18 October 2012

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...

31 comments:

  1. Katy!! The dress turned out so beautifully!! Amazing! love it!

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  2. Sisters are the best! LOVE the beautiful dress and the pictures!! Congrats to your brother!

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  3. Beautiful. Would love to know the pattern number for that Vogue dress...

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  4. Oh my gosh! The dress is simply stunning! I think it would be a blast to have it in a solid to wear out on the town :D Fantastic job!

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  5. Beautiful beautiful beautiful words and images! I did and do trust you implicitly. Always.

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  6. You did an amazing job on her dress, Katy!! Love the climbing up on the roof with the ribbon story, hehe. Beautiful photos and I think your new SIL will fit into the family just fine if she chose orange as a wedding accent color! ;)

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  7. Wow what a classy dressed! Very Jackie O! I think it is amazing and really hope she gets a chance to wear it again! I also have to say WOW you and Jackie really look alike! Lol beautiful family! You are blessed!

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  8. beautiful! the dress was perfect! I just loved the flounce at the back! (the technical term I'm sure!)your crazy talented!xo

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  9. Absolutely gorgeous! You can just feel the love in your family!

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  10. Oh wow. That dress is really stunning. I had to make tissue holders and a ring bearer pillow for my sister's wedding. I almost had a heart attack...cannot imagine making the whole dress! Just amazing.

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  11. Well at least you have many years before those wedding dresses need to be made! :)
    The dress turned out so pretty. I love the vintage vibe.

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  12. You made a wedding dress?!? It turned out AMAZING! And from states away....incredible! Loved all the photos in your post and all of the sentiments you shared :) You can feel the love in your fam from the photos. I also loved the last part about no more dresses...... then 5 daughters...made me smile :) That would be so special (and maybe a bit stressful) to make their wedding dresses....it would be treasured always!

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  13. Both your dad and I looked at each after reading this and laughed because we were BOTH crying. Such beautiful photos and words. I am truly grateful.

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  14. Thank you for the photos, the thoughts, the dress, the traveling to be here, the Ryan for tending the little Dills.
    Love you!

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  15. Awesome! Sewing, photos, family...its all just way too cool. *grin* I'm just a smidge jealous of all. Well that- and you can never go wrong with orange...but how come so few people believe that? Thank you for all that you do in blogland. :) It is always such a great treat to veiw your photos and read your well written posts. Best wishes and happy fall!

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  16. Oh my goodness the photographer is my RA in Orem! That is crazy! Anyway, loved the dress great job!

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  17. Yes, please. I love these.

    And such a lovely dress.

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  18. So, is it just a couple of inches of height discrepancy? Rather than feet? Part I led me to believe she was super tiny.

    Also, are you related to Amy Andrus Snow? She was a former roommate of mine.

    The dress is beautiful! You are an amazing seamstress to have it fit her so well when you were two time zones away. I wish you were my sister-in-law.

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  19. Lizzy--so, it's more like a foot discrepancy :)
    And yes! Amy is my cousin! Small world.

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  20. Oh, Katy, the dress looks so beautiful!! The orange velvet ribbon is just perfect (I love the bride's shoes too).
    Isn't it so awesome to have sisters? I miss mine terribly, but we talk on the phone all the time. I am happy for you that you got to see each other on such a special occasion.

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  21. Wow, you did a great job making the wedding dress. It is beautiful, she looks stunning.

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  22. Oh you're such a tease making us look at all your other lovely photos before we get to see the dress. The wait was worth it. Gorgeous! I LOVE the ribbon.

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  23. Wow Katy, what an incredible job you did, you are very talented. The bride looks stunning. The orange ribbon finishes the beautiful dress perfectly. Lovely pictures too. Your dad looks like so much fun.

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  24. Ok, I'm simply dying to ask: is that a lovely braid crowning your head?! Tutorial please! I have enough hair to do that for sure!

    I choked up on this lovely post. What a precious wedding. I'm so happy for you all! Congratulations on your new sister.

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  25. Katy--Did you make your flower pin? I Love it!!! I'd love to see a tutorial for that!

    -Amy

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  26. The dress turned out perfectly! wow! I love the orange! Can you find out where your she got her orange shoes? I want them. Bad.

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  27. Oh, how beautiful. It looks like it was amazing. Nice work on the wedding dress. You are a sewing MacGyver with that ribbon.

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  28. This post is just so lovely. Thank you so much for sharing - it just brightened my day. I love the way the ceremony started, I adore the dress, the orange ribbon (with an engraved button!!! AHH!!), the sweet couple and beautiful sisters.

    I love these posts of your family. So happy and loving.

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  29. The dress is so cool! I made baptism dresses for my nieces; maybe they'll want me to make their wedding dresses. :)

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