Bridal Alterations -- The Photo Finish

My {stunningly} beautiful sister-in-law got married last weekend and I was privileged to do most of the alterations on her bridal attire!  I can't make a nice buttonhole to save my life, but I love tackling a big challenge like this one and was more than happy to help out.

To make up for not having any "before" or "during" pictures, here's a photo display of the alterations to do list in finished form.  Did I mention how much I love getting my hands on a wedding gown?

The straps were out of organza because the color matched better and the organza had more body than chiffon.  Also, I was able to use the flower embellishments that got pulled into the seam allowance when the dress was taken in.

The vertical ruffles falling into the hem made shortening it at the hem too complicated and labor-intensive which is why it made sense to shorten it at the dropped waist (thanks for the inspiration mom!).  The chiffon skirt hung lower than the underskirt, so it had to be taken up more than the underskirt.  The shirred/pleated chiffon on the bodice and some of the flowers on the side had to be un-tacked at the waistline and then reattached once the waistline alteration was done.

The trickiest parts were reattaching the skirt at the high "v" on the right right side and getting the overlay to look right on the left side after it was taken in.

In the original dress, all of the ruffles hung down two or three inches past the hem in the front.  Tripping hazard!  They had to be shorn off at the bottom.  Lots of practice with curved chiffon hems!

The skirt had a layer of satin, a layer of chiffon, and then another layer of chiffon that wrapped around the dress.  We figured out that the best looking bustle required the top layer of chiffon to detach from the dress.

Bustles are the hardest thing for me, but I think this one turned out very natural looking.

That's about it!  Oh except for one bonus alteration:  

Congratulations dear girl!