Wedding Planning: The Dress I

So things happened a lot backwards for Adam & I.
We decided to get married before he ever proposed.
I have about 3.5 weeks to plan my wedding.

& the engagement happened later.

[ME/Morgs/MOM] on our way to my first fitting

At the time felt real super weird, but now I am glad it happened that way. I think it made things a lot less drama. I got all that stress out of the way in a short amount of time & then it was just over. I highly reccomend planning your wedding SUPER fast. Even if that means plan it all in 2 months & ENJOY the rest of your engagement.

So When it was time to look for a dress I knew {EXACTLY} what I wanted...mostly.  Once upon a time I was at tmy Grandpa Alger’s house. He has this GIANT book shelf of pictures over his mantel. One of them was of my uncle Bob and Aunt La Flores. They had gotten married in the 50.


She = tea length, ¾ sleeve, boat neck dress with a tasteful tiara (she sit he only lady I have seen in a tiara that I thought looked beautiful).
He= black tux. Cummerbund & bow tie
They = marital perfection.

50 years later they still looked STUNNING. So I thought to myself that day: I want a timeless look for my wedding.

So when it came to actually finding THE dress I started looking online at vintage patterns, vintage sites, goggling all sorts of stuff and I found THIS dress. Despite some OBVIOUS styling flaws...BROWN shoes that are super UG, REALLY?

I loved the Dress.

Which I loved and thought would be super flattering on my figure.


My Dear friend Dareth had a custom gown so I called. Got the number Called the studio & set my first appointment with Nancy Barrus @ Avenia Bridal.



 It was like a DREAM come true.
Their studio is so cute and bridal-ly I loved it. Dresses everywhere, white leather couches, a DVD of wedding dresses, great music. SUPER fun atmosphere.

 

All images borrowed from their web page you can see here. 

SIDE NOTE: even though I knew I was going to have a custom gown, it was STILL fun to go through all the dresses and look. + Avenia works straight with the designers so the dresses come to the shop pretty temple ready if you are LDS. So the alterations never look like a wedding dress with sleeves sown on. They are really gorgeous.

 I sat down with Nancy (who is SOOOOO Sweet and about 5 fee tall) and she asked my the dream of my wedding, what I wanted to look like &how I wanted to feel. Then I busted out the picture of my sample dress.

I said I want this dress, only made to fit me.

So she started sketching. WHICH WAS UNBELIEVABLE to see. It was awesome because we were debating on the top to do it flat like it was in the picture or how we ended up doing it. She sketched it back and forth and back and forth until I decided.

Same with the sleeve, she sketched out like 5 different options. Took out fabric showed me what it would look like.

Same with the band/knot. I thought I wanted a super thick band, after seeing it sketched a few times we went thinner. The knot became a fixed vertical knot instead of a bow. And I became REALLY excited.

 THEN the grandest moment of them all.

FABRIC.

For someone who WHISHES, beyond Wishes, Beyond WISHES she could sew or do anything remotely creative, for someone who LOVES project run way so much that when she went to NYC almost 2 years ago she went on a “Make it work” tour- saw mood touched all the fabrics and DAY DREAMED about all the things she would make IF, the FABRIC was the pinnicale of our first appointment.

Nancy has this MAGIC black cabinet. Inside are about 2000 bridal fabric samples. It made me wish I wanted something super ornate, because the lace, ooooooh the lace, the sheer, the beads, the lining she has. Its is to DIE for.

I got to touch about 40, trying to figure out JUST what kind of silk I wanted. How stiff I wanted it. How thick. How soft. How much of a shine. And which of the 14 shades of Ivory did I want MY dress in.

It was hard & amazing.

At the end of day one I had a sketch, a swatch, a rush order fabrib, and my next 4 appointments set in just over 2 weeks.

I was a little nervous to tell them my time frame. "Ummmm my boyfriend and I just came to the US to visit my family while he was doing some training for his job. We decided to get married while we are here because there is an LDS temple. So I need my dress in like 3.5 weeks."

Nancy: well you came all the way from Ethiopia so I think we can accommodate. As long as your schedule is flexible.

GET MARRIED IN THE OFF season (which for UT is anytime mid semester)…Everything gets easier.

♥the MRS.