Weekend Wedding: Part II

"Gratitude is the catalyst of change,"

is how the wedding ceremony began.

A change that makes us twirl,

appreciate our loved ones more fiercely, 

or laugh at ourselves.

A change to vow to be there more for those we love, 

to be quicker to apologize,

and to give each other a break more often.

I've never cried such big tears of joy as I did when I saw Jacob married to his love, Krisanne.

I was blessed with the opportunity to make her dress, which also brought logistical problems since she's many states away.

I sent her a muslin and then we skyped to have it fitted, and she sent it back for me to cut out the real fabric. Nerve wracking!

I had a headache for three solid days before I flew in, the day before the wedding, to do a final fitting and hem it to her height.

And it fit!  And she loved it!  And my headache finally went away!  What trust she put in me.  When people would ask about the dress, she would respond that she hadn't seen it yet.

What if you don't like it?  

Oh, I trust Katy completely.

No pressure, right?  In fact, the weekend before the wedding, as I finally put the white, dupioni silk sash (which I had spent hours seed beading to create an ombré effect) and the dress together, it did not look right.  Ryan agreed.  Suddenly, I needed a thin, orange, velvet ribbon.  Good luck with that, Katy.  I found one online, but the shop owner was out of town for the weekend and couldn't get it to me in time.  So I thought I'd just dye some.  But, I couldn't even find white velvet ribbon!  I finally found some pale blue velvet ribbon and dyed it using tangerine RIT and as I pulled it out of the water and rinsed it, it was perfect!  Ryan was on the roof at the time, painting the chimney and I went running outside, waving it in the air, yelling it's perfect!, scrambled up the ladder to show him my success, shaking it in his face.

The beautiful photographers.  Ashley Thalman is the legitimate one.  Ann's phone cover matches her dress.  The man in the middle is my single cousin, wink, wink.

I used a vintage reproduction pattern from Vogue that had the most amazing details--three little elbow darts!  I lowered the neckline, shortened the sleeves, brought up the back and shortened the hem length.  It's lined in a grey rayon

I engraved CHB on the circle bead, Curly Haired Boy, which is what Krisannes lovingly calls my brother.

That's 4 yards of hem there.

I'm so pleased she was happy with it.

Want to hear the funny part?  As I was finishing up the hem, I thought, All my siblings are married now, whew, no more wedding dresses.

Then I remembered.  Oh, yeah.  I've got 5 daughters.

My brothers.

I accessorized all my sisters (and my mom!) with orange.  Seems I had the most abundant supply.  See?  I come in handy sometimes!  As I was packing I realized I didn't have a great option for something for me to wear until Ryan pulled out my grandma's Lily Anne suit from the back of my closet that she gave me before she died several years ago.  How about this? he asked.  I had to suck in my tummy, but it fit and I was on my way to deliver a wedding dress.

Sisters are the best, no?

If you can stand one more installment...