Joey...
Bride "Layla" Before Afters
"Layla"
Bride "Cassia" before afters
Cassia...
A New Plan
To some it may seem far away, but in the wedding industry -where it seems I'm always mentally living 6 months out, the new year is just around the corner. Right now, we are starting a shift in the way we blog so that in 2016 we will have ushered in a completely new approach to our blogging.
Historically, I have blogged in bursts. The posts have been content rich, often taking hours to produce. My web traffic reflects this. I have a steady stream of visitors perusing my galleries with extreme bursts in traffic following my blog posts. I will still post about the weddings that I work, but the content will be much lighter.
The other change will be that, as often as I can, I intend to post before afters of our projects. Here's how it will work. The brides will choose an alias. I will post the headless before/afters of the brides, then I will give them a link to that post. They can choose to share their b/a pic with close friends and family at that time and/or do a social media post after their wedding day.
That will give my blog more sustained traffic without a huge investment in time. It also shares the love among many of my brides instead of only highlighting the brides whose weddings I work.
I hope you all enjoy seeing the dramatic transformations that we see here daily! I know I have a lot of gallery fans out there, but the galleries are really just a drop in the bucket compared to what we do every day. This new approach in blogging is going to share that excitement with you on a regular basis!
Bride "Saroya" before afters
Here's our bride of the day. Alias: Saroya. Oohh... so intriguing! ;)
Excuse the different exposures. They are just cell snaps.
Ashley Got Married!!!
Woah! This dress came a looong way! This gown was from Celebration Bridal and was to-die-for with the soft pink bridal satin, overlaid with ivory lace. Unfortunately, it was a wee bit tight! Ashley spent an evening with us and we got it all worked out for her. Check out how amazing she looked this past Saturday at the Boxtree Lodge in Vinton. Cell snap courtesy of her bridesmaid, Jordan Asbury, who also happens to be a Gilded Bride!
Sneek Peek: New Homepage Images
We will have new homepage images soon. Yippee!! We had a shoot yesterday with a model that will be used in our new homepage images. Here's a sneek peek of how the shoot went.
Try not to get confused. This model's name is Noa, (pronounced the way we commonly pronounce the name of the Prophet with the Ark.) The following picture is not of me. I repeat- it is a different person, not me. I know, I know, it's hard to tell us apart. Her eyes are green, mine are brown. That may help you to tell the difference. ;)
Blue Moon
Tutorial: Hemming a hanky hem, baby hem, or rolled hem
From time to time I get emails asking me how to do certain things, sewing-wise. I wish I had time to write tuts on all of the questions that I receive. The question I was emailed today is, how do you mark a floor length gown for hemming? Well, there are lots of types of hems. There's no way to cover all of the bases, but from her description, I'm assuming that this person is asking about a hanky or baby hem on a light chiffon or georgette gown. The bulk of the fabric really matters when estimating how much fabric to leave for your hem allowance. The bulkier your fabric, the more length you need to leave.
While I illustrate how to mark, I'm going to go ahead and give a few cutting and hemming pointers as well.
Lets say the client wants a 1/4 or 1/8 inch rolled hem. This is straight-stitch, not serged. I would take that number and multiply by 3 to get 3/4 inch. I would have the client stand on a 1 inch magazine in the shoes that she plans to wear with the gown. (The magazine will compress slightly when she stands on it.) I would mark to the floor all the way around. The more marks you have the more accurate. Have her look straight forward, she's not allowed to look down. That picks up the back of the dress. I use a sliver of bar soap to mark. Make sure that you do not stretch the dress as you mark. Mark it right where it naturally hits the floor without being pulled.
Cut on the long side of the marks, (always err long on every decision, you can always shorten a bit if needed later.) When you approach a vertical seam, swoop down a little bit. The extra bulkiness will gobble a little of your length. (see my blue marks in the 3rd pic)
As you sew around the hem, snip those seam allowances on the vertical seams. That will make them less bulky.
One huge tip to note when sewing the baby hem: It's not just about the right hand holding a tight little roll. The left hand needs to pull to the left while the right index finger pushes down and pulls slightly to the right. (see gray arrows) This pulling from both directions keeps the feed dogs from causing your roll to pull extra fabric into it. -That would cause the roll to be bigger and less tight, (yuck!)
Hope this helps! :)
Mark and Carly
Here is the long awaited blog post!! Let me just preface this by saying that normally, when I do a blog post, I average about 12 images. It is my purpose with this blog to market my business with the power of social media.
I use my blog to give credit to other vendors and to represent the resulting beauty of my work. The most effective way for me to *show* beauty online is with photography, (Note: I'm giving the stink-eye to the rare photog that is insanely jealous and feels they should be the only ones allowed to take pics or do a blog post about a wedding. :P ) I've been a photographer for longer than I've been a seamstress, but I'm not trying to compete with wedding photogs with my images. Everyone has a different vision that they take away from a day. I also always make a point to not take shots of anything that the photographer has composed. And I will never, repeat, NEVER shoot over their shoulders.
Anyways, kudos to my many sweet, non-competitive photographer friends. Jenny Clark is one of them. She is a great photographer. She works with children especially well, (the hardest part!!) and is very skilled with what she does. She and I talked about this day and she kindly permitted me to take pictures. I am posting many more pictures than usual, because this was a family event for me and this post serves, not just as a business post, but as a personal family record.
without further ado...
The site was at a family farm. Unbelievably beautiful. Some of the pics have a foggy effect to them. That's not a dreamy filter that I used, it was just very humid, so I kept getting fog on my lens. lol
Here's the bustle for the reception. It's a triple traditional.
To Mark and Carly:
May God give you abounding love, patience, and wisdom. May you never be selfish. May you war against anything that tries to come against your marriage. May you always remember that you are on the same team. May you grow closer to God and deeper in love. And I pray that one day you look down at your aged feet and see how close you still walk together.
With love,
The Other Suters <3
Sneak Peek!
I'm working a double today, so no blog post yet. But, I had a little break and just had to edit this one.
(See also, post below.) This is a pic I took at the wedding that I worked Saturday. A very different day for me! I was the seamstress, and attended as a guest and relative, (That guy below is my brother-in-law). As a photography enthusiast, I also had to take a few pics of my baby brother and new sissy! Jenny Clark from Don't Blink Photography shot this wedding beautifully and obliged me a minute to capture this. I can't wait to tell you more about her and all of their other wonderful vendors. Oh, and the wedding site... gasp. This here's God's country. Just wait til you see!!
Stolen.
Can you believe it? She took my name! ;)
... actually, she stole my baby brudder. Stay tuned, I'll be uploading the wedding of Mark and Carly Suter in the next couple of days!
The Pendletons
This past Saturday, we worked a wedding in Roanoke. It was the infamous, 7-11 day! Free Slurpees for all!! Betsy, my bride got ready at the beautiful Patrick Henry Hotel in downtown Roanoke.
Today was a reunion of sorts for me. Molly, my bride from last December was a bridesmaid of Betsy's. We were also working once again with Paula Greenway of Vinton. She has a studio- yay! and her business is named PG Photography. Check out some of her work at the end of my blog post.
As usual, I delivered the dress, freshly steamed. The bridesmaids were with-it! They were already dressed when I arrived, and not one of them needed their gown steamed. Mom needed a tuck and tack, but was otherwise beautiful. Betsy slipped into her gown super fast, and it was showtime. Her train performed beautifully due to the great stabilizing job that my assistant, Yael did. During her pre-wedding pics, Betsy's dress tore a little at the hem. It was a quick stitch-up and she was photo ready again.
We transported via limo to Lynn Haven Baptist in Vinton. I helped Betsy in and out of the limo to avoid her getting her gown dirty. Her dress seriously held together amazingly. It came from Celebration Bridal and had 3D lace flowers all over it. (I'm goo-goo over dimensional lace.)
I had lots of boutineers to pin and relatives to find once we got to the church. Betsy and her groom, Trey, are blessed to still have so many grandparents that could attend! Another amazing thing is that both the bride and the groom come from parents with marriages that are still intact. What a tremendous blessing! Well done! Marriages don't last because things are smooth, it takes a lot of commitment and team work along the way.
This was my first time working with Vicki Itson of Weddings by Simplicity. She was the planner for the day and kept everything running smoothly. Betsy had a lovely team of courteous and capable vendors. What a difference that makes! Nooobody had a brain freeze today. ;)
One thing I love about their photographer, Paula, is that she gets her sneak peeks up so fast. I'm gonna let her take over from here with the pictures...
Other vendors for the day were...
Ceremony Music: Cindie Hayden
Florist and linens: Creative Occasions
Catering: Pumpernickel Pickle
Cake: Casey's Cakes
Reception entertainment and photobooth: Quest Entertainment
Limo: Prestige Limo
Congrats, Betsy and Trey!!!
The Unstoppable Casey and Johnny
This day in June was all about beating the odds. The Doppler foretold a day of waves of downpours and lightening. Casey and Johnny's wedding was on the docket to be the last event held at Sweet Briar College due to the shocking news of it's closing.
Luckily, we had already been relieved of this sad fate when we read the exciting news 2 days before that Saving Sweet Briar was turning the situation around and that the college would be saved.
As I pulled in the college entrance I hoped for the best. I had lots of columned porches to navigate through to the inn where Casey would be getting ready. I had texted Casey this morning reminding her of how beautiful rainy or overcast weather wedding days are. The pictures are always so vibrant and colorful.
I steamed out the gowns and helped everyone into their dresses. I had some tacking to do in order to secure straps for a family member. There was spot cleaning to do, a sticky zipper, and of course, tuxedo pants that had come in the wrong size. I had to lengthen the pants legs and tighten the waist for the Father of the Bride.
As my needle flew and my steamer hissed, the rain picked up its clouds and tiptoed out of the area. As the day progressed, it got sunnier and sunnier!
Who is that officiating this sunny wedding? It is radio personality, Danny Meyers from K92 radio. He conducted the ceremony with football analogies and humor.
The catering was by Sweet Briar College Catering. The flowers and decor were all DIY! The cake was by Angie Moore of Angie's Custom Cakes. Music and lights by DJ Kidd Carter, another K92 personality.
The photographers were very laid back and nice. It was like a little reunion for me, because the photographer had been a Gilded Bride last year. I did her wedding gown alterations for her big day as well. This is Heather Kidd of Kidd photography on the left and her second shooter, Kelly Witt on the right. They are having fun with an umbrella prop. Heather already has the sneak peek up, so click her link and enjoy!
Casey is looking out the window while her gown is bustled up and ready for the reception. The ground was still wet from the morning rain, so I pinned up her chiffon layer in 4 extra places to keep it a little cleaner.
There you have it! A play-by-play of near misses and great saves that resulted in the pulling off of a beautiful wedding day. This was my first wedding at Sweet Briar, and I must say, it's a wonderful, flexible venue. Best wishes to Casey and Johnny!
Thank you, Hallie
So sweet... a bride came by to pick up her dress the final time & brought me these. ((Sniff, sniff)) <3
Brides, hug a vet.
D-day
My New Nickname
I'm a wedding godmother!! :) lol
Lauren and Peter
It was a warm breezy day, Saturday. Lauren's wedding took place across three different locations. We started at *her* apartment ;) ;) on the downtown mall, (inside joke). We moved via a 300 limo to The Chapel at UVA, and then according to C-ville culture, we rode in a chartered shuttle bus to the reception venue at the Abbott Center at Darden.
Like most of my brides, my story with Lauren started long before her May wedding date. We had quite a journey together with her dress! She found her dream dress at Church Street Bridal. It was an Augusta Jones gown, (swoon). And, it was the perfect blank slate for Lauren's design. According to her vision, we fashioned her dress.
Her dress was a silk organza that originally had pick-ups. Lauren was not digging the pick-ups! We removed them and for design details, we had triangular shaped gussets that echoed the A-line of the bridal satin under layer. Check out the train in the second picture! It was unruly and did not compliment her figure at all. We obviously corrected the fit of the dress to accentuate her waist, but as we repaired the zipper, we added another gusset that would flair out from under her bow. That bow... it is a sash from BHLDN, (aka, Beholden.) Good purchase choice, Lauren!! The fourth picture leads me to a whole different convo...
Why was I there? Every bride has a different reason. Lauren's dress had an inner corset that her mom was more comfortable with me managing. I was also there if her zipper were to break. But, the main reason was the nature of the train of Lauren's dress. It made her dress very difficult to move around in. See the illustration? Most gowns have tulle under layers that extend to the floor. This gown actually had a tulle train. Those tulle trains cause the train of the dress to look much more graceful. The purple bow in the sketch shows how the train is attached to the tulle so that the layers stay together. The train doesn't just crash flat to the ground. The problem is that when we lift to the train to help her maneuver, the sides of the train still stayed on the ground and posed a trip hazard, (see chaos with pink arrows). Lauren could not walk freely in this dress, except for when she was going straight forward. So, basically, I played Pippa. lol. I didn't assist her during the ceremony, of course. But, I assisted her maneuvering from when she got into the gown, until she entered the chapel. And also for pictures, until I bustled her.
Let's move away from the technical stuff... Ready for some beauty!!??
Meet beautiful Lauren on left. Her gown after I steamed it. Her gawjus mom, Diane, looking on at her sister Rachel getting her make-up done.
Lauren's veil hanging after I steamed it. Her veil also required a lot of my assistance. It was a true cathedral length. It was silk tulle and originally 1200 bucks!! Lauren got it for less than 200 because of a tear in the veil. Betcha can't find it!! ;) A few moments of Gilded TLC and the veil was better than new. The freshly steamed gowns are hanging. The flower girl's dress was a dream and was from Nellystella and looked like this. So sorry that I can't share a picture of the dress! The flowers girl's eyes were amazing and would have been so pretty to share! My wedding day services include a blog post, but the bride is my priority and I was busy with her gown. I also didn't get any cake or reception pics. Stay tuned for all the details by A Muse Photography!
Here comes the bride!
Lauren is a crafty girl! She made the sign for their ceremony.
Here's Rachel Crouch from A Muse Photography hard at work. The black and white pic shows sis Rachel in her flats. We stitched pick ups into her bridesmaid's dress so that she could have happy feet during the reception.
Lauren is freshly bustled and can now move about freely. The new couple look up to say goodbye.
May your life be full of joy, Peter and Lauren!!
Loved ones, feel free to leave comments to them below.
Vendors:
Florist: Kristin Watson
Gown: Church Street Bridal
Photographer: A Muse Photography
Videography: Beyond Creativity, Tawaan Brown
Cake: Pearl's Bake Shoppe
Pies: Paradox Pastry
Catering: The Abbott Center at Darden
Wedding Coordinator: Ann Nelson
Musicians: Tori Leche, Patrick Worley
Officiant: Fr. Stephen Alcott
Cantor: Joanna Sivley
Organist: Alice Layman
What do we do?
What do we do when we work a wedding?
Hannah and Dillon
We just had our first May 2015 wedding at the beautiful Diamond V Farm. Hannah's situation was a little different because she had a barn venue, yet opted for a gown with a long train. A long train requires a little more care. When I first arrived, I was immediately busy. Two of the bridesmaid's dresses needed adjusting. (Thank goodness for a sewing machine!) One had lost a loop. A groomsman's shirt that arrived in the mail at the 11th hour needed pressing. And all of the gowns needed to be steamed, as usual. I set to work sewing instead of first taking my leisurely stroll that I normally take upon my early arrival. -So forgive! I have no cake pics or vendor mentions for that. But, Hannah's photographer, Jenny Clark of Don't Blink Photography will have all of those details recorded beautifully.
Flowers were by PJs Designs.
All the bridesmaid's were able to walk down the aisle in perfectly fitted gowns due to our last minute tweaks. They got ready in the newly built cabin. Hannah entered the ceremony site through Diamond V's hallmark white doors.
She looked so beautiful, and you can tell that she had her gown custom fit to her form...
We got off to a busy start, but the wedding party was actually pretty low key. There were no wardrobe malfunctions once everything got moving. The weather could not have been more perfect. I spot cleaned Hannah's gown before she was announced at the reception. I bustled her into her triple bustle before taking off down the rolling, country drive.
Hannah and Dillon, may your road trip of life be long and happy together! Readers, feel free to wish them well on their journey by leaving a comment here. (We won't take or give your info.)