Ever since we got engaged there was one thing I knew for sure about the wedding. That I’d make the dress.
Until I accidentally fell in love with THE DRESS.
I kind of knew it might happen as soon as I fell in love with a dress in the window of an exclusive bridal boutique. (Not actually the one I ended up losing my heart to, but also very pretty). I decided to try some on ‘for inspiration’ you know…well you can guess where it goes from here.
After over an hour trying on dresses, I stepped into the most beautiful, perfect creation I’ve ever even dreamt about. My Grandma, bridesmaid and the shop staff ‘ooooed’ and ‘ahhd’ over it, but I didn’t want to make a decision right then and there. I started feeling a little bit overwhelmed. Buying a dress had never really been a serious consideration. We left the shop with everyone talking about the fact that this dress was THE ONE and I had to completely agree. I’d never put on anything that made me feel so amazing.
The only thing holding me back was guilt. Yes, guilt. It’s actually taken me a few days to realise that. I couldn’t get over the fact that everyone else was expecting me to make my own dress. Would I let people down by buying one? Shouldn’t I save money by making my own? For 2 nights I lost quite a lot of sleep stressing about which was the right decision. I even got up super early one morning and started cutting out the final muslin of my dress. But my heart really wasn’t in it.
I was completely torn about what I should do:
- I already had the fabric for my planned dress, which is very pretty.
- If I made my dress it would never be so ‘wow’ as the dress I tried on.
- I can make my dress so surely I should!
- I’ve already started some prep for this dress and made some mock ups. One of which you’ve seen.
- But maybe I want my wedding dress to be something different.
- This new dress makes me feel like a princess.
- The mock ups can easily be pretty summer dresses.
- I can use most of the original fabric for other projects.
- Perhaps it’s the one time in my life when I should feel really pampered and luxurious…..etc etc etc
- If I make my own I’ll save a small fortune.
- I’m no longer so excited to make my own.
And then I went to see it again with my mum. There was no going back from here. I knew it was perfect, she knew it was perfect. I had to get it. So I did.
After making that decision I felt a huge sense of relief and excitement. Relief that I’d made a decision and excitement just because the dress is out of this world. And no, you aren’t getting any sneak peaks, but rest assured I will show you PLENTY of photos soon!
In all honesty, the rest of the wedding still fills all my crafting / DIY needs. I’ve made the bridesmaid dresses, and pretty much everything else that I could see on Pinterest. Family and friends are contrubuting cake, flowers, photography etc so that feels good still.
I’m now over my dressmaker’s guilt, but it’s such a shame that I ever went through it. I felt that I’d be disappointing people about MY wedding dress and was putting far too much pressure on myself for everything to be handmade by me. Sometimes I need to remind myself that I can’t do it all.
I’m SO excited to wear my dress in a few months and I can’t wait to share it with you all when the time comes. In the meantime, you can look forward to seeing lots of non wedding related sewing around here. And I think that’s great 🙂
dreaming of avonlea 