a way bigger job since she has to do it from the waist of the dress) and a bustle.  It was about what I averages, but I thought I was overestimating.  Can't win 'em all!  I can't wait to see the finished dress, I am sure it will be perfect and wonderful.  One other word of advice I will give - get your dress into alterations sooner rather than later!