Follow The Bride #3

We caught up with our bride-to-be to see how all the planning's going.... 

You said in the first blog that your dress and the bridesmaid’s dresses are sorted, please tell us more! 

Hello my dears, for today’s blog I’ve titled it: Rosie meets Jane.

So despite the amount of blogs I have read recently that say "don’t even go there" when it comes to making your wedding dress, well I'm going there and I couldn’t be happier about it! As much as I know everyone enjoys wedding dress shopping and it’s a once in a lifetime thing it’s just not me. I’ve been to lots of wedding shows up and down the country with work, been a guest at lots of weddings and have therefore seen lots of lovely wedding dresses; but I've never seen a dress that's for me - so making it seemed the best solution!

Which silhouette will Katie choose? 

So if you are all asking whether I’m a designer or a top notch sewer the answer is no. I’ve made a couple of dresses over the years and am a big fan of curtains, blinds and soft furnishings. I’m more of a one-time project girl, I like a challenge and making one off pieces. However in my favour, I am a 3^rd generation dress maker in my family, Nan made her wedding dress and all the Bridesmaid dresses, so did Mum and now so am I.

Quite frankly, I’m loving it! Like I said I’ve seen so many nice dresses but nothing quite me, so the first step was to look for a pattern, this was where my love for Etsy flourished! A vintage dress pattern and I instantly just said ‘yes’, so I can now add my answer to the aged old debate, do you instantly know which is the right dress? My answer is yes.

Second step was to find the fabric, this was a bit more work, as my dress would certainly suit a particular type of fabric, but was a little harder to find as it’s not quite the norm. However find we did and we booked in to visit Platinum bridal fabrics to go and collect the fabric. Mum and Dad came with me for a day out and we had a good cuppa at the café around the corner whilst the fabric was being cut.

I’ve been sewing my dress for a month or so now, I usually do a couple of nights a week as Graham is away during the week, and then an afternoon on the weekend. But it’s not stressful or time consuming- if you want to do it you just get on with it. I would say I’m not far off finished but I think mum would beg to differ! I also nearly gave mum a heart attack when she came in and I was on the machine with fabric in one hand and a cuppa in the other! I do get bits wrong and I’ve done some things again as I wasn’t happy with them but I’ve not stressed over it at all, I’m really loving the whole thing (insert something at a later date to burst my bubble!), I wouldn’t say it’s perfect, but it is perfectly me.

The question I do have is over pockets. Mum says no way, I say it’s a chilly winter wedding, the bridesmaid’s and I should have pockets, don’t you think?

And in answer to the title, Rosie is the name of mum’s mannequin and Jane is the name of my dress. As Nan says ‘every couture dress should have a name!’ I’m not quite sure my dress is of a couture high standard but the design does have a very French couture air to it and Jane is my middle name so it just fit… coincidentally so does the dress!

Veil or no veil? 

Veil, easy question, traditional girl. Question is gloves or no gloves!?

How about the shoes?

Oh I’m toying on these a lot, hmmm decisions decisions.

What’s next on the wedding to do list?

SP exhibited at the National Wedding Show, and i managed to convince Graham to come and join me at the London show so we could have a look round for some inspiration! Graham even spent some time on the SP stand giving out lots of samples! Next up, graham will be giving a Groom’s version of wedding prep!

Love as always, SP x x