The Dress

The dress to top all dresses... that wasn't enough for me! I needed TWO dresses to top all dresses. And I knew from the start that I wanted to make them myself... with a little love, support, and help from my mom. And without further adieu... here are the dresses.

The one on the left is the one I wore for the ceremony and first part of the reception (dinner, first dance, garter/bouquet toss) and the one on the right was my party down dress for the rest of the night.

I put a lot of thought and time into each of these dresses. My ceremony dress  is actually made from a pattern from the 1960's that my mom and I altered to make a little more modern. The original pattern called for lace up to my neck and long lacy sleeves - we just took that part off and left the bodice and skirt alone. My mom found the fabric - up close it was beautiful and a  little iridescent - from a store in Indiana. I was living in Charleston at the time so she flew down for a few days to help me get started.

Above: making the first cut! Below: Mom helping out in Charleston.

 In the picture below you can see the details a little better - we added a sparkly (yet classy) trim to the top and to the waistline. I ordered my birdcage veil from an Etsy seller (I wish I could remember who!) And below you will see I wore a "crown" on top of it - my mom wore the same one when she married my dad.

 To go along with the vintage theme I wore gloves for about 5 minutes of the ceremony until T.J. needed my hands for my ring!

 

The picture below really shows the lace detail around the bottom of the dress - my mom and I actually decided to add that at the last minute. I think it might be my favorite part!

Now onto the second dress. I like to think of it as my very own Britney Spears moment - a dramatic outfit change into a short little party dress! She did the very same thing at her wedding with KFed. :-)

I hand sewed on every single one of those petals - I wish I had counted them, there had to be hundreds! Every moment I spent was totally worth it though. I felt so special in that dress.

This dress is especially special to me because it was the very first one I really feel like I designed and made a pattern for. The 2 pictures below were taken outside my apartment  in Charleston (so the hair and veil are different) - I don't think I even have one of me alone in it at the wedding.

And finally -- because my long wedding dress didn't do my shoes justice - I had to throw in this picture. Hot pink and a bow! Everything about that day was so so special, dare I say perfect? More details of the ceremony and reception to come... stay tuned!