My mother is upset that my wedding dress is so expensive and about to be more expensive when we get alterations done. We paid a little over $400 for the dress, which I found to be fairly inexpensive for a bridal gown after shopping around.
Originally FMIL was going to do the alterations (she was a seamstress) but she recently said that she doesn't think she can do it and generously offered to pay for alterations. I don't know how much more the alterations will be exactly but when we picked up the dress, the alterations manager came out, told us what needed to be done and quoted somewhere between $150 and $200 which I'm sure we can negotiate a little bit by skipping on stuff like attaching bra cups and only going for what is really necessary.
My mother made it clear that she feels that I already spent too much on my dress, saying that she found other beautiful bridal gowns for around $200 online and that I should have gotten one of those when I got the dress but I responded "well, FI and I decided it would be better to spend a bit more on a dress that I've actually tried on and liked than risk ordering online, not liking it and then not being able to return it." She agreed and let it be.
Now that she's gotten her dress (an evening gown for nearly $200 itself) and I need to schedule appointments for alterations, the topic's come up again and she keeps saying that I should have gotten a cheaper dress online, that her dress was less than $200 so why couldn't I settle for one in that price range too, that I should just skip the alterations all together. Well, that'd be all well and good but it's a strapless dress that's too big and too long for me; to skip out on alterations would basically mean that I will likely trip on the dress when I try to walk, but not before it slips off entirely and I go down the aisle in my underthings. I'm pretty sure that even if I had gotten a $200 wedding dress, it'd have to be altered too; and I feel like it's a little unfair to compare the price of your evening gown to the price of a bridal gown or to be angry that your daughter's bridal gown is more expensive than your evening gown.
So I'm a little upset and stressed out by this. I don't know what she wants from me at this point. Skipping out on alterations isn't going to be good for my safety, the dress or my dignity as I wouldn't want to walk the aisle or do my first dance trying to keep the dress from coming off; and I don't think I can return the dress and buy a cheaper dress that won't need alterations. My parents knew the price of the dress before we paid for it and okayed it and they're likely not going to be paying for alterations as FMIL or else FI and I will pick up the tab on this one.
I really just needed to vent but now I'm wondering: am I right to be a little upset by this or am I just being petty?