My Wedding Dress

2/2/06

Okay, if you found this dress diary, you have an unnatural ability to ferret out secrets...or I just tipped you off and let you in on it. Until the big day, this diary will not be linked to anywhere on my website. I'll invite a few people, especially my costume friends, to take a look at it, but that's about it. Even then, I'm not posting any link to this page--period--until my sweetheart actually proposes. (Okay, before some of you starting thinking I'm jumping the gun a bit, K and I have been talking about getting married for months now. It's pretty much a done deal; I just don't have a ring yet.) At any rate, now that we are getting close to being official, and since I want to have a rather short engagement, I'm starting to gather and solidify my ideas.

I'll start with the topic that only two or three people are really going to be interested in--the bridesmaids' dresses. I've been rather fortunate over the years to have worn some rather lovely dresses, and hope to pass on the positive experience to my own girls. I also don't want them to have to spend over a hundred dollars on a dress they will most likely only wear once, no matter how much they like it. (That's just the nature of these types of dresses.) Thus, I've decided to make them myself. Don't worry, as many of you know, I teach high school, so I'll have the entire summer to get the bulk of the sewing done. Now, I love the back of McCalls' reproduction pattern for Padme's nightgown from Episode III. The drapery is so beautiful and would be exquisite in a crepe-back satin. Of course, if you've seen the pattern, you know that the front is entirely loose--not good--so I'll take some darts in front to tighten things up. For the fabric, I'm going to get some silk crepe-back satin from Dharma that I will then dye royal blue. Rather than draping beads all the way across the front, which I think it a bit distracting, I'm going to see if I can get the beads to drape just over the upper arm.

The concept for my own dress is still a bit amorphous. I know that I want the skirt to be split and cut away in the back, with embroidery and beading going down the sides and around the bottom in front. Lace will fill in the cut away section. (Surprisingly, the pattern companies think this style is on its way out, though it still graces the pages of every wedding magazine I ever pick up. I only ever found one pattern that had this style skirt--can't remember which company right now--and they have since discontinued it. Luckily, I bought the pattern long before I had any reason to need it. At the time my action was called crazy--now it's called foresight.) I also like the idea of putting a double box pleat in the sides to add to the fullness, but I want to see how that would look on me before I commit to it; my large waist to hip ratio may not allow the pleats to lie flat, breaking the line of the skirt. For the bodice, Truly Victorian has a pattern for an early bustle bodice that, again, I really like the back of. I'd make it sleeveless, of course, and positioin the straps so that they sat just on the very edge of my shoulders; I'd then drape a few strings of beads over the armscye to mimic the bridesmaids' dresses. I'd move the closure to the center back, continuing the buttons down the back of the skirt, ending where it splits. I also like the trend I've been seeing in wedding dresses of pleating part of the front of the bodice. (See picture to the right.) I'd like to try to pleat the fabric so that it creates a "V" in front to match the point of the bodice. As in the inspiration pictures, I'd also embroider and bead the bust area, though I think all of my embroidery will be tone-on-tone with the fabric. (I'm just a little too traditional for such vibrant colors on a wedding dress.) Speaking of fabric, now that we have a good source for silk duchess satin, I'm kind of stuck on the idea. I already have the lace for the back of the skirt, but I'm afraid it will be too ivory, even for the silk. I'll have to figure out whether I want to change the lace or dye the silk to match a little better. I kind of dread dying that much silk fabric, though.

I'm also still a little torn about a veil. I love the mantilla style, but only want it to be elbow length since I don't want to hide the back of my dress. I want to embroider the edges and maybe sew little seed pearls throughout. What I still can't decide on is what fabric to use. Everything I've thought to use is so insanely expensive. I know I don't need a whole lot of it for the kind of veil I want, but still...I just can't bring myself to pay over a hundred dollars for a yard of silk tulle. (Okay, I did see it for less than that, but even fifty bucks a yard is a lot for me.) Shockingly, my brief search for cotton tulle produced the same kind of prices. In considering other fabrics, I'm afraid that chiffon will not have enough body to it and organza will have too much. I suppose I could always settle for polyester, especially since I'll only ever wear it once, but I seem to be going all out for everything else, so why not this. Uh! I just don't know.

I guess my overall goal for all of the dresses is "subtle elegance." I don't want anything that stands out too much on its own, but rather want everything to work together to create a sense of beauty bordering on opulence. Thus, the use of silk for all of the gowns and at least a little bit of beading on all of them. While I do want embroidery on my own dress, I don't want it to overpower. While I do want beading, I want the beads to be small, the designs for accent only, the colors subtle.

2/3/06

I forgot to write yesterday about undergarments. First of all, I have not made a profession of designing and making wedding dresses, but have lots of experience in costuming, so don't be surprised if this starts to seem more like a costume than a wedding dress. I'll be using a lot of the construction techniques I've learned in my historical costuming practice; hey, it worked for them and it will work for me. I'm not one of these modern brides who needs all the support built directly into the dress.

That said, I first need to figure out a very un-historical design for a strapless chemise. Although the dress will have shoulder straps, I don't want to have to deal with making sure they cover the chemise. I figure it should work to have just a tube of cotton lawn with a drawstring casing that can lightly gather the material just above my bust line. My only concern is that it might not sit low enough, and my new struggle will be trying to make sure it doesn't creap up above the neckline of the dress. In that case, maybe I should go ahead and make one with very narrow straps that will hit my shoulder exactly where I want the bodice to cover.

Of course, I'll also wear a period correct (whatever that means in this context!) set of drawers. I can't imagine wearing a corset with modern panties. How does anyone do that with a corset that covers your hips? At any rate, I'd also like to make these out of the cotton lawn I have, but I want to fancy them up a bit with tucks, lace and such. They are the kind of thing that will always come in handy.

I'd also like to make a very stunning corset to wear under my gown. I know no one will ever really see it, but there is just something about wearing beautiful underwear, you know? I'd like to get some white silk taffeta for the fashion fabric and embroider it with petite blue and mauve flowers. (I've got this image of Catherine Z-J on the poster for that flop of a sequel to Zorro that I never bothered watching.) If I can find some mauve silk taffeta to bind it with, that would be great; I have the perfect shade of royal blue, but I think I'd be tempting fate to wear something that dark under a white dress, even if I will be lining it and it's already a pretty thick fabric. I still haven't quite decided which pattern I'll use. I really do like Laughing Moon's Silverado corset, and it's long enough to smooth out the hips, which I'd like for the A-line dress. I also really loved my very first corset--Past Patterns' late Victorian corset--but I don't know if my rememberance of it is tainted with nostalgia. I'll probably make that corset up again before starting on the wedding corset so that I can judge accurately between the two styles.

Now, I'm still not sure what to do about a petticoat. I really don't want to wear tons of layers underneath the dress--that's just impractical. I'll do that for costume events where you're supposed to look like you have a gazillion layers on underneath a skirt, but a bride is supposed to be light and seemingly free of cumbersome petticoats. I suppose I'll have to just go with a modern A-line crinoline, even if they do make you look a bit marshmellowy when you walk. (We're talking on the level of the giant Stay-puff Marshmellow Man waddling through the streets of NYC in Ghostbusters.) I could probably even use the one we bought for my cousin who's getting married in April; she is a bit smaller than me right now, but I'm sure I'll lose more weight before K and I get married.

2/14/06

Well, some interesting developments here. K and I still are not engaged, and he is currently jobless, so I really need to put my dress plans on hold. (He is too practical to propose while he has no prospects or job security.) The only thing I will say is that I finally compared swatches of my silk satin to my lace. The lace is slightly darker, but it really won't be noticeable at all. So, the lace and silk are a go...for whenever I might need them.

So, until I actually have a ring, this secret dress diary is officially closed.

6/5/06

Nope. No ring yet, but we are actually planning the wedding anyway, so I don't feel bad about getting back to work on the dress. Also, we went to pick out the ring together and now he just has to actually purchase it, so that is coming in the near future.

I decided that I don't want to stress myself out by trying to dye my own fabric for the bridesmaids' dresses. Mom and I found some fabric that I thought I liked at Joanns and we actually found enough at two different stores. The only problem is that now I'm kicking myself for not waiting until I had a coupon; I paid $10 a yard for polyester! Plus, I'm just not all that thrilled with the fabric now, so it's going to go back. Once I get out of work for my summer break, mom and I will start shopping a bit more seriously. I either want to find silk for a decent price, or I want to find a spot-on poly for really cheap.

In other news, I found a crown that I absolutely adore. It's on backorder right now, but should be in by August. I also bought some fabric for a veil. It's just a very soft polyester or nylon netting, but it has the drape that I want. Now I just have to decide if I want to embroidery the edges or use some of the lace that I'm going to use for the dress. I also bought some shoes, but I'm not entirely sold on them; they are white flats, which is what I wanted, and have this cute strap of gold-set rhinestones, but the overall shape of them is not flattering, meaning they make my feet look wide. I might not be able to get away from that, though, since I'm set on wearing flats.

I'm still trying to decide what embroidery pattern I want for the dress. I have three different designs in mind, and all of them are so incredibly different that I'm having a hard time deciding. I'll have to post some pictures and get feedback from the very few people who will be reading this.

6/26/06

Time to update with some real progress. I've done a mock up of my corset, which looks great, and have cut out both layers. I've given myself enough of a gap that I can lose another four to five inches all 'round and still be okay. I'm also going to put it together as if it were one layer, with flat-felled seams, so it should be easy to alter if I need to. I'm also considering putting in a separating zipper in the front instead of a busk. I've seen it done, and it looks so much more convenient (not to mention less expensive). I guess I need to decide on that soon so that I can go out and purchase whichever I decide on.

Once I get the corset done and a petticoat purchased, I'll need to get started on a skirt mock up. I'd really like to get the skirt finalized, made up, and embroidered by the end of July. That way, Mom can do the beading while we are on vacation in August. I'll leave the waistband until November, just in case I lose more weight.

I'll also wait to start on the bodice until October or so. I'll be doing embroidery and beading on that as well, but it won't be nearly as much, and I really don't want to have to alter it once it is made.

As for the bridesmaids' dresses, I returned the stuff I got at Joanns. I couldn't get over paying that much for poly, so Mom and I made a trip down to Silk Road. I found a silk that would work for the same price I'd paid for the polester at Joanns. I eventually decided against silk, though. I realized that as much as I love these dresses, the chances that my bridesmaids will not only like them but actually get to wear them again are slim to none. Instead, I opted for some polyester satin for half the price, in colors that are much closer to my original concept of royal blue and mauve.

7/12/06 (added November 27th, because I forgot)

Yikes! How could I not mention this here? I know that it has nothing to do with the sewing and such, but it's of vital importance to the wedding. Kevin officially proposed last night!

He took me to dinner at the Cliff House, then we went down to the beach. We sat on my blanket and talked for a while, then he told me that he brought some of the brownies I'd made the other day for our dessert. I could hear him fiddling around with the bag, so I figured this was it, but when he turned around, he just handed me a ziplock bag with a brownie in it. I was a little baffled and was preparing to be a little upset if he waited to pull out the ring until I had a mouthful of brownie. Not one to turn down dessert, however, I opened the back, reached in and pulled out the browning. Sitting neatly on top of the little brown square was a sparkly diamond ring! He put his arm around me and asked me to marry him, and of course I said yes.

7/24/06

Okay, a few more developments. My bridesmaids all seem to want to wear blue, and I kind of agree with them, so I went back to Silk Road to try to get more of the blue. They had some that was just off enough to be noticeable, so I just went ahead and bought enough to do all three dresses. That means I have now spent just as much as I would have spent for the Joann's fabric, but I've got a lot more of it and can use the extra for decorating, or something.

I have also now draped a pattern for my skirt. The pictures don't quite do the skirt justice, especially since I did a little bit of fiddling after I took them, getting rid of all the wrinkles around the waist. Also, black just never photographs very well, so you can't see a whole lot of the details yet. My one concern in the design so far is that I'm worried about the petticoat poofing out the back since the lace is lighter than the satin. I think it should be fine, though; once I worked at distributing the petticoat better, it seemed to round out nicely despite the open back. The lining may also help the petticoat keep the proper shape.

Once I got the skirt draped, I started ironing the stabilizer to the back of the silk. Unfortunately, I ran out of the stuff before I'd gotten enough done for the skirt, so we are now waiting on a new order to come into the sewing center. In the meantime, I started playing around with the embroidery design. I got my brother to tweek a couple of the patterns I'm working with so that the majority of the design is in gold with the center flowers in mauve. I'm quite happy with how that is turning out...the trick will be to get them placed exactly where I want them so that everything looks even.

At any rate, everything is on hold until I get more stabilizer, which should hopefully come by Friday. That will give me the weekend and half of next week to work on the skirt and get enough done for mom to start working on some of the beading while we are at Costume College.

9/8/06

I promise I'm still working on my wedding dress...just not very quickly. I finally had a little bit of time earlier this week to get the rest of the fabric backed with the iron-on stabilizer. I also got the skirt pieces cut out. Now, they are all sitting on the ironing board waiting for me to put them together and start on the embroidery.

I've decided that I want all of the embroidery to be in the gold. I stitched some samples with the mauve, and I just don't like it. The mauve isn't subtle enough, but lighter threads just look pink. I still need to do a mock up of the gold-thread-only design, but I'm pretty sure that's what I'll go with.

In other news, mom has been steadily working on beading the lace for the back panel and for my veil. It should end up being nice and sparkly without being overdone. For the veil, I went ahead and just bought some ivory nylon tulle. I had toyed with the idea of using some other netting that I had or some silk organza, but one was too soft, the other was too stiff, and both were too opaque. The tulle is much better and will be very nice once the lace is sewn to the bottom edge, plus it has the drape that people have come to expect from bridal veils.

10/9/06

I've finally finished the embroidery and have handed the skirt off to mom for beading. The Dreamweave really was a dream and even held up the few times I messed a design up and had to take a seamripper to all that stitching. The one issue I've been having with it is that it isn't sticking well to the fabric. I'm hoping that a good steaming with solve that problem.

At this point, I'm ready to cut out the lining layers. I've decided to do two layers: one of habotai and another of organza to give more body.

Now that the embroidery on the skirt is finished, I also need to get back to working on the wedding favors. I'm making little fabric bags out of the mauve fabric I'm not using for the bridesmaids' dresses. I'm embroiderying our names and the date on them in royal blue thread and we will be filling them with chocolates wrapped in blue foil.

11/15/06

I really have been busy, though I still haven't gotten as much done as I should have by now. The embroidery is finished on the skirt, so that just needs to be assembled now. I've decided to do the lining separately, as a sort of underskirt. It will be easier that way to stagger the closures so that I don't have a split in my lace.

Last night I made a strapless chemise to wear under the corset. It's very simple, just a trapezoid with a casing at the top for elastic and hemmed at the bottom. I used a decorative stitch at the hem with little hearts on it in light blue.

I've also gotten the bridesmaid dresses cut out and one put together for the most part. I still have quite a bit to do on these, but they are pretty simple, plus, I can't really do the final touches on two of them until the girls are in town for the wedding.

For shoes, after a fruitless search at the mall, I settled on the ballet flats I bought a couple years ago to wear with my 1830's dress. The were originally white, but after a few coats of tea daubbed on with a sponge, they now match the shade of my silk perfectly.

A recent addition to my ensemble is a deliciously soft fur wrap (fake, of course) to throw over my shoulders when I go outside for pictures and such. Mom picked it up this past weekend on a shopping excursion with my aunt. It's a lovely winter white, so it blends beautifully with the silk.

Another new piece to the ensemble was actually a gift from K's parents: a pair of white gold bracelets that his mom's father-in-law gave her on her own wedding day. I was so touched I wanted to hug them, but they don't really hug in their family, so I figured that would be a bit awkward. They are definitely meant for wrists quite a bit smaller than my own, but they do fit, which makes me tremendously happy.

11/21/06

On to the bodice!

I pulled out TV416 Sunday morning and got my size traced out. I was going to start cutting out a mock up, but my brothers got home with the Nintendo Wii, for which they sat in line all night to get, so I surrendered the living room for gaming purposes. Tonight, however, the living room is all mine, so I should be able to get a mock up done.

I'm making a few slight changes to the pattern. I'm going to try moving the closure to the back; it might be a little complicated with the pleats in back, but I think it will still work. I've also changed the neckline a tad so that it is a bit more square with a sweetheart dip in the center front.

Also, once I get the mock up done, I can start experimenting with how I want to embroider/bead/otherwise trim the bodice. I know that I want something decorative near the neckline...I just don't know what.

11/27/06

Lots of progress to report this time. It helped not only to have a four day weekend, but also to have a party to send K off to while I stayed home to sew.

My bodice is nearly finished. The mock up only needed a few expected changes--shoulders taken up and the darts taken in. I also needed to take the hips in slightly at the side-side back seam; since the bodice is designed to fit over a bustle, the fabric was bunching up a bit funny there without one. The neckline looks a bit high in the pictures, but I figure that without the seam allowance, it should be fine; plus, it's an easy modification if I still don't like it later.

Once I transfered the mock up alterations the my pattern, I got my fabric and my interlining cut out. I'm flat lining with a rather heavy silk organza--the stuff feels like paper it is so thick and tightly woven. So far, it's making a fantastic base for the bodice. I now have most of the pieces sewn together and the embroidery inside the back pleats done. Mom even finished beading them.

I ran into problems when I started working on neckline embroidery. I simply can't get things lined up well enough and was also runing into problems with the fabric no longer being flat, thanks to the darts. I struggled with it for about twenty minutes, thought I had it figured out, and started the embroidery only to discover that the design was going to turn out completely crooked and off center. I had a good cry, then turned my attentions to the skirt to get my mind off the bodice issues.

I had cut out the hem facing for the satin overskirt the day before. I even got it attached. All that's left to do on the overskirt is understitch the facing and then tack it in place. Then, I can baste the pleats in place and do a final fitting before attaching the waistband.

So, while I was musing over my bodice trim, I cut out the two layers for the underskirt--one of that heavy silk organza and a second of habotai. I ran out of the heavy organza, so I shortened that layer and will add a ruffle of a lighter weight organza. The habotai will go over that layer to smooth everything out and the lace will be attached at the back over those two layers.

My strategy here worked, and by the time I finished cutting all that fabric out, I had a new idea for trimming the neckline of the bodice. I decided to incorporate some of the lace...something I had thought about before, but couldn't decide exactly how to do it. I'm now going to use the scalloped edge of the lace to trim around the neckline, then separate some of the flower motifs and use them to accent below the scallops. Mom already has a section of scallops beaded for me and just needs to do a few of the motifs...then all the beading should finally be finished!

Which reminds me, the veil has been finished for a while now, but I finally have pictures. It was probably the simplest piece of all. It's just a full circle of fine, soft tulle to which I hand stitched the lace border that was hand beaded by mom. Okay, not so simple, and definitely still time consuming, but all things considered, still much simpler than the skirt and bodice.

Update: I almost forgot...that stabilizer I backed the silk with turned out to have its drawbacks. While it did prevent the silk from curling up, and gave the needed stiffening for the embroidery, it made it nearly impossible to press the fabric without creating creases. Now, part of the problem may be that I never affixed it sufficiently in the first place--it's just that I was afraid of using too hot an iron on the silk. While I handled the material during the embroidery process, the stabilizer began to come loose from the fabric. When mom, who isn't afraid of exposing silk to heat and steam, then tried to press it back on and press the fabric in the process, it simply would not lie flat on the silk; instead, the silk creased underneath the stabilizer, so that the stabilizer was deceptively flat but caused wrinkles in the silk, then fused them there!

Eventually, we were frustrated enough that we simply pulled the stabilizer off, trimming around the embroidered designs.

12/4/06

I've been working on the favor embroidery all week long and am still less than half finished. My goal at this point is to have at least a hundred done; that means not everyone will get their own, but at least every couple will get one. My aunt has graciously offered to assemble them for me, so she came over on Sunday so that I could show her how to put them together. I guess I know what I'll be working on the rest of this week. :(

Tonight, however, I'm going to take a break from that and finish assembling my bodice and underskirt. Both are nearly finished, and I'm a bit hungry for some real progress, so this get me energized again.

My goal is to have everything basically done on my dress by Friday, since my mom is going on a cruise for a week and won't be here for fittings. While she is gone, I can work on the bridesmaids' dresses and on the little details of mine, like securing the hem facing and sewing my buttonholes.

12/8/06

Over the past couple of days, in the midst of my birthday celebration, band practice, and the like, I've managed to make a little bit of progress. I put the underskirt together. I opted out of adding the organza ruffle--at this point, I just don't need it and it would probably take an hour to do. I attached both layers of the skirt to a drawstring waistband. I'll add the lace to the back panel by hand once the habotai is hemmed.

Once that was done, I basted the pleats into the overskirt. Then, I was ready for a fitting.

The length on the underskirt was nearly perfect, if a bit uneaven. Mom trimmed it for me so that I can now just serge the edge, turn it up, and then top stitch it. The overskirt also managed to turn out to be the absolute perfect length. The pleats were being weird, though, so mom had to press them while I waited. They still look a little bit wonkey, but we just need to get them pressed in correctly, which is difficult to do on an itty-bitty ironing board. At any rate, both skirts are ready to be finished now.

It's the bodice I'm concerned about now. I tried it on at the same time as the skirts because I wanted to see how it fits before putting the boning in and finishing the edges, making further alterations a PITA. I wasn't entirely happy with the fit. It felt too big from the waist down, but mom insisted that it's because of the pleats in back. It's true that the pleats do start rather high, but that doesn't explain the horrible wrinkle you can see on the left side of the picture. The right side doesn't look half bad, which really makes me worry about that wrinkle on the left. It's just not looking like a problem that boning will solve.

Anyway, mom snapped the pictures for me and I've posted them on the Truly Victorian Discussion Board, hoping to get some guidance on what to do.

12/16/06

Things are coming along nicely, namely, my dress is mostly done except for a bit of handwork, some of which I was able to do this morning before K came over.

I finished the underskirt during this past week. All that was left to do was the hem and the back panel. I had some issues with the hem, but since it won't be seen, I'm not going to worry about how bad it looks. I cut out my lace panel and adjusted it so that it was the right length. I then hand pleated it to the waistband, again not worrying about what won't be seen--in this case the unfinished edge at the waist.

Thanks to Heather over at Truly Victorian, I was able to fix the wrinkle issue I was having with the bodice--I needed to take in the waist and let out the hips ever so slightly. It looks fantastic now. At this point, it just needs the buttons and the lace attached.

I've understitched the hem facing on the overskirt and that now needs to be tacked up in a few places. (I don't want to stitch all the way around, because I don't want even those tiny little stitches showing up on the lace. Instead, I'm going to hide a few well placed tacks in the embroidery.

And finally, I have a chi-paur (or qi-pau, or chongsam) that nearly fits. Even after being let out, it is still a bit snug in the hips. I've been hitting the gym pretty seriously in an effort to lose a few pounds...at least enough to feel comfortable sitting down in this dress.

1/10/07

Sorry, I didn't have time for updates as the wedding got closer. I'll try to recap, though some of the details may be lost.

The bodice came together beautifully. I finished the back edges with satin facing, to give the buttons and buttonholes a solid surface. I placed the buttonholes about an inch and a half from each other before realizing that I should have put them a little closer together for the look I really wanted. Oh, well; I'm sure my mom appreciated not having to do up so many buttons. I finished the neck and bottom edges with store-bought seambinding (the one thing I cheaped out on--I just couldn't stand the thought of all the time it would take to make seam binding out of the silk). I did, however, take the time to handstitch the seambinding to the inside of the bodice, making sure that the stitches only caught the organza layer and did not show through the satin. Once the bodice was finished, I cut out some of the lace motifs that my mom had beaded and applied them around the neckline. After that, the bodice was ready to go.

As previously mentioned, the underskirt was already finished, but I needed to tack the hem facing on the overskirt. I only had to tack about every 5-8 inches, hiding my stitches in the embroidery. Also, once I attached a hook and eye to the waistband, mom was able to put all the skirt layers on the dressform so that she could press the overskirt to get the pleats to hang correctly. The only problem I had with the skirt on the day of the wedding was that the petticoat kept deflating--the weight of the skirts was just too much for it--causing my hem to trail a bit. It wasn't too much of a problem though. I was concerned about Kevin stepping on it during our dance, but we managed just fine (though one observer mentioned that part way through the dance, it looked like Kevin got a bit lost and I took over the lead).

The only near wardrobe catastrophe we had was with the bridesmaids dresses. As soon as Liz got into town, I did a fitting. So, mom and I had two bridesmaids dresses finished about two days before the wedding. Thursday night, I suggested that those two really should be washed, especially to get out the pencil we had used to mark some of the mauve fabric. About fifteen minutes later, we heard a very strange noise coming from the garage. The "blades" used to turn the fabric had broken off and the washer was eating my bridesmaids' dresses!

Once we had untangled everything and assessed the damage, we found that one dress had a severe tear about five inches above the hem, and a bottom corner of the other's back drape had been torn off. After wandering about the mall the next morning, I decided that we would be better off trying to fix up what we had rather than settle for anything I'd found at the stores. Mom ended up hiding the torn corner by overlapping the two sides of the drape a bit. We fixed the hem issue by adding a wide band of the mauve fabric to the hem of each dress; I wasn't entirely satisfied with the results, but visually, it worked as a compliment to the mauve band at the top of the dress. All the girls seemed pleased enough, and really enjoyed the drapery, even though the straps gave them no end of grief, constantly slipping down their shoulders and causing the drapey "wings" to come unhooked whenever they moved around a bit.

Other than that, I don't think we had any other wardrobe issues at all that day. My dress and accessories fit perfectly, and I actually remembered to bring them all that day. My white gold bracelets were a bit of an issue; I managed to wear them through the entire ceremony, but once we got to the reception, I just had to take the one on my right wrist off; my right wrist must be just a tad larger than the left and the bracelet was digging into the flesh and starting to bruise the bones.

The chi-paur was still a bit too snug to be perfectly comfortable, but by the time I put it on, there wasn't any reason to sit down anyway. I guess the one benefit of wearing such a tight-fitting dress was seeing Kevin's reaction when he first saw me; I'd never seen his jaw drop or his eyes bulge like that.

Overall, it was a marvelous day. Everything went smoothly, at least to my knowledge. The weather was perfect--not glaringly sunny, and not entirely overcast. As our pastor married us, the sun setting over mount Tamalpais was our backdrop. At the reception, our guests got to enjoy the beautiful dusk sky over the Golden Gate Bridge.

I owe a few people a very special thanks for making everything about this day possible:

Michael G. for his wonderful coordination and decoration, and for my exquisitely beautiful bouquet.

Sharon B. for her darling bridesmaids' bouquets, boutoniers, and corsages.

Aunt Nancy for the necklaces my bridesmaids and I wore.

Aunt Toots for assembling the favor bags.

Andrea of Lafayette Sewing Center for getting me incredible fabric, selling me an awesome sewing/embroidery machine, and for all her encouragement.

Shari for all of her amazing help, and especially to her and Rob for their bold moves with the decorations...wink, wink.

Liz and Haley for their patience.

Kevin's Mom for the second dress, a wrap to go with it, and the beautiful bracelets that she wore in her own wedding.

Pauline of Garden Strings for our ceremony and dinner music.

Dad and Nathan for all their hard work on the music.

And most importantly, Mom...for everything.