Weddingbee Blog

4:30 on Tuesday, March 22 brought with it two weeks full of vacated bliss. Woot. What can go wrong? I’m getting married and going on vacation! Double woot.

On Wednesday, I had my final dress fitting. Luckily I brought Sister-in-Law Spiffy along (and my mom, but she usually spent these trips to the bridal salon tearing up in the corner). I had so much confidence and put so much trust into the Julie’s Bridal that I had never communicated specifically how I would like my bustle. When I first purchased the dress I had mentioned the bustle, and Julie tacked it up so the back was on full display. I had asked her if she would be willing to make it a zip off train. It was impossible to do with all of the beading.

On that Wednesday, I tried my dress on and I asked about a bustle. I take full blame for not communicating my wishes prior to this day. My quite heavy skirt was pulled up and held on with one barely-surviving button. The beading looked gorgeous, as did the skirt, but I wasn’t confident in the strength of the bustle. My only sticking point for the wedding was that the bustle remain intact for as long as possible.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been pulled out of my seat at a wedding in order to fix a bride’s bustle.

I normally offer to my friends that I go to their last fitting in case their bridesmaids can’t figure out the system. I followed Spiffy around all night long keeping her skirt perfect. I know how tricky these things get and I certainly didn’t want to fall victim to a weak bustle. I expected it would get stepped on and eventually broken but I couldn’t see the bustle on my dress holding up for very long.

The other issue with the bustle was that my train still pooled on the floor. I still had a foot-long train. I was reassured that most bustles don’t completely pull off the floor. However, I wanted it to be pulled up as far as possible without compromising the look. Again, I should have communicated this prior.

Spiffy, who always reads me so well, spoke up for me. She asked that instead of the button we put a pulley system in underneath the skirt. After two additional try-ons (the skirt still pooled too much on the floor after the first try-on) I went on my merry way with my gorgeous dress.

My maid of honor was unable to attend the middle-of-the-day dress fitting so later on that evening, after she returned home from work, we met at my parents’ house to show her the inner workings of my bustle.

After several attempts to gather the skirt up we all became a little frustrated with it. Spiffy could remember what she had seen earlier but it still didn’t look right. Finally, I took my dress off, put it on Britt, and took a peek at it myself. The pulley system was… not good. There were three ties where there should have only been two. It was a bit of a disaster down there. To be fair, the seamstress was sick that day. I’m sure she was pretty frustrated with the cold and our asking her to go back and fix something she’d already completed probably didn’t help. I can definitely sympathize with that.

We figured out the pulley system but the left side of the dress didn’t pull up to the same length as the middle and right sides. It then became apparent that the bustle would need to be completely re-done. I wondered for a moment as to whether or not I should return to Julie’s Bridal the next day, risking becoming sick, and possibly still not having it correct. Then I remembered that Cakes was due in town the next evening, and lucky me, she was staying at our home.

And, to toot my horn, I didn’t freak out. No, I was surprisingly calm. I went out for a few drinks and asked that no one mention my dress to me. After speaking with Cakes, I knew I was in capable, perfectionist, hands.

Thursday, around 11PM, Spiffy and Brittany once again gathered around me. We waited for Cakes to arrive so we could begin the bustle overhaul. Once Cakes had artfully sculpted the pick-ups, Brittany and Spiffy returned home, while Cakes and I started sewing in the ties. We were up until 3 AM on Friday morning but by George, it was fixed!

My point in all of this is not to complain about a slight thing that went wrong. Yes, the bustle was important to me. Yes, I was slightly panicked. Remember, freaking out never fixes anything. I want to stress to you that you must communicate your wishes. I had so much trust that I was in capable hands, I let them decide what was best for me. When it wasn’t what I had hoped, it needed to be fixed. I think that is something you should apply to all of your vendors. Look, we don’t book our vendors thinking that they might not translate our dreams perfectly. How could my seamstress know what I wanted without me having told her? We always, or should always, have that trust in them. However, you must make sure to communicate your wishes.

Everything worked out wonderfully. Despite seeing O’dark thirty the day before our wedding, we had a houseload of friends and family surrounding us with well wishes and love. It’s easy to forget about your troubles when the happiest weekend of your life is upon you. Oh yeah, and your bustle looks a-mazing.

Picture courtesy of Sara Zarrella Photography

My bustle held up like a champion all evening. It wasn’t until 3 AM (by the way, I stayed in my dress as long as I possibly could. I was only going to be able to wear it once and I wanted to say that I spent every possible minute inside of my precious) when my husband and I stumbled back into The Biltmore, hands full of the most delicious Haven Brothers hamburgers we’ve ever tasted, that he stepped on my dress and broke my bustle. It was the perfect end to this imperfect couple’s wedding day. I hereby grant you access to one of my favorite pictures of the evening. It was taken with my friend’s Blackberry, busted bustle and all.