Adding sleeves on a strapless wedding dress?

Have you thought about getting a topper from David's Bridal? That way you don't have to worry about the construction, and you can take off the sleeves if you get too hot? Plus you can change out the sleeves too if you want to mess with it!

I just added sleeves to my dress and it was the best decision I have ever made. I am soooooo much more comfortable in my dress now.

(Left to right - My older sister, my bio mom, me, my adopted mom and my younger sister)

I have ordered 3/4 sleeves in the form of an underbodice (like a topper but it goes under your dress instead of over) from rosemarydesigns.org. I looked at a topper but it looked too busy around the neckline (my dress has a lot of details and beadings on the chest area), and I couldn't find anything online that would fit my dress, so I figured custom made is the option. We worked together creating my vision (which wasn't much in the beginning, I just knew I wanted long sleeves with not to busy neckline). It just got shipped yesterday and will be here Wednesday, I can post a picture when I get it!

Sorry for the messy background, but this is the wedding topper/sleeves I added to my strapless dress. When I get better photos of my wedding outfit I will try to post a better photo

I also suggest just getting a topper - it will also probably be less expensive!

View Quoted Comment Wouldn’t that cover my entire top?

View Quoted Comment If it matches well enough and isn't too hot/itchy, you could wear it underneath

With and without sleeves! It didn't distract from the dress, it complemented it by having similar lace and beading. It's also not busy on the neckline, which is great because the dress itself is heavily beaded on the chest area.

Not long sleeves but short sleeves. Seamstresses are amazing! She turned into a tea length and made the top/sleeves from the cut fabric.

Before alterations:

After alterations:

View Quoted Comment I'm looking at doing the same thing! What was your experience?

View Quoted Comment She was very responsive to emails and provides rough sketches and ideas for me (since I didn't really have a picture to go from), and we went back and forth to create the right match for my dress. One thing though, it came out a bit tight, not sure if it's the fabric or the measurements (I measured myself and sent the measurement to her, so it might not be as accurate as a professional, and I might have cut corners thinking I would be thinner on my wedding day... nope lol). Also she didn't ask for circumference of the arm, which I think would have been nice to customize too, it was a bit tighter than I wanted it to be. Hope that helps!