Thursday, January 31, 2008

memory or card boxes

My fiance & I used butterflies as our theme for our wedding. They were subtle - but there were butterflies everywhere :-) I designed a card or memory box to use at the reception to hold cards and smaller goodies.

If you'd like to make your own version, here's part one and part two of the tutorial on my fabric blog.




Wednesday, January 30, 2008

my creative dress

My own wedding dress:Ah... wedding dresses - never have so many ugly, uncomfortable, almost unwearable dresses been classified under one category before!

I just couldn't image spending hundreds of dollars on a dress I was only going to wear for one day. Not to mention that fact that the trend of strapless or sleeveless dresses really isn't flattering on my plus-size frame.

So what's a creative girl to do?

Sew your own!

I spent hours browsing through patterns in my favorite fabric store, but nothing really grabbed my fancy. I finally realized that I wasn't looking at patterns that would be flattering - and had a brainwave! Why not use my favorite blouse pattern? It's easy to sew, looks awesome on and, with the right fabric should look suitably bridal-y.

Okay, so my top was taken care of - what about a skirt? Or should I go with a dress instead?

Decisions, decisions!

I eventually decided on skirt "E" from this pattern. It's long enough to be dressy, but the train is short enough that I can dance without falling :-)

I found some lovely ivory coloured duppioni silk on sale for 50% off and snagged enough to make the blouse & skirt (and have enough left over for things like guest books)

If you're making your own dress, I think one of the best things to do is make a test garment first. You don't need to use your good fabric, but use something that's got a similar weight and texture. I was sure glad I make a test skirt - I needed to add an extra two inches to the hem (I'm 5'10") it would have been waaaay too short otherwise!

The final outfit only took about 12 hours of sewing to finish - which included hand-sewing details on. My mom actually made hand-made lace butterflies to sew onto both the dress and the skirt.
Making my own dress allowed me to create something unique and special for my wedding - I know that no one else will ever have something quite like it. It also ended up costing less than $200 to make!

As an alternative - check out seamstresses or dressmakers in your area if you don't sew. Shop around and talk to several different people.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

helping hands

There's much to be said for asking for help! There are lots of things I'm good at doing - for instance, I knew that I could sew my own dress, but there's no way I could crochet a shawl for myself... But my mom is a talented fiber artist and so she created an amazing silk shawl for me.

I did trades or just simply asked friends and family for their help with quite a few things.

  • My brother & his friend are both professional audio technicians, and together with my iPod, they replaced a DJ.
  • My Dad is a jazz musician, and he played during cocktails at the reception.
  • My MIL-to-be wanted to help, and so she folded hundreds of origami butterflies to decorate the ceremony location.
  • Several of my girlfriends helped me put together wedding favors. I made some munchies and we spent the evening hanging out together.
  • The girlfriend of one of my Dad's musicians is a talented photographer - so we bartered for wedding photographs.
  • One of my closest friends is a videographer, so as part of her present to us, she filmed the ceremony.
You don't want to burn your friends or family out with requests for help - but you'd be surprised by what happens when you ask!

Image source

Monday, January 28, 2008

welcome

I'd like to welcome you all to The Creative Bride. I got married a few months ago and wanted to do as much as I possibly could.

I ended up sewing my own dress, making my own jewelery, made the invitations, sewed the shawls for my three bridesmaids, folded 1000 origami butterflies (with the help of my MIL to be) designed the centre pieces, and sewed a vest for my fiance.

All without having a nervous break down.

And without spending the average cost for a North American wedding, which is about $20,000!

I believe that everyone is capable of creating their own beautiful & unique wedding - that captures the love & devotion of their partnership :-)