Wedding Wednesday: My Dress!

"The" Dress...

I have dreams of my dress still, its lovely textures and layers - the layers (or labors) of love...

As I mentioned before, I was lucky enough to have my wedding dress made by my Mother and my Aunts

Being in design for years now, I am around so many fabrics daily

Trying on dresses in a couple boutiques made me appreciate the beauty of the fabric even more

Most dresses I tried on, I couldn't get past the poor quality fabric they were made up of

I did of course fall for two gowns that were priced upwards of $6,000 but even those weren't perfect in my eyes

For years I had admired a specific dress by Oscar de le Renta, however with a price tag of over $14,000, it wasn't for me and besides, it was from his 2008 line

I casually showed my Auntie Susie an image of it I found on ebay and she softly said, "we can do that"

Well, by "we" she was referring to herself and her counterpart, my Mother's sister, Priscilla (better known as "Auntie Cilla" to family and my close friends)

Auntie Cilla said, "with out a doubt, we can do that!"

When she said "we" she meant with the help of the other lovely ladies in my family

The dress is made completely of silk, specifically a Pinder and Pindler 100% Douppioni Silk called Diva in colour white

My Aunts spent endless days and nights working on every detail from wrapping me in duct tape to capture my exact measurements, shopping for fabrics, creating mock-ups, testing fabric, cutting, measuring, creating spreadsheets, shredding, gluing, pinning... you name it

My Auntie Cilla is the most selfless person I know, she calculated everything to a tee, she's the engineer in our family

Not only was she Head Seamstress, she also opened her home up for months to anyone willing to help

There is even a 'check-in' on Facebook for my aunt and uncles now, 'The Aunties Sweatshop'

Thank You:

Auntie Susie

Auntie Cilla

Mom
Auntie Lid
Auntie Nelli
Auntie Jan
Auntie Patty
Auntie Donna

*A special thank you to my loving uncle:

 Thank you Uncle Johnny for giving up your man cave to so many women for months on end!

I cannot thank you all enough for all the love you put into my wedding dress

I will cherish my dress forever, but most of all the memories

You have made me the happiest girl in the world
If that doesn't make someone feel special, I don't know what would!

I love you

Love,

"Tori-Bray" Schuler

Mac getting her pearls latched, the dress hanging nicely

MFD prepping the dress

Perfection!

All that detail!

Getting zipped up!

Full gown

The garment bag Auntie Cilla designed and made with Auntie Susie

This brought tears to my eyes, stitched into the hem of one of the layers of petticoats

My favorite picture

Lovely ladies hard at work:

Mom, Auntie Patty, Auntie Cilla and Auntie Susie all hard at work

Auntie Lid shredding silk for endless hours

Head Seamstress, Auntie Susie diligently confirming strip size to her spreadsheet, YES spreadsheet!

Planning!

Not only did they make my dress from scratch, they even made our ring bearer pillows, monogrammed our cake linens and handkerchiefs for Brad:
Cake table linens monogrammed in navy

The ring bearer pillows made of my dress material
They had our monogram on each of the pillows :)

Wedding Wednesday: Shoes...

J.Crew - 'Evie'

Say what?

The Crew has striped shoes?

Say what?

The Crew has navy and white striped shoes?

Say what?

They're almost $300.00?

Le sigh.

Girlfriend got the shoes...

Of course I did, and not because I splurged

But because I have THE most incredible bridesmaids on this good green Earth.

Thank you ladies, from the bottom of my heart, I adore them and most of all I adore you!

xo,
VRB

Wedding Wednesday: Honeymoon Daydreaming

Tory Burch swim top, $275
J Crew floral bikini, $48
J Crew beach swimwear, $52
Everything But Water
Lilly Pulitzer
Everything But Water
Queen Bea Studio Pink Martinis and Pearls

With our wedding less then six months away and this cold bout of weather, all I can dream of is our honeymoon in Kauai! 
As we researched flights and car rentals for our honeymoon today, somehow my browser kept defaulting to J.Crew and Trina Turk rather than Alaska Airlines (yes, they fly to the tropics: ) and Hawaiian Airlines. 

All I can think of is may hair blowing in the trade winds and my big floppy hat on my sun kissed face napping in between chapters of the Hunger Games… 
Last years suits are too big for me anyway (come on J.Crew – STOP changing your sizing on us!) so I feel like this is legitimate research! 

How cute are these suits?
 And these aren't even their big collection they usually come out with in early Spring.
 I can't wait to see the rest! I wish I could shrink the coral and gold one I have from last year, it's too cute! When I vacation in Kauai with my family, I literally pack one carry on even if it's for more than a week.
 It consists of: swimsuits, a wrap, three or four dresses, a couple tunics, some Lulu Lemon capris, running shoes, Bonnanos, my floppy hat, my own snorkel and fins and that.is.it. 
The weather is gorgeous and you simply do not need anything else, not even to work out in!

I just cannot wait for some R and R with BRS, it is so very well deserved for him, it has simply been too long. The poor guy is starting to lose his Summer glow from working midnights.
 Me on the other hand… not so much!  
We will be jetting off to Princeville, Kauai for two weeks a couple days after we tie the knot and I couldn’t be more excited!

Off to daydream…

xo,

VRB