Adventures in Patternmaking - Wedding Gown Edition

I finally got started on the pattern for my sweet little wedding dress this week. For some reason, it took me a while to get going - for a long time I've been to distracted by other pressing needs such as the invitations, various wedding crafts, dress shopping with both moms for their dresses... the list goes on and on.

The design for my dress can actually be seen on the invitation preview illustration if you skip down a few posts to THIS ONE. I love the concept very much, I wanted to play off of 1940s and early 50s tradition of wearing a nice suit instead of a gown by creating a multiple piece ensemble; however, I also wanted to incorporate classic 1940s style lines in order to place the ensemble firmly in the proper time period. The close fitting pencil skirt is a bit more 50s inspired, but all together I think it's a smashing vintage look.

I finished up the bustier pattern last night, so far so good when I double-checked the bust cups against my form. I'm a bit concerned about the bust "wings" hanging properly due to the hand of the silk I will be using, but I can always just tack those down discreetly. I did manage to find a gorgeous off-white "aspirin dot" tulle for the underblouse - deep V-necks and V-backs do a body good! I'm planning on making a fuller skirt to wear with the underblouse for the reception (bustier and pencil skirt will be jettisoned at that point), so I will have plenty of room for dancing and mingling. I'm fully prepared to totter down the aisle, but a pencil skirt just won't do for a night of swing.

I'm revving to get back to my shop and finish up the peplum and underblouse patterns tonight, and possibly the pencil skirt (which will be extremely simple...). I'm on track to have finished ensemble ready to go by next Friday - so here's hoping! After I finish the dress, I will be finishing up my headpiece - a frothy concoction of pleated horsehair and russian veiling. Yum! If anyone out there is looking for a nice millinery supply store, look no further than Judith M Millinery Supply - they have a huge selection of veiling, netting and various supplies.

This Wedsite is Stretchin' Me!

I decided to keep things simple for our RSVPs, and create an email address to which all of our guests could send their replies. That hasn't panned out as well as I hoped, generating what can possibly be termed "Mass Confusion" on the part of some family members. Something had to be done. I had to test the very outer limits of my web development knowledge. I had to tackle... the PHP web form of death!!!

I would like to announce that I am, in fact, victorious. There is one more small tweak that I need to make (Keep It Simple Silly) in the form of a confirmation/thank you page that people are redirected to once they submit the form. One user has already emailed me asking if I did in fact receive their RSVP - which I did. Works beautifully. Except for that missing "Thanks!" page.

Take a gander (complete with notes!)

You can also visit our wedsite at http://www.ryanlovesjess.com/, featuring live sideshow performers and komodo dragons!

(Disclaimer: not all of my ridiculous promises regarding "Komodo Dragons" and "Sideshow Performers" can be fulfilled at this time)

Sewing, Stamping, Mailing - I'm tired!

I finally got our invites cut out, tied up, stamped twice, sealed, stickered and out the door. Whew! Talk about a time-sucker, but they were worth it. Everyone we've heard back from LOVES the finished product, I'll get some photos of the complete package posted as soon as possible - tomorrow I hope!

Invitations are so important for a wedding, because they are the first impression of how the couple is approaching their big day - which is very helpful to guests when it comes to dress style, general feel of the wedding, etc. I personally am so sick and tired of getting generic, boring invites that speak very little visually. A wedding is a celebration of two souls uniting as one - the ultimate combination of two personalities if you ask me. So why not let your personality and at least a bit of soul flow through the paper goods for your big day? Granted, I have an advantage as a graphic designer - I was able to design and create all of our paper and web goods for our big day myself. But there are always plenty of designers out there (me! me!) who LOVE working with other couples to create the paper suite of their dreams. Hire them. It's worth it.

First impressions also get people excited to attend... believe me.

So far we've had several people RSVP whom I would never expect to get into the spirit of our vintage 40s-meets-USO show wedding. We very prominently displayed the URL for our "wedsite" as a hangtag with the finished invitation suite, directing people there for more info regarding our venues, dress etiquette, etc. Well let me tell you - almost everyone I've heard back from has ALSO included a link or note regarding the fabulous retro outfit that they're planning on wearing to our celebration. Now that's influence... all done through paper goods my friends.

I recently ran across a sweet little design company that specialized in fantastically quirky wedding invitations: Royal Steamline. Again, there are plenty of designers out there who love working with couples from all walks of life - so poke around Etsy or websites such as OffbeatBride and see what you discover. I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised.

And if anyone out there is thinking about pursuing a custom invitation suite, feel free to give me a ring as well - I'd love to help you create the wedding invitation of your dreams. Paper perfection, I aim to amaze. You can contact me directly via jess@rockinbdesign.com!

Pictures soonly, I promise!

Printed Invites, Ready to Go!

But not quite cut out ;) I'll get there this week...






I decided that I wanted to do cute paper-doll style portraits of us for our invites, that guests can color and cut out themselves if they choose. If I had planned a bit better (or a bit further ahead of time), I would have made a note of this ON the actual invites... oh well. Originally I wanted to do letterpress but that was WAY expensive (heart attack expensive), so I decided to buy a bunch of pretty recycled paper and have them printed up full color by a local printer. I like them WAAAAAY better this way, I about died when they pulled the proof for me at the printer's... they're beautiful. Here are the working files, hopefully I'll have a pic of the finished invites once we get everything put together. I'm proud of these puppies!

Yes, we're both wearing our wedding outfits in the illustrations. I did our portraits in pencil, colored in PS, then did layout in AI. We're having a WWII USO show themed wedding, hence the stars and "softened patriotic" color scheme.

Save the Dates, FTW!

Check it out. I finally got these mailed out late last week, they were printed up by a local printer after I recreated a classic telegram in Illustrator. The envelopes are pretty swank too - I printed them out with a custom made 'First Flight' stamp that I did in Photoshop and custom airmail stripes. Talk about a lot of printing. I thought my printer was going to choke!



After what seemed like HOURS folding... all of the telegrams were folded up into tidy little packages, and then I printed out the custom seals and applied those. Notice that it's a vintage cancelled airmail stamp? It's all about the small stuff folks. All about the small, neurotic, slightly OCD details.

I was up until all hours of the night stuffing envelopes, and trying to work out the last few addresses. I only had 110 of these telegrams printed up, and sure enough there have been some last minute additions to the guest list... I've been crunching the numbers like a mad woman to make it all work! If I have to print out 1 or 2 more on my printer, I think that will be OK. I just like the QUALITY of professional printing so much more. All I need is a printing press in the basement and I'd be all set!





Here's the only problem I foresee with these save the dates: I have now set my bar way, way, WAY too high for the actual invitations. I didn't think these little guys would be so good looking once I got them assembled, and now it's starting to sink in that I've set a high standard for what must come next... the actual invites. I've got a good idea up my sleeve for those, but it's all about the execution... whether it's my own death-by-folding or the death of my poor inkjet. Ha! I'd really like to have my actual invites done letterpress, so we'll see, we'll see...

Next up, the dress and the invites! Time to get started :)

The "Wedsite" - Officially Up and Running!

I'm very proud of our wedding site, which I designed from scratch to match our theme. I think it turned out beautifully! Go have a look-see, will ya?

ryanlovesjess.com

Engagement Photos

Our friend Dave Evans shot our engagement photos over the weekend. You can check out the set on Flickr, I also embedded a slideshow below.


He's still got a ton more to send our way, but we had a great time and I really think that shows through. All images were taken in my house, which I think makes the whole thing extra special.

Ryan and I sure do love one another... and we're so excited to be hitchin' up after 5 years together!

Thanks Dave, you are awesome. Ya'll can catch more of Dave's work on My Old Kentucky Blog as well as various venues on the internetz and in print.

Foundation Wear

Here's the scoop about the inner workings of my mind, and why I don't open my mouth too much - because people might think I'm mean.

I HATE. HATE! it when brides and bridesmaids (or any lady dressing for a special occasion for that matter) do not wear foundation garments/shapewear for the big event.

I HATE seeing backfat and tummy rolls, and saggy bums. I realize that some people are fine with looking like this, but for goodness sakes, if you're spending all that money on a garment and a one day celebration, you should put some effort into filling out said dress attractively. In my mind it's on the same level with those hideous "wedding updos" that every salon tries pushing on hapless brides - who then end up looking like Jr. Prom court candidates. EWW.

I'm a liberated woman who regularly wears a very strong and tight old-school girdle (which also function to hold up my stockings), waist cincher, etc. And yes, it makes me look better. And I'm a size 4.

Here's a handy link that will set you straight: Lady Grace

For the love of a beautiful gown, wear some shapewear. Banish the love handles for at least one day. You'll be satisfied, I promise. Good shapewear is like a wearing a tight hug, a hug that rearranges your anatomy into something even better.

Print Design and All That Jazz

I'm designing all of our print goods for the wedding, as well as designing our 'wedsite' and our favors.

I'm pretty proud of the ideas I've come up with so far, our save-the-dates are completely designed and ready to go - I just have to get started on production as those need to go out NEXT WEEK! I don't even have Ryan's guest list yet, I need to get on him (and my future MIL) about that. Our STD's are going to be done in the style of authentic vintage self-mailing telegrams, I downloaded a template from HERE and then recreated the whole thing in Illustrator to lend my own touches and fonts to the layout - lots of tiny details that no one will probably notice!

I still need to design the stamp we will use to seal them after folding, I think I will do something along the lines of old airmail stamps. I also bought cool airmail envelopes to send them out in. My only beef is that I couldn't find any smaller envelopes, just the Monarch standard. Oh well. We're going to print up the telegrams on recycled gold parchment, and then I will either type in everyone's names and addresses with a typewriter OR just have clear labels printed up in my desired font for placement. The envelopes will definitely be clear labeled, unless I'm feeling extra-industrious.

The website is also almost complete, make sure to stop by for a visit when it's done! The address can be found way down in the footer, I don't feel like typing it in here at the moment. I'm so lazy sometimes.

Invite design has yet to be established, I guess I need to get on top of that too. Gah! So much print design to accomplish very, very soon. I DO plan on hand-lettering the outer envelopes (I heart calligraphy!), I'm thinking those brown kraft paper envelopes with the string closure. I DO have a basic outline for the invites, I'd like to do Ryan and I as paper dolls complete with our wedding outfits. I want them to be pretty simple, just because I don't like the uselessness of all that crap that usually comes stuffed into a wedding invite. We're doing email or phone RSVP's, accessed by a contact form on our website. Yay, no extra money for RSVP postage!

I need to hunt down proper invitation etiquette and enclosure info, just to be sure. But again, I really don't want a bunch of stupid junk in there.