Wedding dress - alterations suggestions needed! Strapless and trumpet /mermaid fit

I’m in the same predicament and looking forward to recommendations. You look positively stunning 😍

Do you have any pictures of the back of the dress? I worked in bridal for 3.5 years and have a pretty good grasp of what’s possible in alterations but it’s tough to say without seeing the whole dress

I’m not sure exactly what can be done for alterations but if you want to bottom to look fuller you can usually get something underneath like a different skirt layer

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here is the back of the dress - you’ll see this isn’t with it fully zipped but looks the same with my right size zipped up. Any suggestions you have would be appreciated!!

Okay awesome! First of all- I love the lace on your dress, it’s so pretty! In terms of alterations: it looks like there’s already some boning on the side under your arms, and I can’t tell if there’s boning at the bust, but it doesn’t look like there is. Given that bust support is a concern, additional boning might be good to add at the bust (but creating boning where there isn't any will run into $$$$ in alterations- just be prepared). The bridal shop I worked at put these (https://www.yourdreamdress.com/product/gel-bra-cups-push-up-sew-in-black-nude-white/ ) or something like it in almost every dress we sold. We had them in sizes A through I believe E? The tension of the dress around your body, combined with heavy duty bra cups (the little bra pads dress sometimes come with we would remove), plus the boning on the side might actually give you enough support without adding boning. In terms of the skirt - when you say you're hoping for more of a trumpet fit, are you wanting it tighter around the hip and thigh? Or more of a dramatic flare at the bottom? If it's the first, dresses can be taken in at the point where the flare but be careful - if it's taken in too much, it'll look great while you're standing, but you will not be able to sit down (unless the lining of your dress is stretchy, which I can't tell from pictures). In terms of making the skirt bigger, you can get petticoats online, but my recommendation would be to have crinoline added directly to the dress. It'll have the same effect, but it's one less thing to put on on your wedding day. Let me know if you have any other questions or if there's anything you'd like me to clarify further!

View Quoted Comment Thank you so much for your response and recommendations. I read about adding boning to the dress which is what I was going to speak to my seamstress about - but also adding cups in the dress like you suggested was another option but didn’t know which direction or one would be best. To my second question you addressed about the bottom of dress- I want it to be tighter around the hip and thigh to show my figure better - I wasn’t sure with alterations if this would give me the look I’m going for. I do like the concept of not having to wear an additional item under dress so crinoline I will look into. I wanted to add a few pictures of what I was hoping to see my dress could potentially look like in some aspects - which I’m thinking I’m looking for the tighter around hips and thighs - what do you think?

View Quoted Comment Hi Lydia I did reply back to you but wasn’t sure if I hit reply to the right section lol! Let me know if you got it!

View Quoted Comment It was under reply! Hmm okay based on those pictures of what you’re hoping for, I actually don’t know if I’d recommend crinoline. It looks like your wanting it tailored more tightly. That should be possible, but again- don’t go too tight, you want to be able to sit! When you ordered the dress, do you happen to remember where your measurements fell on the size chart? Like what size your bust waist and hips fell under? Typically people fall into at least 2 sizes based on those measurements, and it could be, if your hip measurement is proportionally smaller than your bust, that you’ll need the hip taken in a good bit. It’s hard to say exactly without seeing the dress in person, but I hope this helps!