Ball gown tips needed

leelabear

I've never worn a huge ball gown before. Any tips on what to do or not do? I don't want me or others to trip over it. I worry about dancing too.

So far its in the middle of alterations so I haven't had time to practice doing anything in it yet.

leideigh

i'm in the same boat..... maybe research some bustling styles? also i've heard of some people (i am not doing this) removing layers from their skirt to make it more manageable.... idk tho, good luck!

leelabear

I'm getting an American bustle so I'm not too worried about the train. Should I? Mostly the huge volume. My fiancé likes to spin me during dancing a lot so hopefully we both don't get tangled.

Hopefully there will be room between tables so I can mingle at the reception.  

I'm not into removing layers either. I love the look of ball gowns. I grew up watching Disney movies

Maggie0829

Does your dress have a hoop? That may help with the feeling of tripping over your dress because the hoop will keep all the layers underneath away from your legs. Also, just make sure you get the dressed hemmed correctly. When in your shoes the dress should be hemmed to just above the floor. You don't want it to hit the floor because then you will trip over it.

[Deleted User]

The problem I ran into is that as every other bride I had my hem of my dress done based on the shoes I was wearing for the ceremony. Of course I didn't wear them the whole reception. So then the dress was 2-3 inches too long once I ditched my heels. So I was left carrying my dress up a little to avoid tripping on it, especially while dancing. Of course after the fact I know why Maggie has suggested wedge flip flops for the reception, so that you can keep the height and the dress length stays. The other issue I ran into is that while doing a line dance (yes we had line dances at my wedding and I had the floor packed full) is that because our dance floor was so packed that twice my dress was stepped on while dancing. Normally not a big deal but bottom of my dress had a layer of chiffon on the outside which now has two large holes through the fabric because the people who stepped on my dress were women in heels.

leelabear

My dress actually did have a hoop but it wasn't working well. It kept folding in a weird way and also gave a lot of volume to the front compared to the back. The train/bustle weighted the back down. It didn't look good and we couldn't get it to work well at all. I google imaged my dress and saw that on some other brides you could see the outline of the bottom hoop. So no hoop for me. 

It took me a long time to find heels. I found a comfy 2 inch dancing heel I hope to be wearing all night. I was worried about the same thing, the dress dragging during the reception if I took off my heels. 

I had some troubles during my first fitting. My dress was really really wrinkly. I asked the lady if it need to be steamed before the alterations. She insisted it didnt matter. She also said it did not need a hem. Well that seems weird since I'm only 5'2" and I have on low heels. Then her manager walked by and said "lets steam it to see if the fabric comes down. She might need a hem". Good thing for managers.

@Erikan73 Sorry to hear about the holes in your dress. Luckily it wasn't worse.