the dress, part 2

Hi, my name is Katie, and I can be very scatterbrained. I just realized I never finished the saga of my wedding dress! (Part 1) But first...

Dear E,
If you click on the photo links in this post, you will be sorry. Not only will you not be surprised on our wedding day, I will probably have your hide. So do us both a favor, and don't peak.
I love you!
Katie

All photos in this post are linked in order to protect the anonymity of said wedding dress from inquiring fiance eyes.

When I last left this story, I had signed the contract for a seamstress to make my dress...a strapless dress I had convinced myself I liked. But something was missing. After the craziness of the holidays, I started going through the pictures of my dress shopping experiences, andI found the first dress I tried on with my mom and sisters.
I will always remember the look on my mom's face as I came out of the dressing room in a Casablanca 1831, 8 sizes too big, and stepped in front of the mirrors. She was crying!

I felt gorgeous in this dress, and looked so happy. Here is Sis K2 taking a photo of me in the dress.

But I had some concerns.
First the beading. If you look closely in the designer pic (the first link) you can see the little crystals scattered all over the bodice. This was a bid no-no for me and it was hard to look past.

Second, the back! Oh, i just couldn't get over how ugly the back of the dress was. The straps didn't seem to fit with the style of the front, I thought they looked like bra straps and the back was SO plain.

Thirdly, the buttons. Now, I don't hate buttons. In fact, a lot of the time I like buttons. But not only did they go down the back of the bodice, the back of the whole dress...they went the length of the train!

At the time, I couldn't get over my issues with the dress, but now that I was having the dress custom made, I couldn't imagine wearing anything but a v-neck.

So, 6 weeks after signing my contract with the seamstress I gave her a frantic call, explaining the situation and my change of heart and begging her to see what she could do to change the style of the neckline, back and bodice (I liked the strapless dress' skirt best) She had already started cutting the material and sewing the dress! She asked for some pictures which I promptly emailed to her, and then I spent the next hour refreshing my email to hear her response. It was worth the wait.

"Hi Katie,
I looked at the pictures, this should be fine to make these changes, I just have to recut a few things. How low do you want the back to be?
Thanks,
R"

What?! I was in shock. I knew this woman was a master seamstress, but this was unbelievable to me. And no extra cost? I owe this woman big time.

I sent her the following pictures for inspiration for the back of the dress

Back 1
Back 2
Back 3

Soooo much better than the back on the Casablanca!

Her response:

"Sounds good, I will probably start those changes on Monday or Tuesday, I have to finish up some stuff for [a local high school's] Homecoming. Let me know if you think of any other changes before then.
Have a good weekend,
R"

In other words--don't change your mind again, bridezilla!

But I couldn't be happier with my decision and I can't wait to see the dress finished!!

Designer photos: source 1, source 2