I am a petite size too. I had the shoulders pinched like oldfort and the sides especially close to the bra line. it wasnt expensive for me. my D! who is MOH had her dress altered and it was 18o.oo I thought that was a bit much for a hem and to bring in the waist. I guess it depends on where you live . She lives in DC.
My friends swear by the personal shoppers at Nordstrom. They give their size, occasion, and budget and have a room full of things to try on. Alterations are done within 24 hours and there is no charge for the personal shopping service. I’m also petite and would use them in a heartbeat for a MOB drive.
My petite size dress at Lord and Taylor was on sale. There was only a size ten. I wore a size six. The salesperson called the alterations department and the next thing I knew, the tailor was standing in front of me.
Me: wait a minute. How much are these alterations going to cost?
Tailor: $26
Me: (with arms up) Pin away.
I have to say, the dress was altered to perfection. I didn’t need any hemming, but the whole torso needed to be taken in…about two inches. I had my doubts, but you know…the dress arrived at my house within 10 days, and it fit perfectly…and checking those side seams…one would never have known it had alterations! Amazing.
And I don’t even have a LT charge!
I did the whole ordering tons of dresses from different stores. I found mine at L&T on a sale rack when doing a return. Got a great deal but wish I’d know about the alterations! Would have saved some $.
At my L&T I paid considerably more for alterations and all that needed to be done was pulling up at the shoulder and a little under the arms. The size of the dress was my size. I paid $75 for the alterations; the dress cost me $140.
That’s so odd that alterations would cost different amounts at different Lord and Taylor stores. I was at the now closed NYC flagship. Honestly, I was surprised by the cost…and I’m pretty sore the friend with me was as well.
I did have to pay shipping ($25) because the store wasn’t sending it supposedly. It was being sent by alterations. I think I could have gotten free shipping…but come on…even $51 total was a deal, I think.
Plus…something weird happened when they totaled the price. The total for everything was about $150. Not right…and I said something. But they said it was right because the dress was only $105…see what I mean (that’s not what the tag said, and even with the “discounts” I couldn’t figure out where the $105 number came from). I gave them my credit card…and that was that.
I wonder if the L&T seamstress I had was an independent contractor who could set her own fees. Maybe alterations were priced differently at the flagship store.
I got my MOB dress for DD’s March wedding! It is an outdoor Saturday Brunch Wedding in Southern California. My comfort zone is black/navy. I prefer a high neck, maybe razor back and wanted something kind of flowy and romantic. I have been looking for a few months and couldn’t find exactly what I wanted. I thought I might need to wait a few months, but then I stumbled on this dress. I got it on sale, it arrived yesterday and I love it. https://www.halston.com/draped-mock-neck-gown-5
It’s lovely. I’m guessing you have much better arms than I do!
Wow, @tx5athome ! I could never pull off anything like that. Bat-wing arms and rounded back. Beautiful dress for the right figure!
It’s a WOW dress. I hope it doesn’t overshadow the bride. Tx5. Must be rocking it!!! Congrats!,
gorgeous dress!
@tx5athome I love your dress! That is something I would have picked for my D’s brunch wedding last year.
We went dress shopping today and it was lovely. Before, D1 had spotted (online) a dress she likes, simple and elegant, but also cut to her body shape, That was the first she tried on and perfect. (She did try on others, but this was it. I described it earlier as one of the Megan Markle take-offs, similar neckline but with cap sleeves.)
No embellishments, so I put on her a veil that’s bordered with embroidery and the look was perfect. Just enough to give oomph to the look. No belt or jewellery needed. She’s happy, bought and paid for.
One of the other nice things was that her hs best friend and that gal’s sister were with us. Hadn’t seen them in several years and both have grown to really fit into their own skin and that was a delight.
Well the Duchess’ dress was beautiful, so this one sounds beautiful too!! How nice to find one she really loves, plus in good company!
Our photographer sent S/DIL the link to the e-gallery of their photos…I’m allowed to look if I want, but not share the link with anyone. They will be given a thumb drive with all the photos and printing rights to them all. Here’s a takeaway for those of you planning —
if you are formal people, the traditional photos are fine. If you aren’t, you’ll need to tell your photographer that. Seems obvious, but we wish we had a picture of our family that is a little less posed, as posed is very not us. She took candids while we were getting inplace that are actually some of our favorites.
Make sure you are specific about who you may want candids of, also, any specific angles or shots. There is a shot of the couple coming out of the church, in silhouette and all you can see are the cheering guests and it is wonderful. DIL saw one just like it and asked for one of their own.
There are lots of photos of the couple and the bridal party, but fewer of the guests. It might have been a good idea to ask for those. But I have no complaints, the photos are very pretty! and as a bonus there’s a b&w shot of S&I dancing that he sent me with a note " Mom! check out your arms and tattoo!!" which do look MichelleObama-esque. All that work paid off 
@tx5athome Great dress! I love the color and the high neck with exposed shoulders. If I could get a dress with the draped fabric like that falling in the right place on me, I would love wearing a dress like that.
That is one heck of a dress. I could never pull it off.
We had D2 wedding this weekend. It was lovely the weather was beautiful. Everyone had a great time. H pants were too big. He was melting down about being a Y tube celebrity when they fell down walking D 2 down the aisle. Didnt actually happen. I was a bit impatient as I told him he had thing to do and make sure he had himself together. Lots of great friends, food music. The kids were so happy very warm atmosphere. My dress looked better in real life. didn’t think about looking bigger in photos. We wanted family photos but ran out of time. The venue was the BEST. Lots of compliments. they were so accommodating . Ran everything like clockwork. On to D1 wedding in may!!!
I meant my H had one thing to do and that was to dress himself.
I remembered what you all said and tried to stay in the moment. not taking pictures. etc… It really was awesome so much love and regard for this couple. who have cultivated such great friends. My D gave us a lovely heartfelt card that would make you cry.
RSVPs are due back on 11/15 — and more than 40 invitations (representing 70+) guests have not been returned. I’ll bet truly only about 10 people don’t know their plans. Come on people, send them back!
We’re nudging relatives to send them back. We’ll see how they look in the next few days…
^^My friend, who is very politically involved and a reporter, voted yesterday at 6:58 (7 pm deadline). We vote by mail and have had the ballots for at least 4 weeks. She drives by a ballot box drop off at least twice a day. There were no big pressing questions and the only people running for anything were for school board.
People procrastinate.