Wedding Dress Pt 6: Big Reveal

IT’S TIME Y’ALL. HERE IT IS.

Honestly? I can’t think of a single project in my life I’ve ever worked harder on. Focused more on, for a whole year. Poured my heart and soul into more.

I loved every single stitch of it.

This is what a 150+ hour garment looks like 😮 Researching, learning couture methods, pattern drafting, failing, troubleshooting, making two full toiles and four more bodice-only toiles, searching for fabrics and materials, hand sewing, careful bead removal, hand basting, seam ripping, and sewing it all together. I went into this looking for a big, juicy challenge and that’s what I got.

The results speak for themselves! I absolutely loved my final dress. I felt incredible in it. Brimming with pride and joy. Was it perfect? Honestly, no it wasn’t, and I wouldn’t want it to be. But did I feel comfortable, confident, and absolutely myself in this garment? 100% sis. I earned that. I love every bead, every stitch, every little imperfection of the whole wild journey.

The wedding was a beautiful celebration. We had a wonderful time celebrating for four days in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with 60 of our loved friends and family at a beautiful private hotel on the beach. Jason and I walked down the aisle together hand in hand. He’d seen the dress around our small apartment, but it was the first time that he saw it on me.

Metrics

I didn’t track my time, but I’m guessing I spent at least 150+ hours on this project from start to finish. If not more. That includes endless research, finding fabric, designing and sewing drafts, all the way to the final dress.

All in, my materials cost $843.

Was it worth it?

For me, yes, absolutely. Is this kind of thing “worth it” for just anyone? It depends; you need to know yourself really well. This kind of project is not for perfectionists. It’s not for the truly impatient. It’s not for procrastinators. It’s not for those who don’t enjoy research, or who are discouraged easily. You have to really know whether this kind of process brings you joy or would make you stressed and miserable. For me, outside of a few short moments of anxiety, I really loved the whole thing. I’m also probably easier to please than the average person; I didn’t have a distinct vision of what my wedding dress absolutely had to be. I could have been equally happy with a different outcome. It was more about the journey and the process, the challenge, and the learning.

Close Up details

Custom embroidered garment label. My Brother SE600 sewing machine is a combo sewing and embroidery machine, so I pulled out the embroidery function to make my own little custom dress label for the occasion, also acting as my “something blue” as tradition goes.

Satin Fabric Covered Buttons. The back of my gown was fastened the old-fashioned way with 22 buttons up the back. These were lovingly handstitched on one side, and the other with a sewn-in elastic loop tape. None of that fake ish buttons covering up a zipper closure, we are authentic around here. I liked the idea that my mama would take the time to slowly button me up on the big day and have a nice lil chat.

Custom beaded earrings. Made from the extra beads removed from the dress and commissioned from a lovely etsy artist for my big day.

Conclusion: Did the Dress Hold Up?

Now the question y’all are all wondering. Did it hold up though?

It did, fam. It held up just fine. Of course. I shouldn’t have been worried about ANYTHING. The waist stay absolutely did the trick holding all the weight of the dress at my waistline level and was comfortable thanks to the elastic. The little straps did their jobs too.

I will say though, that despite my best efforts, the beads did unravel like crazy. Perhaps I didn’t fasten all of the ends as well as I had intended, or perhaps this is just the name of the game with a dress that takes so much wear, but I dripped beads all. day. long. I left a little trail of glass tears. The dance floor was a slotted bridge that was placed over the pool. The next day, I watched as they spent a whole hour wet vacuuming beads out of the pool. Whooooopsie 😇

So… What’s next?

When we first got back from our wedding and honeymoon, I was struck for a while with a strange feeling. Of being oddly free and open to opportunities, and also sad to have closed the door on a project that was so deeply meaningful to me. Since we’ve been back, I have been bursting with the joy of making things on a whim, palette cleansers. I’ve been focused on quick gratification.

But I am gearing up for a really big next journey that I can’t wait to share more about soon: PATTERN DESIGNING! This isn’t the last you’ll be hearing from Handmade Millennial :)

Xoxo,

Ella

P.S. If you read through my journey, I’d love to hear from you in the comments! This whole blogging thing is such a weird one-way street, What did you think?