Why I gave up on my principles and got alterations at the bridal salon

Everyone has a wedding issue that they end up throwing money at.  Mine is alterations.  Actually, I guess mine is my dress since I now own 2 of them AND am going to pay way more than desired for alterations.

Originally, I was like, "Pshaw, I don't need to get alterations at the bridal salon!  There must be somewhere good that does them cheaper!"

Of course, when my dress came in a size too big, things became more complicated.  Now, if you remember, I had a choice between getting alterations at the bridal salon and having them fit the bodice to me or having the bridal salon alter my dress down a size and getting the other alterations somewhere else.  If you'll remember further, I was not too happy with said bridal salon the last time I spoke about this.

But in the end, the only thing that made sense was to do the alterations through the bridal salon.  Having them fit the bodice to me means I won't have to further alter the bust which will probably make up for the added alteration cost.

But the thing that really sold me was when I started looking into alternations alternatives (hardy har har), the only places I felt confidant taking my dress were just as expensive, if not more so.  The dress is still really important to me, and I want to make sure it looks the way it's supposed to.  A shotty alteration job to save money really isn't an option.

I also feel a bit better about it because I'm not really going through the salon, just using one of their recommended places.  In fact, one of the places was already on my list of potential alterations places.  Knowing I'm not giving any more money to the salon is definitely helpful.

And so the moral of the story is alterations are fucking expensive.  Budget a lot for them, or you will be sorry later.  Oh, and buy a dress with a corset back.

What did you do about alterations?  Were you able to find a way to save money without compromising your dress?