Welcome Wedding Season



Yes, this is me, the Dainty Domestress, pictured in my gown, my design and photographed by the very talented and very dear Kelly Beane.



Wedding Dress Week:

Ahhh, wedding season…to those of you not yet engaged it sounds like a dreamy fairytale full of forest animals that will appear on your window seal and stitch the perfect dress right in front of your eyes. To those currently engaged brides, right in the middle of planning…well…you are stressed out! So, let’s just try to get you through your wedding as simply and easily with a variety of tips and ideas to save money, choose the right dress, and throw a lovely wedding celebration. And, lastly to those of you who have already been through this grand gala we Americans call a wedding (myself included) we politely smile, offer our best advice (while not including our truly best advice…elope and have a huge reception later), and then remember all the money we are about to shell out on gifts this season.

While the next few week’s posts will be geared toward brides and weddings there will be plenty of beneficial take-away for everyone, no matter which of the three above categories you may fit.

I had a beautiful wedding; I cut costs at every corner and had a hand in every decision and design. This being said, I drove myself crazy! No one could talk me into eloping or a destination wedding either. But, I learned a lot from my experience. There are many things you can do yourself, but know your limits and abilities. Plan ahead. Long engagements are good. Consider what is most important to you. Is it the dress, the photography, the venue? Allot for that first in your budget. When your budget becomes sparse then decide what you can do yourself or with the help of some friends.

As an aside, I will say we actually took wedding pictures, including the one pictured at the top over three years after we were married. So if you are stressing about your pictures not turning out or not yet having a photographer, though you will never have the wedding and the moments back you may have a second chance at certain things…like really great pictures. It was worth the wait!

Another area brides tend to trip up in is THE DRESS! (Hopefully, not in the literal sense) This goes for anyone who will ever wear any dress in there future…decide on a dress that makes you look your best, not a great dress that wears you! Ok, I’m a bit of a wedding gown snob (as I should be). My degree is in apparel design. My internship was at a haute couture wedding gown design house. I am in my element here. I saved a considerable amount of money on my dress compared to what it would have cost in a boutique because I designed and ended up sewing most of  it myself (another long and dreadful seamstress story we won’t go into). But…I am not so unreasonable to think everyone can and will go out to purchase dresses for thousands of dollars. That was my priority element, after the dress (fabric, notions, and construction) the budget trickled down to other parts of the wedding.

This week I want to inform you on making smart dress choices for your body type and budget, and help acquaint you with silhouettes, trains, waistlines, necklines, measuring, and customarily appropriate wedding attire.

Also, I would like to apologize to those of you expecting a post last Friday. The whole blogger site was down Thursday while I was desperately trying to post and still down last Friday when I checked. Hopefully, this is all worked out because we have a big week ahead!