Motivation

Well my mom over the weekend sure wasn't a great motivator to start working on my dress.  I thought I would make one last ditch attempt to find a dress that is mostly what I want that I could just add or build up on. 
I tried this on at Saks 5th over the weekend and it so lovely but Mom put a firm NAY on it being a wedding dress option.  It was a much lighter Creme color instead of the Tan one they have on their website.

Oh I found a picture but you can't see it as clearly as the Tan one anyways. Not that it matters much since Mom said Nay.

You might wonder why I am putting so much stock into what my mom says.  Well I figure let the Ceremony be hers and the Reception me and Andy's!  I am the only girl and the youngest so she will never get to have this moment ever again.  I like always make considerations to my Mom's happiness within reason. 

Trying on this dress did give me some ideas for my own dress.  Perhaps I will go with a more Traditional Hanbok for the entire thing.  I'll just do a white/creme one for the ceremony and have a layer of colorfulness to slip on for the reception!  Genius!  Two dresses in one!  I doubt that will happen but I can still dream right? 

I found these gorgeous modern Hanbok designs today from this Site. This is what is inspiring me right now.

This Last picture is of someone else's modern Hanbok from their wedding and I love the rainbow color choices.  Ideally I want to use something similar in colors.  Usually it's the sleeves of the jacket (jeogori) that are decorated in a rainbow pattern and the dress itself is one plain bold color.

YIPEE SKIPEE!

Just a small update I FOUND MY SHOES!!!!!!  Those Vivienne Westwoods.  I actually got them already right after Thanksgiving but I've not been feeling up to bloggin anything wedding related.

Turned out the shoes were completely sold out on Hervia.com so I was near tears to give up and then I gave it one last ditch effort and SHAZAM!  Endless.com had them and in my SIZE 5!  I snatched them up immediately and those were the only ones in that Red for that size, how fortunate I was.

Here is a terrible picture of the shoes when I had just gotten them after a long day at work and I promptly took a nap in them as well.

Yah yet another thing down.  Also confirmed music by some friends in a band called "My Kid Sister".  Yah it wasn't just some drunken or friendly banter saying they would play.  They are really looking forward to it and learning songs for us! 

Now if only all the other things could go just as easily.  I've had some panic attacks and insane tears these past 3 weeks trying to do a little bit of wedding planning.  It's just so overwhelming.  I talked to a recently married bride who is my friends new sister in law. She was ever so helpful and supportive and helped to ease some of my anxieties.  Apparently I have a lot done and alot covered so I'm on a good course.

Our Save the Dates are almost set.  I know they are going to be letterpress on chipboard made into  Magnets that I'm making with my Bridesmaids at Igloo Letterpress in Worthington, Ohio.  bah............. so much stuff still left to do.

Biting the bullet

So after I tried on dresses at both Big Rock Little Rooster and Girls in White Dresses and I haven't seen anything I am absolutely in love with. So I was super inspired last night and started to drape some ideas out. I'd been doing a little price checking here and there on Fabrics but last night just hit me. I need to make my own dress end of story.
So here begins my journey I haven't worked with boning in over a year and even it was cheap rigilene. I'm going to have to go balls to the walls and get some spiral steel boing and make the casing. Luckily I had some left over netting under skirts from when I worked as a prom dress seamstress so I don't have to worry about making or buying any of that.
Here is what I started.

I'm thinking 100% silk Duchess Satin for the body base with a spiral steel boning for support

On top of it layers of silk organza mixed with Tulle. I would like to find a supply for a natural fiber/silk tulle it possible. I don't care if the underskirt is poly for support since I already have that.
Severe Sweetheart with pleated shaping and I want to let the layered pleats be long so that they fall down on top of the skirt. I also like the way the edging on the grey empahsis' the pleats so I think I will do something similar for the finished product.

I like the play that this Vivienne Westwood dress has.  I am especially going to steal that double zipper Idea on it, which I have actually seen on several dresses I tried on.

FML!

I know we have a long way to the wedding (next august 2011) but still.

This weekend was good until I went to Church and found out for sure My Organist that I grew up with my entire life and who used to give me Violin and Piano and Organ lessons when I was younger can't play my wedding.   He is retiring this month and due to his Contract he is not allowed to play for anything at the Chruch for a year.  Him and His Wife and many members of the Church are upset by that.  I am one of the few people rasied in the church and still active.

Another Upset is my Pastor will be out of town that weekend also.... I was really looking forward to working with her.  So back up is to have our really good friend be Officiant which he offered many years ago and is excited to still be an option for us.  The hard part is to make sure that my church is ok with that.  Now thinking of having an associate pastor do majority of the service and sermon but Just having our friend Officiate the papers and such and actaully pronouncing us as Man & Wife.

Lastly as I was checking up on things for the wedding The ONE and ONLY designer thing I told Andy I must have are these Vivienne Westwood rocking horse Shoes for the Reception.  SOLD OUT!  WTF?!  FML.........
I put my e.mail in for notification when they re-stock at "hervia" but My heart is so broken right now.  Ther eare Black ones at Zappos but I wanted Any color BUT Black.

Wedding Veil Tutorials

This is the first in a series of 3 tutorials I am doing for the new Forum I joined called Off Beat Bride Tribe.  I love this Forum, such a variety of people and I never feel bad for going away from the traditional.  They are super low drama and very supportive which is exactly what I need right now.  I love my Bridesmaids and Friends but I am sure they do not want to hear non-stop about my wedding planning.

And here it is!

I've finally gotten around to working on a veil for my Cousin's Wedding coming up. 

Honestly girls Veils are EASY PEESY!  You can buy 60" wide bridal tulle from Vogue Fabrics, Mood, Joanne, and numerous other places.  Remember in most cases this is a one day item and you do not have to spend $50-$200 on it.  For this I spent about $15 and patience.

It is always best to buy more then you need for this in Tulle.  I got 2 yards of 60" wide white tulle from Vogue Fabrics about $12.00 and a silver Hair comb from Joanne's for about $3.00 (I had coupons)

I opened up the tulle flat on my table and folded it in half to make it easier and more even for when I cut it.  I put weights on both sides to keep it from slipping off and flat.

I measured to make this go past the chin 3" (giving yourself some room to play with for length and you can trim it off later.

With tape measure I figured from 3" past the chin up to the back of the head where the bun is supposed to be for the front veil length which for me ended up being 18"

For the back the measurement was similar from that same spot where the Bun will be I measured back to be down past the shoulder blades making it 22".  It seems strange that they are only 4" in difference but you have to remember depending on the placement of the hair you have the crown of your head to account for the front.

After the Measurements I stabilize the Tulle by hand basting a bright colored thread.  DO NOT knot or tie this off.  This is just a place holder and you will want to be able to easily pull this out at the end.

I made 3 long straight lines at the ends of the front and back measurements for the veil and the middlepoint where it will attach to the bun with the comb.

I tested to make sure of the lengths before doing my shaping my safety pinning the tulle to the comb at the middle point. and trying it on again.  You might actually find that you like the drape of the sharp corners of a rectangular veil then a traditional rounded one.  Just play with it before you cut it.

Once the Lengths are good for what you envisioned lay it all out again.  For good measure I folded it in half yet again so that I only had to concentrate on getting a perfect 1/4 circle/oval instead of a 1/2 circle.

Using my ruler as a compass point I patiently hand basted the shape for the Veil.

Tried it on again to check in the mirror that it was going to fall the way I intended it to.  When I was satisfied with the shape I laid it out flat with weights to begin cutting it.

After cutting it out this was the end product just loosely attached to the Comb.

You can see the major shape difference and how when the front layer is pulled back it is on a different level then the back layer.

Next up to bead the Comb and embellish the veil!

The most Important thing about working with Tulle is to have a Large flat hard surface, Weights to hold down the four sides and Clean basting stitches out of a bright thread.

Exquisite Corpse

Just a reminder to myself DO NOT FORGET EXQUISITE CORPSE!

Most excellent Idea I had today regarding the wedding......... I don't want to go into details because I don't want my idea stolen quite yet.....

Dress Attempt #1

So lucky for me Andy is super supportive of me just buying a dress instead of making one.  I feel like it will be too much stress on me to make my wedding dress and my reception dress.  It's bad luck anyways for the Bride to make her own dress or so I hear.  As long as I can find a dress under $1000.00 which so far hasn't been a problem since I am looking for things more plain and with no beading or emblishments at all.

I went with Brook and Steph and my Mom to Wendy's Bridal in Dublin and tried on a bunch.  These were the top two numbers in my mind.

This is an all lace deal in Champagne.  I liked it much more then I thought I would.  I was afraid it would look too old fashioned but it was actually quite nice.

Then this huge ass Tulle Ballroom.  Which I really liked and happened to be the first one I tried on.  I thought the ballgown would be too much on me but I actually really really liked it.  I like also the Tulle skirt it is very light and airy.  The belt is optional so I would go without IF that were the dress.  I have only just begun.

This Dress I would love to try on but the closest dealer is in Cinci it looks like or I can go to Henri's in Minerva and I MIGHT get a discount since I used to work for them.

I also made an appointment to try on dresses at Girls in White Dresses at the Beginning of next month so my Maid of Honor can be here from Chicago and get her opinions.

So Far sweetheart neckline looks the best on me.  I like th Ballroom skirt,  I'm not a fan of the mermaid waisted bodice.  And still no beading or embellishments.  I'd rather adorn with jewelry.

Things I learned from my Cousin

Even though her wedding has not hit yet I feel like there have been a multitude of things I have learned from watching her.

1. Give yourself time to plan.  She was trying to do it in 3 months it really isn't working out so well.  People who previously promised to do things have dropped off and now there is no time for her to get it back together so she is conceding on not having what she wants just to keep the date.

2. Have your budget all up front and do not rely on going paycheck to paycheck to pay for things.  Also don't offer to put money down for someone else when you need that to for yourself.

3. Read books, magazines, blogs, anything before you start to plan your own wedding.  Seriously there is so much detail and watching her struggle to get it all done has been painful.

4. Educate your Maid of Honor and Bridesmaids of their roles and what they are actually agreeing to.  Don't just have them their because they are your friend. Have them there because they are your friend that cares about you to put you first during this whole planning time and day of event.  Nothing worse then someone not being a team player and IT IS a TEAM.  Ugly as the word is that's the truth.

5. Once again BRIDAL PARTY = TEAM get this event DONE!

6. Even if the groom doesn't want to help he needs to be there for Support.  Like Running errands helping to foot the bills when you aren't around. Signing off of orders etc etc.  He may not want to plan the wedding but he still needs to be involved.

Yep I think that's all fo far.  I'm sure there will be more.
Otherwise My cousin finally gave up trying to get all the exact same shoes for the bridesmaid and finally told us to buy our own and in a certain style color.  MUCH easier and gave me the awesome excuse to buy these Babies!

Michael Kors "Belinda"

Bumps and stumps

WOW wedding planning is just not fun for me.  I wonder if it is also because I am working so heavily on my Cousin's quick turnaround wedding that has been a total of 3 months or less due to happen 10.10.10.  Which I also don't understand why people get hung up on a date.  I like having a random date that you make special with your own personal holiday.  It's almost like a HUGE Unbirthday.

If Alice in Wonderland hadn't been beaten up so much these past couple years I would of liked that as my theme for the wedding.  As it is we are going for a "Under the Sea Theme".  Not some cheesy prom type, something classy and crafty.  I figured using a theme would help me to eliminate and to focus on what kind of decorations and invitations I want to use.  Also it is something I personally never tire of.  I could study Sea Creatures and their shapes and colors forever.

The main creatures in mind are Sea Horses, Jelly fish, Anemones and of course Octopi!  How strange most people must think I am but if you really know me then this is only natural to pull for my inspiration.

I've also decided not to focus on just one color of green but to let it organically be several shades of green.  Also to not neccessarily make my Bridesmaids all wear the same dress but let them chose something in the similar style so that they can all feel comfortable in their own right and have a dress that they will wear again as well. 

Lastly for this post I found my Shoes for the reception!

Tradition meets Alternative

I've been pondering and playing with ideas for my own wedding dress now....

My friend Larissa of Wilde Hunt Corsetry has got my back on a killer Piece that she is going to create for me.  It is going to be an underbust leather corset with her signature applique work.  I can't wait to get started on this.  The problem is that I need to find a dress that will suit my height and preferably not strapless.  I might change my mind and make an overbust but this is still so early on.  What I really need to do is go and try on a slew of dresses. 

Most likely I am going to either end up making or at least designing my own dress.  I know I want some HUGE organza something on one shoulder trailing down.  Also this is most likely not the dress I will be wearing the entire day.  I am thinking of doing a more casual costume change for the reception into a modernized Korean hanbok.