All About My Wedding Dress
The one thing about the wedding that I was asked about the most was my dress. My dress is one of my favorite details of our day especially since I was able to customize it to be 100% me and perfect for our big day. In this post I will share all the details of my dress: the designer, where I got it, how I customized it, and the alterations process.
My dress is Morilee by Madeline Gardener. The dress is called Kaitlyn Style#5607. The dress is a beautiful traditional lace style with some more modern touches including the unlined lace neckline and back. In the original design of the dress the lace appliqués go all the way to the bottom and down the train. The lace was beautiful but not quite what I was going for with our outdoor garden wedding.
I got my dress at a local bridal shop in Bakersfield called Ladies and Gents Bridal. This boutique carried wedding dresses, bridal accessories, flower girl dresses, formal gowns for bridesmaids, mother of the bride/groom, and for other occasions as well. They also carry tuxes and offer a discount on suits if you buy your dress with them.
At my first dress appointment, I knew I wanted a tulle or organza train but when I tried this dress on I fell in love with so many aspects of it. I fell in love with the unlined lace back and the unlined lace illusion sweetheart neckline. I fell in love with the buttons down the back and it had the fit and flare look that I wanted. The only issue was the lace train. I kept coming back to this dress, then my dress consultant took the tulle bottom of a dress that I loved and held it up to this one and instantly I knew it was the one. I love these photos of that moment because you can see the excitement on my face.
Once I knew this was my dress, the next step was alterations. This was the longest and most stressful part of the whole process. The first step of alterations was taking in the top of the dress so it fit. The next step was pinning where we would cut the lace and then cutting it. Once the lace was cut, a petticoat and tulle were added to the bottom.
Once it was closer to the wedding the tulle on the train was shaped to look more uniform and we added the bustles, nine in total. The last step of alterations was taking in the bust of the dress one last time so it was the perfect fit for the big day. I suggest leaving your dress at the bridal studio until a few days before the wedding, especially if the bottom of the dress is tulle because everything clings to it and the shop has steamers and fabric spray to clean the tulle before you take it home.
I am in love with how all the aspects of my dress came together: the lace back and neckline, the button detail, the lace over the tulle on the skirt, the fit and flare style. Everything looked perfect. The photos below are from my bridal portrait shoot with my dear friend. She did an amazing job! I highly suggest doing bridal portraits before or after the wedding because it is a great chance to get portraits for parents and grandparents that you may not have time for the day of the wedding because of the family and couple portraits.
Let’s talk veils! I highly suggest buying a veil even if you don’t wear it down the aisle because it is a great addition to bridal portraits! It is such a fun detail that adds an angelic hue to your photos and it is the kind of detail that you can really only wear once. My veil was a simple waist length single layer tulle veil with a bead and pearl trim. I chose not to have a blusher because I didn’t want my face covered. I would suggest a veil that is at least elbow length for the best photos. Cathedral length veils make a great addition to couple photos, but I didn’t think it was the best choice for my style of dress. Overall I think veils are a great addition to the whole bridal look!