A Once in a Lifetime Project- Tales of a Wedding Gown

 

 

Life has been crazy, and busy, and exciting recently... in case you didn't gather that from the nature of this post. 😉

 

Between planning a wedding, moving to another state, and settling into a new phase of life I haven't had much time lately to devote to blogging.

 

When I went about designing my wedding gown I knew I wanted a few things... I wanted it to be fairly simple in lines, but not boring, and I wanted it to include linen somewhere if possible, symbolic of the bride of Christ clothed in pure white linen. What better era to choose than the 1930's with their penchant for simple but detailed designs!

With the help of my Matron of Honor, Brigid, from Brijee Patterns, I came up with this 1930's design, featuring a little bit of a modern twist in the back. Brigid is fabulous at pattern drafting and helped with the design-side of the gown immensely!

 

Originally I thought my linen element would have to be only in the lining and/or slip, but the fabric for the dress is actually a silk/linen blend, perfectly fitting my wish of a 30's looking fabric AND linen.

Though it looks basic, the cowl neck probably gave the MOST trouble during design and mock-up phase, but it decided to cooperate before I threw out the plan and started over. 😜 

This back design was one of the elements I KNEW I wanted from the start, I had seen back v-necks with leaf decals, and both loving fall and having a fall wedding I wanted to find a way to incorporate that. I meticulously cut out each leaf, and stitched them on with silk thread forming the leaf veins one by one... it took an agonizingly long time, but I loved every second as I watched it take shape.

I really question my judgement in deciding on this closure design... 27 custom buttons with hand done thread loops... approximately a million hours later... ok, more like 12, it was ready to finish hems and wear. 😊

 

 

You'll have to forgive the bulky wool socks... October in the north can be a bit frigid.

I had a teeny, tiny, itty, bitty, 4 inch train and STILL in the first five minutes out the door for pictures I managed to trip... 😨 It was fine though... no one noticed.😏

 

The wedding was fall themed, so the bridesmaids, decorations, and flowers were an array of fall colors. Seeing all the colors together for the first time was so much fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos are by my talented friend Sarah Burns. She was amazing to work with and her photographs are stellar!