Do I really need a bustle?

Yes. Bustle or ready the pimp hand to bitch slap the clumsy steppers

I had no clue it was that common to have people step on a bride's dress. I'm honestly suprised people would be so careless at a wedding.

I had a bustle, but a sister who refused to do it for me. I wore my big train the whole night and didn't have any issues with it, and I was outside in the grass.

Like the idea of the wristlet

I'm not doing a bustle. I have yet to see a bustle that I like. The train on my dress will be fairly small once hemmed to my height and it has a wrist bracelet already on it so that's what I plan to use.

Love the wristlet idea from a PP. I saw this done at a wedding before and it was super helpful for when she was dancing with everyone. And then you can just drop it and let it go when you aren't on the dance floor where people can step on it!

Your train is not that long, I think you can do without.

I did a wrist strap because I didn't want to pay so much to bustle a simple dress. Worked great and didn't break the bank.

Thanks for this thread! I don't want to spend the extra $$ and I don't love the look either.

I am def going to look at the wristlet as an alternative!

I'm tall too and haven't had alterations yet, but my "train" is about like yours and they said at the shop that I could leave it or do a one button bustle (I have no idea what that is except it sounds simple)

I think you can do without. I went to a seamstress and got a "bustle" put in for about $40. She basically tied two strings on the inside of my dress that tie up together to pull the train of my dress up and more off of the ground. Kind of like a drawstring. She was also super nice and included some metal prongs on the sides that blend in with the beading of my dress so I could pin up the sides as well to make it look even. I hate the look of bustles and this was a great option for me with a pretty long train.