Wedding Dress Trains - Opinions Please! Especially OM's **Flashes**

Beautiful dress!!! My dress has a train a similar size & I think it looks lovely. Im having a sturdy bustle sewn in so I can hook it up for the evening but I know a lot of these break on the day & you do tend to carry your train but if that happens I don't think I'll care x

I had a long train, this is one thing I was sure I wanted when wedding dress shopping. I had it bustled up all morning until I got to the church, then I let it down until we sat down to eat, the only time it got in the way was when people were scared to tread on it when having photos but it didnt bother me at all, the dress was already dirty by then! I bustled it up after the meal and took my veil out then too.

Heres a flash, I do love trains I think they looks beautiful:

I won't be having a train as I'm having a tea-length dress (full length dresses just look really daft on me!).
I think it's the one thing I'm going to miss - I think they look stunning, and it's probably the only chance you'll ever get to wear one!

I had the train removed completely from my dress since I didn't want bits of sand and stuff to snag in it, plus I wanted to be able to dance!

It went from this:

to this:

and I think still looked perfectly special enough.

I like trains for long aisles in traditional churches, but even if I'd had that sort of wedding, it would have got on my nerves afterwards. I wouldn't want the fuss or weight of a bustle. I think the perfect compromise is a totally detachable train of some sort, but they are few and far between in dresses.

When I went for my fitting I was quite shocked to remember how much my dress had at the back, it certainly looked a bit more than in this picture, but I suppose it is longer as I am short and they only took the dress up at the front. I can put it into a bustle, not sure sure when I will do that? I am expecting it to probably get trodden on etc, I will just have to swish a lot and sweep it out the way. It's not something I necessarily would pick, but it really does add to "the look" of being a bride. At the end of the day, if I was being my practical normal self, I would not be wearing a big ivory dress with sparkle bits and lace etc and instead would be in something brown, patterned with leggings underneath ?

My dress on model (pics of me in in in 3+ weeks!!!)

I was a bit sceptical about having a train as we're having a civil ceremony in a smallish room, so not much of an aisle - but as soon as I started trying on dresses with trains, I loved the big ones! I just found them a lot more wedding dressie, like what you imagane when you're little.

Mine must stretch out about 5 feet from the end of the laceup back and has the really delicate detail all down it and just looks amazing. From walking around the shop with it (having to hold up the front as its a foot too long currently), it is pretty easy to move about. I'll have it down for the ceremony and maybe a couple of photos, but it'll be hooked back (it some how hooks up to where the lace up bit ends so its held their steady) for the rest of the time. My main worry though was going to the toilet with it - the shop lady said to sit forward, so facing the wall (I'm yet to try this idea at home!) and then get someone to pull the dress backwards with you when your done!

BBB I think yours looks better without the train!

I don't have a picture of my train down but it was a reasonable sized train for a not-so-poofy dress. I only really had it down for photos and walking down the aisle. On the way to the church and between the church and reception, I had it looped over my wrist with that loop holder thing

It was a bit flimsy and actually snapped outside the church, but I managed to fix it by tying a knot in it. For the home reception, my mum sewed a more sturdy one onto it.

After the meal, we bustled it up so it was better for dancing:#

until someone trod on it and ripped the top layer off the bottom layer! Fixed it for the home party then someone trod on it again and ripped the button off so I spent the rest of the night dancing with the loop round my wrist

This is something that has been worrying my slighty as I have a train with no bustle and hope I dont get trod on so much that the skirt becomes completely detatched and I end up stood in my knickers!! haha

The train on my dress was really long, but I loved it! I basically carried it around all day until the reception, everyone commented on how gorgeous it was! It did not annoy me but was filthy by the time i bustled it!

Can't seem to flash but you can see it here http://www.bonny.co.uk/style-1009-p76.html?page=84

I had a train and the dress maker put a hook on the back to create the bustle. People trod on it a few times but when it was put up it was out of the way and i was on the dance floor ALL night.

BBB i much prefer your dress without the train! Love your dress anyway!

I really loved a dress that didn't have a train, it was beautiful, but just didn't feel wedding-y enough. That made up my mind that I definitely wanted a train.

I think the dress you flashed would look just as beautiful without, I think the style of the skirt means it will work well either way.

1. Neither likey nor no likey. Neither pointless nor must have. It wasn't a feature of my dress that I paid much attention to. This meant that when I went back to the shop for my first fitting, I was slightly surprised at the mass of material behind me, as I simply hadn't really registered it the first time around. This is even more bizarre as the back of my dress was really where it was all at and I had studied many pictures of me in it and on the internet. I have train blindness.

2. My train was part of the dress - it couldn't have been removed without utterly ruining it.

3. It didn't bother me in the slightest. My Mum pulled it out full while I was at the top of the aisle. Then for the rest of the day, it was held by me or was looped over my wrist. I had a bustle loop added but never used it. I quite liked being on the dance floor and swishing it around. Nobody trod on it (as far as I can remember and from what the stains tell me!).

4. NA

My train:

FTLOMB - perhaps the most lush wedding dress of all time ever!

I had a fair bit of a train on mine. I kept it down until after the first dance (i wanted it ti swish around!) but then my seamstress had used a small piece of ribbon to make a loop which I then hooked on to one of the many buttons! I was lucky and it stayed in place bu I know brides who have had poppers that couldnt deal with the weight and it kept falling back down or breaking! Here are some flashes!

and the best i can find of it hooked up! (this is towards the end of the night!)

I loved mine and it was a real feature of the dress would pick one again definatly!

My dress has a chapel length train, but I'm planning to have it removed when I add the tulle to my skirt. I just don't like tulle skirts with trains.

Both of my SILs had bustled trains, and their bustles broke! It's just not something I want to have to deal with. Especially as our ceremony room is tiny, and we'll hopefully be outdoors for a bit as well.

I had a small train (in think), i ask the dressmaker to add a small hoop to the corset so i could bustle it after the first dance.

I didn't think I wanted a train but have loved the dresses with trains so far, big or small! x

I had quite a large wide train (sorry no photos as yet), but it had detail all down it so the dress would not have been the dress without it. I loved it but I didn't have a bussle put in, just had it on a loop on my wrist which was very heavy, but to be honest after the photos (and this bit will sound bad) I just dragged it around! It got very dirty underneath but when I only paid £99 and no plans to sell it on I did worry about it.

I love them and always wanted a train so it was the dress of my dreams xx

I had a train and loved it. I only bustled it up for the first dance, I loved swishing around in it!

I knew I wanted a train from the moment I started wedding dress shopping.

I had a little wrist loop put on which I didn't use but I also had three hook&eye clips out on and they were used.

This was my dress.

With my wrist loop

I have had the train removed from my dress (it was a chapel train, they took off 15 inches to make it a puddle train). I had it done primarily because I didn't think it suited the dress, I didn't want it getting in the way all day, and I think long trains (whilst they look lovely and after all it's each to their own) can look a little bit OTT sometimes too. For me, anyway.

Wow! Thanks everyone for your comments, I loved reading them and seeing the beautiful flashes! It’s also really good to hear opinions on both sides.

BFBeach Bride – your dress definitely looks better without the train and has given me a bit more confidence about getting mine removed. The dress I like is very ball gowny so I think it will hold its shape if you remove the train (thanks also to BuzzyBride for agreeing with me!)

MummyMoo – looking forward to seeing your pics in three weeks time!

Knees – people treading on it and ripping it is another thing I’m worried about because the train on the dress I like is massive!

Samjh87 – perhaps you can ask your dress fitter to add hooks or loops to bustle your dress up?

FTLOMB – I haven’t seen your wedding pics before – your dress is stunning! I see what you mean about the train being part of your dress as it is quite delicate and I think it compliments it perfectly. The train on my dress however is mahooosive (wide and long) and was a bit of a handful when I tried it on. Oh yeah, your avatar is very misleading by the way - I totally assumed you were a goth chick!!

Venart – I’m also thinking the same as you – that dresses with a lot of tulle don’t necessarily need a train. I’ve also known brides whose bustles broke and they ended up carrying their train over their arms. I think subconsciously this may have been where my doubts started because I certainly don’t want to be bothered with that hassle on my wedding day!

Jimmy Corkill – exactly what I’m worried about!

Badger Beetle – am curious to see your alterations - I’ll look out for your wedding pics!

I’m going back to the boutique to try the dress on again next Saturday (13th) so I’ll ask the ladies what it will look like bustled up. I might also ask them if I can take a photo of it and then get my brother to photoshop the train off it to see what it might look like. I'll flash this if we do it!

Would still love to see more flashes and have more opinions so please keep them coming! Thanks x x x

I really dislike trains (on me) as I felt too flouncy in them. Mine did have a smallish train, when it finally came in I was shocked by how big the train actually was compared to how I pictured it! When it was tucked up I barely noticed it. I asked for extra ribbons to be put inside the dress so if the hook feel down I would still be able to tie it up (been at weddings where the hook breaks and the bride is left carrying her dress around and I didn't want that).