Weddingbee Blog

Watching my dress come together from the ground up has been immeasurably gratifying. I can’t imagine wearing something into which I’ve put so much emotional and financial investment and not knowing how it is constructed and put together.

The first part of the process, of course, is taking a million measurements and then building the muslin. You may remember my dress sketch from before:

When I went for the first muslin, we were still working off the measurements taken for That Dress Which Shall Not Be Shown, which was not strapless. To this fitting, I showed up wearing my own strapless bra, because I really just didn’t know what else to do. The bra is filled with all kinds of boning and weird supports, but my seamstress, Nazhly, let me know that she’s going to build a support system into the bodice of the dress. Whoops!

So, in this picture I look like a football player. The skirt is fine, but where’s my waist? Hm. I was pretty apprehensive about this one.

This is my seamstress’ drawing. She modified my sketch and made some notes for her own use.

Also, she has a very cute dog who loves all the visiting clients! He keeps Nazhly company as she sews. Here he is jumping onto my legs!

For the next fitting about a week later, we had mostly resolved the issue. And we came up with a great combination of “garments” to go under the dress. I’m going to wear my body shaper thing (like this one) and my regular bra, with the straps just tucked under! How easy is that?? If I’d known, I could have saved myself quite a bit of wasted money ordering ill-fitting strapless bras.

Welcome back, waist! The dress was beginning to take shape, and I was reassured that my vision really would come to life. Also, I’m very excited that she’s building the dress to be comfortable and to have appropriate coverage up top!

Here’s stage three, about three weeks after that. The dress as shown, in the chosen fabric (no more muslin!) with the underpinnings. The dog liked it, too!

There are some adjustments to be made with the waist and in the back. You might also have noticed that the dress has no waistband yet. The hem looks weird because it is just pinned under.

Here, you can see the lace better. We also had to forgo the V I’d planned in back. I’m not as excited with the straight-across back, but it was the only way for the dress to hold everything up, if you know what I mean! You can’t fight with physics.

Check it out! It’s me, in a wedding dress. The next step is… the finished product! You’ll have to wait a bit for a photo of that one. But I assure you, it is finished and is locked away in a closet here in our house, where Mr. Oyster can’t get to it.

I must take a minute and give credit to my amazing seamstress, Nazhly Montilla. She’s been sewing nearly all her life, and she doesn’t make a lot of dresses; as she works on just one wedding gown at a time. Her work is incredible, and I’m so lucky to have met her. I just can’t believe the quality and workmanship of this dress. It is on par with any Amsale or Priscilla of Boston you could find. I am so very happy it has turned out well! I can’t wait to show you all.

From the sketch to the finished product, my dress was built in just over three months. Did you know that it’s easier to build a dress from scratch rather than make one, rip it apart (alterations), and put it back together?

When I went to visit my mom, I was watching TV with her (she has cable! How exciting) and caught a few episodes of SYTTD. For a minute, I was sad about missing the whole bridal-salon experience. But what could be better than jumping off the bridal-industry train and doing things myself? Custom dresses aren’t for everyone, but I’m thrilled with my choice. I can’t wait to wear my dress!