Happily Ever Afters

Yesterday was a big, big day here at the Frew Household!  Big Girl and I went to Priscilla's of Boston with Our Bride to look for dresses and **ta-da** we found the Perfect Dress!

Turns out she has had this particular dress in the back of her mind for quite a long time.  She tried on several dresses, some which were real contenders.  Until, of course, she tried on The Dress and then it was all over.  No competition, this is the one.

As we looked at the gowns, I gave them names so we could remember which was which. 

This one we called the Meadow, because of the sweet trailing vines of lace at the waistband:

This one we called the Cutwork, it has appliqued lace flowers all over.  The matching veil also had the appliques--absolutely stunning! Check out the applique scalloping at the hem.  The train on this one was a real eyecatcher.

This one was the Starfish, it has a starfishy-looking flower at the waist made of crystals and all kinds of bling.  Poor Starfish was rather quickly eliminated...we were not digging that big chunk of bling right there.

This one is PolkaDot. Our Bride loved the dotted swiss fabric, but overall, PolkaDot was a loser.  (As if any of these gorgeous creations could be called losers, but you have to make cut throat decisions in this process.) In this case, PolkaDot had just too much cleavage.

Now being a sewer, I was very interested in the construction.  I loved how all the boning was concealed in stitched pockets.  All the layers of crinoline perfectly gathered and attached in rows, the lace painstakingly stitched on by hand.  A little different from making drapes and pillows, I can tell you that.  I don't imagine Our Bride would enjoy having her straps stapled in place!  I haven't made clothes in ages, but I can truly appreciate the hours and hours of artisanship that go into these works of art.  In fact, a good friend of mine made a wedding gown for a friend this year:  have you ever seen anything more glorious?  Jacki is a true magician with fabric!

As for Our Bride's Perfect Dress?  Well, I'm sworn to secrecy, so I can't share any pictures for a year.  But she looks like a model with endless legs and a Scarlett O'Hara teeny tiny waist.  Ohh, I get goosebumps, just thinking about it.  We ended up selecting the simplest of veils, maybe matched up with a flower in her hair.  I absolutely adored Cutwork's matching veil, and wanted it badly.  Til I saw the pricetag. Apparently I have very. expensive. taste.  Who could have guessed that!

I can tell you, however, Feathers here is not The Dress!  You'll have to wait til August 7th for The Real Thing.