The Dress

It has absolutely beautiful lace around the neckline that extends partially down the skirt. One of my favorite things about the dress is that is has light sparkles in the underlayers of the skirt that come through very subtly. It zips in the back and was relatively easy to get in and out of. It has cups sewn into the front, so bra straps were not an issue. The underlayers are relatively thin and actually allowed a decent amount of air flow, so despite being married in the summer heat, I did not get very hot at all. The straps were a little itchy, but the soft padding I had sewn in underneath helped significantly. The dress was not very heavy, even once it was bustled and the train was not resting on the floor. Bustling the dress did require 1-2 extra people, but the hooks were relatively easy for my bridesmaids to figure out. I do recommend practicing bustling it once or twice before the big day to make sure there are no hiccups and that it looks right.

Alterations

Alterations were made to length so that it swept the floor- I'm 5'7" and wore flats. Soft clear padding was added under the lace in the straps to help prevent itching. No alterations were made to the width or bust of the dress. Bustle hooks were added to the back for a French Bustle. One hook was ripped out when someone stepped on the back of my dress, but it was temporarily fixed with a safety pin, and the dress itself has no damage.