"Jaime" Before and After

"Jaime's" dress pretty much fit her nowhere when we started on it.  We also gave her a very manageable hem length.  She opted to keep the side flair, (it will move back as she walks) but she has a nice safe hem length front and center...

Eboni and Leon

Saturday, we wound our way around country roads, passing vineyards and equestrian racetracks to arrive at the wedding of Eboni and Leon Council.  It was held just outside of Charlottesville at a charming B&B and venue named, Rosebrook Inn.  The inn boasted 4 suites adjoining a large, airy gathering room.  The downstairs held ample space for Eboni's late-night karaoke jam, and an eclectic Coca-Cola room for guests to cool down in. The entire inn was wrapped in white picket decking and crepe myrtles.  Eboni held her ceremony outside at the gazebo.  

Meet Eboni!  She is a blast!  I've been looking forward to this wedding for a while.  Eboni and I hit it off, goodness... it seems like it was a year ago that she booked me for the day. She has big expressive eyes, and lots of tricks up her sleeves.  She surprised her wedding guests with a doughnut truck at the wedding, flower girls dressed as frozen characters, and 3 wardrobe changes!  

Upper left, you'll see her bridesmaid's dresses that I freshly steamed.  Below them, you'll meet Jasmine, Eboni's planner.  She was super sweet and organized.  She is from Agape Love Events, LLC.  Above right, Eboni dons her tiara and cathedral length veil before walking down the aisle.  Her ceremony dress was a full ballgown, covered in large fluffy roses. 

Her gowns were from Church Street Bridal.  The cathedral veil was from The Gilded Thimble.  Eboni made her own bouquet.  I could go on and on about the details of this wedding!  Each table had a cake on it.  Each table had hand-wired place settings denoting the guests that should sit there. So every guest received his/her name wired in copper as a favor to take home.  

Here are pictures of her other dress...

The first picture shows how Eboni wore this gown to her "first look" moment. Remember, she has tricks up her sleeve?! Leon was not really sure about doing a "first look", because he's a traditional guy and didn't want to see her gown before Eboni walked down the aisle.  When her future husband and family members saw her in this first dress, she didn't spoil the surprise.  They thought that it was her ceremony gown.  ;) 

The second picture shows the dress bustled for the reception. She also has on her birdcage veil that The Gilded Thimble whipped up for her.  We selected a brooch, an ostrich feather, and a bit a tulle, and combined them all to make a fascinator which complemented her dress. 

The final picture shows her front bustles, which would get her dress off of the ground all the way around. Eboni joked and called these her "Delta Burke" bustles.  Remember the 80's prom dresses that had this look? It's perfect for a night of celebration!

"Nope, nope, don't make me cry!"  These were Jasmine's words before she left Eboni to walk the aisle. I loved her body language at this moment. It sums up the feelings we often have with brides.  Yes, this is a job, but we get connected.  I feel like it's my job to somehow fall in love with every bride we work with. Eboni made that easy to do.  I'm glad my heart comes through to my brides!  Eboni gave me a perfect, new nick-name.  "Friendor"  Get it?  It's a wedding vendor who is also a friend. So sweet! 

 

Other vendors not mentioned above:

Planner: Agape Love Events

Videographer: Andrew Tawes Photography

Photographer: Santiago Vidal, U Imagine Photography

Cake: Whole Foods

Catering: Hank's Smokehouse

DJ: Andy Wilfong

 

"Tootsie" Before and After

"Tootsie's" zipper flap had popped loose and the buttons were not evenly spaced.  We fixed all of that. Her zipper flap still doesn't lay completely flush, but we will be with her on her wedding day and we will sew the flap down.   

Sabrina in Luray

This past weekend, we worked a wedding in Luray, VA. I was happy to see our bride Sabrina and a venue I had never been to before.  But, unusually enough, I was also excited for the road trip, because I wanted a photograph of the Luray Volcano.  I know what you're thinking, "The Luray, what??" Yes, there is an ancient volcano in Luray, (possibly many of them?) and no, you can't google image search it to find it.  Thus my desire to photograph it.  So I had my camera ready in anticipation.  As we neared Harrisonburg, the sky opened up and we had a hard, driving rain on 81.  Oh, poor bride, I thought.  It is an outside wedding.  As we neared Luray, the rain ceased and a beautiful, gray hovering mist embraced the mountain range.    It also wound its way around the volcano so that it was shrouded beyond recognition.  Harrumph. 

As we pulled up to Stover Hall,  I took in the charming brick facade with white trim.  We drove deeper down the drive, and the Appalachian Mountains spread her arms in greeting, the garland of fog draping her ancient shoulders.  I drew in a breath.  Sabrina's pictures were going to be amazing.

You guys know about my favorite wedding weather.  It's a morning that is washed and brightened by rain, followed by a full day of partly cloudy skies.  I'm even up for a rain shower or two.  The colors come out in full strut after a rain shower, I tell you.  And you also have no squinty pictures.  Hooray! This is the kind of day that was prepared for Sabrina! 

I did my usual dress prepping.  I steamed her gown and veil.  I steamed the bridesmaid's dresses.  Tacked a few things where needed.  I tightened up the MOG's dress a smidge for her.  

Sabrina took the route of having coordinating dresses for the bridesmaids.  My fave.  <3  Look really close, and you can see a blur of Sabrina in the field to the right of the bridesmaids.  She is approaching the site of her first look photos. 

See the picture on the right?  That's MOG and MOB.  I love their dresses!  They both wore lace overlay shifts.  

Hair by friend of the bride, Devin.  Awesome job!!!  

Gown from Church Street Bridal.  Veil was also from Church Street, but was re-tulled by The Gilded Thimble.  Don't be scared of damaged veils!  You can save a ton and we can swap out the tulle and comb.  No biggie! 

Sabrina's bouquet was a show-stopper! Her flowers were perfectly bloomed lilies, roses and succulents. Vivian's got it right! It's rare to see lilies that aren't creased or in the wrong stage of blooming.

A couple other vendors that I should mention: Planning by James Umana.   Sabrina also had live music performed by loved ones from her church.  

Above, Lindsey from one of Sam Stroud's teams coaches the girls for their picture.  She was super nice and knowledgeable.  So was Meredith and Mitchell.  I had a great day working with that team!  Kaylee, a friend of Sabrina's was doing video.  I can't wait to see her interpretation.

 While I've given you a good report on the vendors of the day, there are many details lacking.  I had to help Sabrina with her dress pretty intensely because of the wet grass.  So all the stunning vistas will be masterfully captured by Sam Stroud's team.  Watch for those breathtaking images! I also would've loved to share a pic of Sabrina's dad and his long-time girlfriend, Jenn.  They were sweethearts.  They accompanied Sabrina on her sewing day at my shop, so we have literally spent a couple days together. Thanks Dad and Jenn!

As I packed up, I hugged Sabrina goodbye and mentioned my missing the volcano picture, (she knew I was going to try to get one that day.) But, Sabrina looked beautiful and she had a glorious backdrop for a wedding day.  ~Sigh~   I'd give up getting that shot again and again if it meant she could have a day this beautiful.  xoxo, Sabrina.  Wishing you many happy years of love! 

Our Contracts are Fun!

Most people dread perusing and signing contracts. Most people are boring and serious. Our brides are the exception!! Check out this fun notation that was included in the contract that came in the mail today. I just love Gilded Brides! <3

September 19th can't get here soon enough.  

upload.jpeg

Bride, "Marie" Before and Afters

"Marie"  chose a grass-length hem for her farm wedding.  She's going to love moving around freely on her wedding day!  We also took up the bodice and re-shaped the hips a little.  The skirt of the dress was originally a hot mess.  We spent hours pressing it, grooming it, and stabilizing it with stitches.  (The before picture is actually after it had already been pressed.) You can now see and appreciate the lace work on the skirt.  The patterns of lace are pleasing and the silhouette of the dress is defined.    

Kayla and Sam

We worked a wedding this weekend in the "Wild and Wonderful, West Virginia." Whew!  Try saying that 5 times fast!  While I wouldn't try repeating that phrase again and again, I wouldn't mind reliving this wedding.  It went so smoothly.  Usually the day's events take their cue from the outlook of the bride, and this day was no exception.  Kayla was completely chill all day long and it reflected in the feeling of the day.  

Her vendors were awesome to work with!  Everyone did their own jobs, but also pitched in where needed. We are even having discussions about offering joint promos together because we all complemented each other so well.  That is rare!  I'll get to the vendor list throughout my post. Meanwhile, let me step out of the way and get on with the pictures and story of the day... 

Kayla came to me back in April to have her dress altered.  As you can see from the pictures, the torso was way too long for her frame.  We had to shorten the waist, which is a deep alteration.  We also hemmed her dress, put in a bustle, and groomed her gown.  See the craziness in the train in the before picture? That takes hours of pressing and tacking to rectify.

Below, I've zoomed in on her gown to show the difference in the torso length.   

Remember the part about the alterations being in April?  Well, her gown is a delicate lace and is covered in very heavy beads.  We are assuming that the weight of the gown stretched it, because the length was right in the studio months ago, but it was waaay off this past Saturday.  Her dress was 4 inches too long!  She could not walk in it. I'm so glad I was there to hem it on the spot!!!  Seriously girls, this is why we push for either a final adjustment fitting or hiring us for wedding day services.  You just never know.  

Hem on left was so long she couldn't walk.  Hem on right is fixed.  

We had the gems on her dress wrapped in tulle so that they wouldn't put a pull in the lace.  We pressed her gown, the bridesmaid's dresses, and the steamed the suits.  

Kayla was finally aisle ready.  

Here comes the bride!  Kayla's train was orderly and beautiful.  

The middle picture is Melissa Perella, the photographer of the day.  She is incredible!!!  I loved her calm, happy presence.  She was genuinely nice and engaging of the other vendors.  She was humble yet skilled- be still my heart!! 

Kayla's planner had lined up all of the names of the wedding party in the order in which they should enter.  She was super organized and helpful.  Her name was Madison Branham.  She's from Knoxville, TN. 

Above, Kayla and Sam take their vows.  What do I do during the ceremony?  I run back to the bridal suite and pack everything up, except for hand stitching items and things I may need for a bustle mishap.  I unplug the iron so that it can be cooling. I pack away "dangerous" things so that no little ones could get hurt while the things are left unattended.   

Photos by Melissa Perella

Here are a couple of pictures from Melissa.  She did such an incredible job!  Please do take a moment to view her fb page and her website.  You don't want to miss her work. I love the picture with the yellow fluffy cloud.  I was so excited to see something so colorful pass over their day!  

Behind Sam and Kayla is Tamarack, their wedding venue.  Inside, the halls are lined with artwork and they have a gallery.  I'm an art lover, so I was in heaven.  The venue staff was amazing. Everything ran smoothly.  One thing was unmistakable- the happy attitudes.  I had to go in the back rooms several times throughout the day, and even in the back, where workers can be themselves, they were all helpful and happy! That says a lot. 

I must also say that I truly loved this family. They kept me in stitches all day long.  Especially, M.O.B. Sara, "LOVE her!!"

Hope you have enjoyed my take on the day! 


A New Plan

To some it may seem far away, but in the wedding industry -where it seems I'm always mentally living 6 months out, the new year is just around the corner.  Right now, we are starting a shift in the way we blog so that in 2016 we will have ushered in a completely new approach to our blogging. 

Historically, I have blogged in bursts.  The posts have been content rich, often taking hours to produce.  My web traffic reflects this.  I have a steady stream of visitors perusing my galleries with extreme bursts in traffic following my blog posts.  I will still post about the weddings that I work, but the content will be much lighter.  

The other change will be that, as often as I can, I intend to post before afters of our projects.  Here's how it will work. The brides will choose an alias.  I will post the headless before/afters of the brides, then I will give them a link to that post.  They can choose to share their b/a pic with close friends and family at that time and/or do a social media post after their wedding day.  

That will give my blog more sustained traffic without a huge investment in time.  It also shares the love among many of my brides instead of only highlighting the brides whose weddings I work.  

I hope you all enjoy seeing the dramatic transformations that we see here daily!  I know I have a lot of gallery fans out there, but the galleries are really just a drop in the bucket compared to what we do every day. This new approach in blogging is going to share that excitement with you on a regular basis!  

Ashley Got Married!!!

Woah! This dress came a looong way!  This gown was from Celebration Bridal and was to-die-for with the soft pink bridal satin, overlaid with ivory lace.  Unfortunately, it was a wee bit tight!  Ashley spent an evening with us and we got it all worked out for her.  Check out how amazing she looked this past Saturday at the Boxtree Lodge in Vinton.   Cell snap courtesy of her bridesmaid, Jordan Asbury, who also happens to be a Gilded Bride!