The First Snip is the Scariest

It all started with a call from a bride's mom asking if I could take a look at her daughter's bridal gown to see if it could be hemmed and more importantly, could it be done for a reasonable price. They had just walked out of one consultation and was quoted a price that was more than they paid for the dress, and it was only the hem - no bustle, no other adjustments.  I wanted to see the dress but made no promises I could do it for less.
A few days later, we were all standing in my room staring at the lace hem that was about 8 inches too long. The bride was getting ready to graduate from college and planning a move to a naval base her fiancee was stationed at. Planning a wedding can be stressful - add a graduation and a move to the mix and well, that just brings wedding stress to a whole new level. Hemming her dress was something I could do for her, and I could do it for a reasonable price.
First step... figuring out where to cut.  This step took me a long time.  Lots of thought went into it, maybe too much. I tend to over think and this may have been one of those times.  So I just cut... and tried not to panic.

This is the original hem, I first hemmed the satin underskirt. My thought was
to have the edge of the lace hit about 1 inch below the edge of the satin underskirt

After making the first cut, there was no turning back

Laying the cut lace over the new dress edge, it's not exactly the same pattern as
the original but it's close. I used yellow pins to make an outline of where I wanted to stitch
and trim everything above it.

I stitched along the edge of the applique using a running stitch.

Once the new lace was attached, I trimmed the the excess lace to

the edge of my stitch line.

Finished hem. The edge of the lace hangs closer to 1 1/2 inches longer than
the hem of the satin underskirt. And standing back a few feet, the lace
blends with the rest of the dress.

Next I got to work on the bustle. The bride wanted a low bustle. To create this look, the underskirt is bustled using a french bustle - three points on the underside of the satin skirt tied together. The lace over skirt is bustled using an American style bustle with 7 points (hooks)

I sewed pearls near the loops so they were easier to find

The finished bustle.

I dropped the dress off this afternoon.  The bride made me laugh because she's been watching the weather for a week and today she accidentally checked same town, different state and saw 95% chance of rain.  Luckily she realized her mistake before the panic set in.  The forecast for her outdoor wedding is sunny with no chance of rain.