Millinery Fun, the Bridal Headpiece is DONE!

I accomplished one of the larger, looming tasks at hand for the wedding last night - a very important piece of my bridal ensemble, my headpiece. Inspired by the gorgeous hats and veils worn by brides in glamorous 1930s Hollywood films, I ordered a box full of pleated horsehair crinoline and russian veiling from Judith M Millinery Supply and set to work. I was fortunate to find a nice stryofoam hat form/head at Hobby Lobby, which really helped me flesh out my ideas for the piece. I am extremely pleased with how well this turned out.


Here's a quick shot of me modeling the piece, this is the side that our guests will see when we're standing up at the altar. The piece is so full that it completely hides my face when viewed from the other side - so delicious! I feel very flirty peeking out from underneath the brim!



I decided to use a vintage piece of jewelry to finish off the center of the hat, so I scoured my favorite antique shops here in town until I came across this sparkly stunner - I actually spoke with the woman who was selling this piece, as I was examining a few others in her case. She's a costume/rhinestone jewelry collector, and says that this brooch is early 50s vintage - not quite the 40s piece that I had in mind, but I like the look and quality of this particular brooch so much. The rhinestones are in PERFECT condition, as is the metal and the setting. It was a pretty little bargain too, at around $10.



All told, this hat cost me around $30 for materials, and only 3-4 hours of labor. The individuality and uniqueness - priceless! The piece is completely stitched using waxed thread to a small circle of ultra-stiff buckram (double-layered), and will be attached to my hair using several bobbypins instead of a comb or duckbill clip as I had originally planned. Using bobbypins makes the position of the hat much more secure... which in turn makes me feel much more secure as I'm waltzing around.

Vintage wedding gown

I am planning (still!) on making my own wedding dress - now that my invites are at the printer, I have time to focus on making the dress. Two months and counting!

However, I did receive a Plan B (a very gorgeous Plan B) last week, due to the graciousness of some good family friends who know my taste well. They rescued a wedding gown from the 1943 marriage of an aunt, which had been residing in someone's attic, boxed up and long-forgotten since the wedding day. That someone had decided to throw out the gown, and it was promptly snatched up by our friends and then gifted to me. How sweet of them!

On to the gown itself: Glorious. Glamorous. Gorgeous. Vintage 1943. 1943!

Ivory silk satin, slinky and smooth but with plenty of thickness. The gown fits me NEAR perfectly, the gown was made for a 'larger' woman (by 1943 standards) who just so happened to be my height and a bit larger in the waist than me. Perfect! The only adjustment needed is nipping in the waist a bit more, but it's a beautiful gown.

Complete with train, elegantly gored skirt falling from the waist, silk bows at the gore points... Long sleeves with a point at the wrist, buttons, slightly puffed sleeve caps (so forties!). The neckline is a sweetheart neckline, which actually sits very high on my chest but I could lower that if desired. Overall a gorgeous, Old Hollywood worthy gown - handmade with love for a 1943 bride, and now it's mine.

That's a mighty fine Plan B in my book. So if I don't get my dress made, I'll be walking down the aisle in vintage. Here's a very similar dress from that era - VERY similar!

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 :)