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Melly Sews

Melly Sews

My Wedding Dress

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I told you to prepare for some departures from normal this week! I’ve mentioned in a few other posts that we were lucky to vacation in Hawaii last month. Hubby and I took the chance to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary (which is next month, and yes, I married young) by taking Trash the Dress photos. The images in this post are from the lovely Karen Loudon, who took them for us.

So how does this relate to sewing? My wedding dress was made by my mom and me (mostly her – I cut out muslins and helped with fitting, but the final fabric and sewing was her) and designed by me. I did sew the bridesmaid dresses, but I left this one to her more experienced hands. And why did I choose to have it sewn instead of buying one? Well, I got married in 1997, and a lot of the choices looked like this:

Now if your wedding dress looked like that, I’m sure you were lovely in it, but it’s just not me. My mom and mother-in-law took me through several bridal salons, where I tried on many very heavy dresses, and I just didn’t like any of them. I wanted something more simple, streamlined and flattering to me (remember I’m a short girl – dresses like the one above tended to be wider than I am tall!). No lace, no beading, and since we were getting married in August in Texas, it had to be sleeveless. So, as with many special occasion clothes in my life, we sat down to figure out what I wanted and made it.

And as I wrote Karen when I contacted her about photographing us, I am THRILLED that 15 years and two kids later I can still fit in this dress! Mind you, I’m at least 10 lbs heavier than when I got married, but I think a lot of it is under that full skirt, not above the waist. Ahem. 
Those flowers (which have satin ribbon flowing from them – I know the picture above this one kind of looks like my skirt got cut, but it’s the ribbon) were the only adornment on my dress. Isn’t that zipper beautifully put in? And mom hand-stitched all the facings and lining around the neckline and arms to make sure they lay perfectly. She put a lot of love into this dress. So she was understandably concerned when I told her we planned to do this:
But I reassured her we weren’t planning to do any permanent trashing – in fact, the dress got washed when we got back, and is still in great shape. Probably because we used friendly fabrics (satin and cotton) instead of acetate or other awful bridal fabrics that shrink, warp and discolor if you even think about water while wearing them (I’ve had a few bridesmaid dresses fall into that category). 
This picture was toward the end of the session, and even Karen commented how my dress barely looked like we had just been in the ocean and rolling around on the sand. 
And one more, just so I can relive how beautiful that day and that beach were and pretend we had an exotic destination wedding (these photos are more beautiful than our actual wedding photos).
If you’re ever on the Big Island of Hawaii and need a photographer, I highly recommend Karen.

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Comments

  1. Seersucker Sally

    Beautiful! I love the clean and simple look- never goes out of style. Congrats on 15 years of marriage… and on still being able to fit in your dress!

    Reply

  2. Jessica

    This is my favorite post I’ve seen in a while! I love that you’re still married. I love that you’re still willing to be fun and take amazing pictures together. I love that you got married young, so did I. I love that you went to Hawaii.

    Reply

  3. Jaayimee

    Love the photos and dress. I was married very young as well. We are going to Hawaii this winter to celebrate out 20th that will be next June.

    Reply

  5. [email protected] By Sessa

    I wanted to do a “trash” the dress thing and we had contacted a photographer around our 1 year anniversary, but then I found out I was pregnant! haha! Holding off on that one! lol

    Reply

  7. Dee

    I love it! I am super impressed that you can still fit into your dress. Congrats on 15 years and a great way to celebrate it.
    Hubby and I have often said that we would renew our vows one day… I wonder if I could remodel my dress and do something similar… we are up to 21 years so maybe I could aim for 25? food for thought…

    Reply

  9. Ginger

    I couldn’t get my wedding dress over my right elbow after 15 years of marriage! 🙂 I love your dress; when we married in 1994, I had the same issue with the “big dresses”. Mine was also handmade, but the woman who sewed it told me every week how ugly she thought it was without pearls or sequins!

    Reply

  10. Maria @ Craft Crazy Mom

    Absolutely gorgeous! I can’t believe you and your mother made the dress. Super impressed! My husband and I just renewed our vows and those photos are also better than the originals 🙂

    Reply

  11. [email protected] Nest

    I love that you were brave enough to have your wedding gown hand made. It’s classic, and you’d never know what year you got married by looking at it 😉 And major props for fitting into it 15 years later! You are my hero.

    Coming over from One Artsy Mama. I’d love if you paid me a visit too, at http://www.clevernest.com.

    <3 Alyssa

    Reply

  12. Amy

    So beautiful! Love the dress, love the pics, love that you spent your 15th anniversary in Hawaii! Congrats! Thanks for sharing this at Shine on Fridays!

    Reply

  13. marissa

    YOu look stunning. And the dress is still so beautiful (you know how sometimes years later you think well I liked it then?). And I love love love that you decided to do trash the dress pictures 15 years later. SO cool.

    marissa
    http://raegunwear.blogspot.com

    Reply

  15. sorbetsurprise

    Your dress is beautiful and the photos are lovely. The dress doesn’t look aged at all so well done you on bucking the 90’s trend!

    Reply

  16. Jill Frank

    I was married in 2000 and luckily the trend was towards decreasing volume… I had the option of using my grandmother, mother, and mother-in-law dresses. I didn’t – because none would fit me. I wish I would have used the fabric from each to make my own. I will be saving all the dresses in the hopes of making dresses for my girls.

    Reply

  17. Ali

    Both you and your dress look beautiful. The shape is lovely and you must be so pleased that you designed it and your mom created it. What a lovely memory. Thanks for sharing. Ali x

    Reply

  21. Jeanette

    What an amazing thing to be married for 15 years! Not to mention, the fact that you can still fit in your wedding dress!!! I will be married 31 years on August 1st and I can tell you that I absolutely positively can not fit in my wedding dress – but hey, I’ve been married 31 years! Congratulations and what a beautiful way to celebrate your anniversary.

    Reply

  26. Tamsyn

    Wow! I don’t know where to start… Your dress is stunning! You and your mom are so incredibly clever for making it. It is absolutely perfect for you. These photos are amazing too, such a perfect way to celebrate your 15th wedding anniversary. AND how amazing are you for still fitting in to your dress!! I love it all 🙂

    Reply

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