Not all weddings are white

In the wake of Nemo, the blizzard of 2013, which dumped almost 30 inches of snow in my neighborhood last Friday thru Saturday, I'm thinking of summer weather, and weddings. A while back (almost two years ago, now) I had the great pleasure of making a young bride's dream come true, when she and her groom planned a wedding they could truly enjoy.
Their home was the setting, a backyard cookout the theme, and her dream dress? A red sundress. Stephanie came to me with a cute dress she'd purchased that had everything she sought for her wedding day: cotton, breatheable fabric; shoulder straps/sleeveless styling; a gored skirt that would twirl when she did. Except for the large floral print, this was the dress she wanted.

The fabric she chose was an organic cotton, amazingly wide at 110 inches, in a lovely Valentine's red. Since her preference was a dress that would be easy care, we chose washable Hang Loose lining, and everything was pre-washed before I cut the pattern. We used McCall's 6027, which had all the lines we were looking for, but with fewer gores than the Nine West original dress had. At the first fitting using the lining for a muslin, Stephanie decided she wanted a little less flare in the skirt, so we cut it back to more closely reflect the fullness of the original.

In mid-twirl, so comfortable!

The simplicity of this dress, and the fact that we were copying something the bride already owned and was comfortable in, meant I only needed one more fitting before the final pickup. The only change needed in the actual fabric was to lower the underarm portion of the armhole a bit, to give her the comfort she wanted in that area. The day Stephanie came to pick up her dress, she swayed and twirled for quite a while, not wanting to take it off.

Despite any reservations I may have had at first over the prospect of making a red dress for a wedding, for Stephanie and Brian, this was the perfect choice. It was also the first time I've had a groom as involved in the process of creating a wedding garment - he was here from the start, consulting with both his bride and me, and weighing in on every choice. Right down to the good luck hug as they left - leaving me with one of the most satisfied feelings I've ever had at the completion of a project.