Wedding Dress Love/Hate

I have a huge love/hate relationship with my wedding dress.  huge.

I purchased it early on, 15 months out, almost impulsively.  I only shopped for a week, if even, and when I tried it on I just knew that was the one. (love)

I shopped for a weekend with my sister and bridesmaids.  Then the following Wednesday found myself back at Priscilla of Boston for their sample sale.  I wish my mom had the opportunity to shop with me, but things happened so quickly and before I knew it, I owned my dress. (hate)

Melissa Sweet designed "Dylan" for P.o.B. way back in their Spring 2009 line. Dylan only made it a season in their books.  While common to discontinued designs, to keep the stock fresh and brides from becoming carbon copies, Dylan's sales were low.  But I'm a sucker for underdogs, and a good sale. (love/hate)

Here's a picture of a model wearing it like a nightgown:

What's with the poof on her head?

Made of silk organza, the fabric is flowly and ethereal. (love)  But don't be duped, as I was, underneath that drop waist are still puffy layers resembling a ball gown.  Six layers to be exact.  Six layers of hot, sweaty, crinoline and more silk. (hate)
But the top layer is my favvvvvorite.  It's why I feel in love with Dylan.  There are small eyelet details with beads sewn around them.  It's dainty and whimsical, soft.  The zipper back on the back hides behind small beaded buttons. 

As the dress was a sample I had no choice in size (hate), but it fit pretty much perfectly. (love)  It was a wedding dress size 8, which is my street size.  This scared me at first, as wedding dress sizes are huge, fat lies.  A wedding dress size 8 is akin to a size 2.  But it worked, it fit.  And even better, it didn't need to be hemmed at all. (love)

I chose to have the bodice fit like a glove for a more dramatic poof at the bottom.  I guess you it falls under the "fit & flare" variety?

There were 3 main problems with the dress:
1. a few buttons needed replacing
2. the "train"  had a slight tear in it

3. the hideous bow on the side looked hungover

Those problems were easily fixed:
1. we moved around a few existing buttons and sewed on the 2 extra that came with the dress
2. the seamstress sewed something over the hole to make it appear like the other eyelets

3. again the seamstress came to the rescue by sewing the bow's flaps on top of each other, so it laid nicely
(sorry, picture not available...See professional picture for full detail!)

Then, after months of waiting and fixing, I really had my lovely, dream dress:

Which is why you might be wondering why I decided to do a "trash the dress" session and now my dress looks like this:

It honestly gave me such a thrill to get into the Potomac River in my dress.  I felt redeemed for all those moments my dress drove me crazy.
And also, because sometimes you have to get messy and dirty to get a good shot!
I can't wait to see the photos from the Trash the Dress & "Day After" shoot!


{first image}
{studio juno image}