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Hannah Sage's avatar

This was such a lovely read. Thank you for sharing! I’m a little over two weeks from my picnic wedding at 26 years old, and I’m still working on sewing my dress! Was planning on hand sewing and adding lace details but am relying on my machine and keeping it simple now that it’s getting so close! Making it a plan to learn lace tatting to teach my future daughters for their wedding dresses though. And your flowers are so similar to what I have been envisioning for mine! Very beautiful and whimsical!

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Keturah Hickman's avatar

Sooo fun! Congratulations! I hope you have a very special day. Feel free to DM me pictures of your dress and wedding if you like!

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KP's avatar

You did an amazing job! It’s a stunning dress! I’m a firm believer in preparing yourself now for the vocation you are called to, even if it’s fulfilment does not seem to be on the horizon.

I very much lack the handicraft skills to do this myself, but I did avail myself of someone who did! I wanted a Eowyn of Rohan-inspired dress with full medieval sleeves and NO synthetic fabrics. My friend made a stunning silk brocade bodice, full silk skirts with ice blue in the folds and a silk tulle veil. My only regret is that I didn’t have more blue in my dress! I love blue and I’ve never been one for Victorian tradition. Two of my bridesmaids wore handmade dresses as well. It worked out to be much more cost-effective even with the skilled labour.

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Keturah Hickman's avatar

Wow your dress sounds gorgeous. I would Love to see pictures of it!!

And yes, I was kinda surprised that I decided to go all traditional on my wedding dress since I'm not 100% into following Victorian customs either. But for some reason I decided to omit pink. In other ways our wedding was very non traditional, so maybe I was trying to approach it with some more balance and not being completely out there haha!

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Penelope's avatar

This is awe-inspiring Keturah! How special!

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Christiana Johnston's avatar

So beautiful!!! Also the dress your mom made you based on your wedding dress is amazing! It looks exactly like it! That's so neat she did that.

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Lynda Rimke's avatar

Super enjoyed seeing your amazing needlework in detail after seeing the wedding photos. This adds depth of meaning to the day, seeing so much loving work poured into your dress and veil. I also sewed my dress but the cotton eyelet was machine made. I barely had the patience to make the dress and I made the bodice too tight and had to let it out! Not my skill set, but I’m still glad I made my own special dress. It was a 1776 pattern I had made before when I was a camp counselor that summer and we all had to make dresses to welcome the kiddos each Sunday afternoon for their week of church camp. We’ve been happily married since 1983 and the dress is still hanging in my closet.

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Betsy's avatar

I love your essays. Thank you for sharing your beautiful life.

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Kelly's avatar

What a beautiful dress to wear on your special day!

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Notsothoreau's avatar

That is a beautiful dress and I especially like the bodice! Why don't more women make their own dresses? I've done it twice. First time was a long white and gold brocade skirt with a gold satin blouse, very simple. Second time was a white linen walking skirt with a linen Gibson Girl blouse. I had a lot of fun tracking down vintage lace. And I sewed it on a treadle. Both pretty simple outfits. I just think it makes the service more meaningful and I personally think the marriage lasts longer.

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JudyS's avatar

That was a lot of detailed work. It is good you knew how to sew. I love the graceful tiers of the skirt.

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