I Made My Wedding Dress, Part 4: The Big Reveal!

Ta da!

Here she is: my finished wedding dress.

A labor of love, crafted over many, many months of work.

But the absolute best part was that I got to wear it for this day.

To close the back of the dress, I added two pearl buttons. I tacked a little piece of ribbon behind the lace when I sewed them on, for extra strength. For the button loops, I used thin corded elastic, tied it into loops, and sewed the loops to the ends of two of the “leaf” lace strands.

These buttons weren’t really bearing any weight, they were just making sure the lace overlapped in the right place.

Even if the buttons had no other purpose besides getting these photos of me and my mama, they’d be worth it. We’re so cute.

Of course, David said he barely NOTICED my dress until after the ceremony, after the family photos, after the bridal party photos – not until it was time for our couple photos. Up until that point, he hadn’t really thought about my dress because he’d been too busy looking at ME. How sweet is that.

And it’s true, the couple pictures were a wonderful time that day because we got to take a moment to breathe, and hug, and be together.

I ended up finishing the dress with a whole week to spare. It wasn’t perfect, but it was exactly what it needed to be. I made myself a matching mask with a little bit of lace detailing. My mom made masks for the bridesmaids and groomsmen, to coordinate with their dresses and suits.

To hem the neckline and sleeves, I simply trimmed the mesh, carefully outlining any motifs. No sewing here. I wanted to maintain the “illusion neckline” and stitches would have been too visible. Plus, this is what the pros do, and if they’re allowed to do it, so am I.

Knowing what I know now, would I still make my dress? Absolutely. Like I said at the beginning, it’s what I do. I’m so glad I was able to wear handmade on my wedding day.

I’m also 100% thrilled I never have to make a wedding dress ever again. I said that to someone who asked, “what about your daughter’s dress?” and I replied, “She can make her own.”

The dress was great for twirling…

And more twirling.

(also how dashing is David in his vest?!)

The dress was also perfect for our backyard wedding reception. I had toyed with the idea of including a train, maybe even something detachable, but that didn’t happen and that’s okay. This dress was perfect for our casual day.

Our wedding day was so different than we had planned it. There were lots of compromises and certainly many people we missed. But we are so glad we went for it on 10/10/2020 and aren’t waiting in engaged limbo anymore! It’s so great to be married to this guy.

Thank you to Anna Liz Photography for these beautiful photos.

This is the fourth and final post in my “I Made My Wedding Dress” series.