Weddingbee Blog

I’ve already shown you some of my wedding dress rejects, so you might be wondering where the ugly comes in. Hold on to your seats, hive—it’s confession time.

I didn’t buy any of the dresses I showed y’all. But that’s not the ugly part.

I didn’t buy a wedding dress at all. In fact, I don’t have one.

To recap: yes my wedding is less than two months away, yes I tried on what seems like a zillion dresses, no I didn’t buy any of those pretties, no I do not, as of today, less than two months before my wedding and two weeks before my bridal shoot, have a wedding dress.

However—I’m not hyperventilating yet. Here’s what I do have—a plan, like a million yards of assorted white textiles (actual yardage—55), a mom who is the most talented seamstress I’ve ever met, and my fingers crossed.

I’ve mentioned Mom Archer’s crazy sewing skills before—she makes her living as a couture seamstress. So this is right in her wheelhouse! However, I didn’t automatically decide to have her make my gown. I really wanted the experience of trying on and saying yes to the dress, and Mom, who generously offered to gift me my bridal attire, gave me the option of purchasing or having her make my dress. I was a little hesitant to put this on Mom’s plate at first, but not because I don’t trust her. Quite the opposite actually—she is such a perfectionist on an everyday garment, I didn’t want to stress and pressure her with my wedding dress. But after all those shopping trips, I realized that the dress of my dreams was a combination of elements from several dresses and my imagination, and that the only way my dress dreams would become reality was if Mom made it happen. So I called in the big guns, and extended the New York trip planned for my bridal shower to give her the time to whip up an amazing creation.

Now, I’m not going to show y’all the dress before the big day—what’s the fun in that? In fact, I’m taking it a few steps further, and keeping my dress a total secret from everyone, including my bridesmaids and besties. The only people who will see my dress prior to the wedding day are Mom A, myself and the photographer shooting my bridals. I’m looking forward to telling y’all all about the dress and the design process promptly after the big day, but until then, I’ll leave you with some examples of her amazing work.

She has made some of my favorite pageant dresses ever…

And when my cousin B got married in St. Lucia last summer, she had my mom make her gown…And she was an absolute vision!

-all pictures personal-

As my dress takes shape, I am getting more and more excited! Do you think I’m absolutely freaking insane for waiting fifteen months of our engagement and still not having a dress this close to the big day? Have you ever had a custom-made dress, for your wedding or another occasion?