Planes, Trains, and Running Shoes

The first thing I did after The Pilot proposed was call my mom.

The conversation went something like this.

Mom: Hi honey!
Me: Hi Mom!
Mom: What's up?
Me: You know how we've always said that when I got married you would make my wedding dress?
Mom: Yes.....
Me: Well, you'd better get started because we just got engaged!

It took everything in me to not just scream it out the second she picked up the phone!

I haven't always known I wanted to get married and I was definitely not planning my wedding from the age of 5 but I've always known that if and when I did get married, my mom would make my dress.

While not a seamstress by trade or profession, my mom has been sewing since she was a girl. She took sewing as a class all through high school and has never given up the hobby.

She made all of my Halloween costumes growing up. When I started doing theater, she made all of my costumes, and when high school came around, she made both my junior and senior prom dresses.

Mom and I went dress shopping twice over the fall to get some ideas for my dress. It's a good thing we did because what I'm wearing is so entirely different from what I thought I wanted. Using a shared, secret Pinterest board, we exchanged dress ideas, mixing and matching tops and bottoms, straps and sleeves, lace and trim, comparing them all to the dress that's the inspiration for my own, until we knew exactly what I wanted.

So, on Saturday, we headed into New York's Garment District to peruse the fabric shops. Our first (and only stop) was to Mood, which, if you've ever watched Project Runway, you know all about.


This place was overwhelming but the staff were exceptionally friendly. It took a bit of time to peruse the fabrics to find the right kind we needed, and then we spent quite a bit of time comparing different fabrics for weight and color until we found the perfect one.

This is my fabric being rolled out for cutting.

We had the fabric cut and ready to go. My mom is buying all of the lining at a fabric shop near her and aside from some trim that I'm still deciding on, she's ready to go. In fact, Sunday morning, she was already pinning fabrics to me to get the shape of the lining just right. She bought a dress form to match my measurements so that she can sew to that and I won't have to come home every weekend for fittings!


My mom is hoping to be finished with my dress in April. She's also making my veil, which she'll piece together shortly after that. There are still a few details of the dress that we haven't figured out yet, but those are all things that can wait until the dress is finished.

So, there you have it, all of the details of my dress! I honestly couldn't imagine wearing anything other than something my mom made. She's made every dress I've ever worn for every special occasion in my life (even for birthday parties!) so why wouldn't she make my wedding dress? She's so insanely excited about it too, and it's so fun to spend hours on the phone talking about it! I absolutely can't wait until it's finished because I know it's going to be absolutely stunning!