The Overnight Wedding Dress
Posted by Edelweiss Patterns on February 27, 2012
How I Sewed Two Dresses in Under Twenty Hours
Well, it all started when my bachelor brother called home last fall to announce he had met this girl named Sophia – and had plans of marrying her someday. “Someday” soon turned to “this summer”, and in early winter we celebrated their engagement. Their wedding date was set for August 4, 2012…
Fast forward from their engagement in early January to just one month later, and we were now dealing with an engaged couple who would much rather be getting married that week! They were determined to save even their first kiss for marriage, so six months seemed like forever to them. “I don’t care if I have to get married in jeans and a t-shirt – I just want to get married!” said the bride-to-be. I knew there was no way I would ever let this girl go without a wedding dress, but I’ll admit that I was a little relieved to hear that her parents were bringing the David’s Bridal gown of choice on the airplane for the wedding (which we had just two days to plan!).
Sophia's white gold ring had forty-one diamonds in it!
On such short notice we hardly had time to pick a suitable wedding location, but there was one church where a friend of ours attends that was open for that Friday evening. My parents quickly arranged all the necessary details to pull the whole thing off in two days, and within a few hours they had scheduled the church, photographer, videographer, wedding coordinator, pianist, and decorations. Since they were handling the main logistics of the event, my goal was to make sure we all had suitable dresses for the occasion.
My mother’s dress (an elegant copper-colored taffeta gown which was dripping with ruching and beading), was about four inches lower than what she likes to wear, so I raced off to the fabric store and purchased a hand-beaded medallion in matching shades of gold and copper. Placed over a “v”-shaped satin inset, it would be the perfect finishing touch to the gown both for elegance and modesty.
Since I was supposed to be one of the bridesmaids in the August wedding, (and since I was now the only bridesmaid in
the area as all of her friends lived in her home state), I automatically became the maid of honor by tragic necessity, which meant I needed to sew my dress rather quickly.
Royal purple makes such an elegant wedding color!
At the same shopping trip I picked up one of my favorite dress patterns, Simplicity 2442. This pattern has an empire waistline with a
crossover bodice that reminds me very much of a Regency era dress, although the wide ruched waistband gives it a clearly modern feel. The only problem with this pattern is that it is too low cut (I drew in the black neckline in the picture above), so I would need to do quite a bit of altering.
For the materials, I chose a royal purple heavy-weight satin for the main body of the dress, with an embossed pleated satin in the same purple color for the cap sleeves. Before I left the store, I stocked up on dozens of yards of necessary wedding decorations – white and purple tulle,
royal purple satin ribbon, white organza ruffled trim, and sheer purple ribbon for bows.
When I came home that afternoon, my aunt (who was also the pianist for the wedding) brought over her newly-purchased dress which was in need of a couple inches more in the neckline. It’s at times like these that I’m glad I always keep a good supply of stretch laces to fill in low
necklines! So together we chose a floral patterned lace from my stash which I sewed in by hand, and in just a few minutes the dress was completely modest.
By late that evening, my bridesmaid dress was about half-way done, and I felt that I would be done in plenty of time. Tomorrow, Sophia and I would have a leisurely day making sure that her hair, makeup, and fingernails were in perfect order …. Or so I thought.
At around 8:15 that night, the bride-to-be came into my sewing studio in a most dejected mood. She had just received a text message saying that due to an apparent health concern, the person bringing the dress was not going to make it.
Well, I couldn’t stand to see her so sad, and of course I always love a good, challenging sewing project, so off we went to the fabric store! “We can make it just in time – they don’t close till 9 o’clock!” I said. My parents came along to purchase the materials, and with a picture of
Sophia’s original dress in hand we raced through the bridal department choosing satins, tulle, and laces. While my
mother helped her decide on which tiara to buy, I dashed back to the pattern department and wildly flipped through the pattern books before concluding that there was no pattern on the market for what she wanted.
This Austrian crystal tiara matched perfectly with her 40-diamond & white gold ring.
No problem! Patterns are just sort of a starting point for wedding dresses anyhow, so I chose Vogue
1095 which at least had the correct silhouette. Later on I would redraw the neckline, scrap the sleeve pattern, insert a seam at the natural waistline, and add two layers of overlay to the skirt. Since both the bride and groom wanted the dress to be more modest than the average strapless wedding gown, I would also make a basic cap sleeve (as shown in my Modesty Solutions e-book) and attach them to the gown.
Before leaving the store, we grabbed boning, crinoline, organza, and lining, plus enough Swarovski crystals to dazzle up even the plainest of ivory pumps. I will never forget how much fun I had racing through the steps of designing a wedding gown, and seeing how quickly the bride cheered up as she got to pick out any French laces and Austrian crystal jewelry she wanted! Oh, it was so much fun!
11:00 PM – The three of us ladies went upstairs to the sewing room for some serious work! While the bride applied iridiscent Swarovski crystals to her wedding shoes, my mom helped me cut out the pattern which had to have some major adjustments to arrive at what we had in mind. I was thankful to have a big bowl of coffee ice cream nearby, and was sincerely hoping it would keep me awake that night. While I always pray that God will bless my efforts on whatever project I’m doing, I think this was the most “prayed-over” dress ever. I knew there would be no way humanly speaking that I could lose that much sleep to make two dresses from scratch overnight, alter my mom’s gown, take care of the ring bearer’s pillow, and look even remotely suitable to be in a wedding – in less than 20 hours!
12:00 o’clock midnight – The pattern had been entirely cut out, and I was making some final adjustments to the tissue pattern after doing several fittings on the bride. We redrew the neckline to be much higher for a modest wedding dress, but I added a very nicely shaped sweetheart neckline to the pattern.
1:30 AM – All the bodice fabric had been cut out for a long time by this point, and I had assembled almost all of the bodice seams. Since there were four layers to this boned bodice (fabric, underlining, interlining, and lining), there were plenty of seams to press! I would sew one seam and toss it on the ironing board where my mom would press it.
2:30 AM While I knew the bride would need to try the bodice on at several points, I finally sent her to bed since she needed all the rest she could get for later that day! Once I had attached the boning to the inner layer of the bodice I sewed all the layers together at the neckline very carefully (this was not an easy task!). Finally, I understitched all the seam allowances to the lining to keep the neckline laying smoothly. (Understitching also lessens the chance that the lining will “bubble” up above the neckline to where it would be visible.)
4:30 AM – I was assembling all the skirt pieces just as fast as I could, but pressing all those seams was not a short task! Since this gown was to have a slight train, the skirt was incredibly long. (Nevermind the fact that the heavy acetate satin didn’t take too kindly to being pressed!) Then I had to gather 15 yards of tulle into the second layer of skirt which would add a bouffant look to the gown.
5:00 AM – I realized that if the flowers would be glued onto the ring bearer pillow in time, they would have to be made first! So I whipped up three royal purple rosettes from my leftover bridesmaid dress fabric and glued them onto the ivory pillow with very strong glue. So strong in fact, that we had to put the pillow in the bathroom and leave the windows open!
6:00 AM – The skirt lay in three pieces – the satin skirt (assembled), the tulle overlay (assembled), and the French lace overlay which could not be attached until the bride had tried it on for length. The bodice itself was set aside and awaiting the lace overlay, which could not be sewn on until the bride had tried it on. Up till now I had been feeling wonderful (which is unheard of for me if I stay up late at all!). My mom had been kindly staying up with me the whole time to make sure I stayed awake. But finally I couldn’t make it any longer, and I fell asleep on the sewing room floor as the sun was just starting to peer through the window…
12:30 in the afternoon – I had just seen the wedding program, and somehow it was so amazing to see their names in print like that – it was a good reminder of why I was doing all this sewing, and why it would have to end by 6:00 that evening!
1:00 PM – The bride had tried on the bodice, and it was clear that I would need to take in about an inch in the waist. So I altered each one of the layers of the bodice, repressing the seams to make them look neat and tidy.
2:00 PM – If any of you have sewn French lace onto a bodice, you’ll know that you can’t just lay it flat and stitch it around the outside edges. On the contrary, Alencon lace with those intricate appliques has to be cut and shaped around the floral motifs to have it fit around the curves of the bodice. But on top of the normal lace shaping process, we had to cut a large chunk out of the center in order to have the scalloped edge match up on each of the sweetheart neckline curves. Then came the tricky task of sewing it all on invisbly, for which I used invisible thread to hide the stitching as much as possible.
3:00 PM – With the bodice set aside, we managed to pin together the heaviest skirt I have ever worked with! There were six yards of shiny bridal satin as the first layer, topped with fifteen yards of challenging tulle, and finally the overlay of four yards of $90 a yard French beaded lace! I tried my best to mark for the hem, but boy was it hard when the high heels kept getting caught in all that fabric!
4:00 PM – I was having a most difficult time sewing three layers of skirts to four layers of bodice! All those beads and crystal sequins were so very hard to sew over, and while I had tried my best to remove most of them from the seam allowance it was not an easy feat… Then I suddenly realized there was no way an invisible zipper would go through all those layers, so I sent the bride and groom off to the fabric store to buy a regular zipper as fast as they could.
It was right about now that for the first time in over 24 hours I actually started to feel stressed! “Oh, God, please help me! This is way too much work for one person to do!”
4:30 PM – Since I had done all I could do on the dress, I took the fastest shower of my life before diving into work on my bridesmaid dress. Thankfully it was partially assembled, but I was flying at top speed to get it done. In an unprecedented act, I left all the seams unfinished on the inside simply because I had no option timewise!
5:30 PM – My purple dress was finished, so I sewed up a panel for my mother’s brown dress just as fast as I could. After glancing at the clock, I called my brother to tell him I needed the zipper rather quickly. “Well, we’ll be there in about twenty minutes. We’re at another store right now.” “No, you don’t understand. I need the zipper now!”
The sleeves and zipper were the last things to go on this gown.
6:00 PM – Barely in time, I got the bride into the dress and marked where I would need to put the zipper. I also pinned on the cap sleeves as fast as I could. While I sewed the zipper into the gown, Sophia got a garment bag and padded hanger ready. In her bag of supplies for the evening she packed up my make-up for me since I knew there was absolutely no way I could get it done between now and when we would leave for the wedding.
Meanwhile, the rest of the family and wedding party had been at the church for hours and were rehearsing the wedding without the bride or groom. : )
6:30 PM - After breaking three needles on my Janome while trying to make it through all those layers, I had to quickly change to my back-up machine to finish the gown up. The cap sleeves were sewn on with invisible thread by machine, and I sincerely hoped that the two layers of tulle would be strong enough to hold it all together for the ceremony….
The next hour is kind of a blur… We were driving down to the church with the most relaxed wedding couple I had ever seen. I was trying desperately hard to put on my makeup in the back of the car despite the fact that it was pitch-black outside. My hair was a damp disaster, since I hadn’t had a chance to blow-dry it after showering, so I tossed it up in a butterfly clip… Then we were dashing through the cold to get to the church, and running down the stairs to the dressing room. Flatirons and curling irons were heating with incredible speed, while I was trying to help the bride into her gown without the high heels getting caught in all those layers. Miraculously, we had brought all her jewelry, so while some other ladies hunted for her veil I helped her get her necklace, earrings, and tiara on… The wedding coordinator was at the door saying, “You have five more minutes”, and all the while I was trying to tell which bouquet was Sophia’s and which was mine…
Then finally the hour had come, and as if in a daze we wound our way up the curving stairway and into the back of the sanctuary we had never been to before. How I wished I had put my contacts in so I could see a little better, but I probably would have been too misty-eyed for them to help me anyhow…
When the pianist began “The Trumpet Voluntary” I watched as my adorable little cousin swished her purple velour dress down the aisle, and my ten-year-old brother (a miracle baby) solemnly carried the wedding rings up to the stage. As my turn came to walk up front I noticed that at least fifty of our close friends had managed to come out despite the two-days notice, and many of them had worn the wedding color of royal purple.
Then the audience rose to its feet as the bride strode beamingly down the aisle, and I was having a hard time deciding whether I should watch her face or my brother’s as she came closer…
I was as exhausted and as excited as I've ever been!
Before I knew it we were all on stage, and I was listening to them take each other “for better or worse, for richer or poorer.”
The little brother that I remember as an infant was now promising to “love and cherish, till death do us part.”
Meanwhile, I was looking at the back of the bride’s gown and thinking, “Good grief! That dress was on the sewing machine less than an hour ago!”
I took the bride’s bouquet as she and my brother prepared to exchange rings, and I’ll admit that I did get a little teared up. My father was performing the ceremony, and while he’s done dozens of weddings over the years, he had never married off one of his children before. It was truly an amazing experience.
It was the most surreal feeling! The buzz of my sewing machine had turned into the hush of the audience in the candlelit room.
When at last he pronounced them, “man and wife”, my father explained that this was going to be their very first kiss ever. A couple days before the bride had alluded to the fact that they had something planned for this first kiss, but I hadn’t guessed it would be this original!
Since Sophia was a little shy about the whole crowd watching her first kiss, my brother swung her around to her left, and leaned over about halfway as she hung onto his neck. The whole audience roared with laughter as they had their first kiss out of sight, with the groom’s back to the audience!
They may have been hidden from the audience, but the photographer still managed to capture it on film!
It was undoubtedly the most joyful wedding I have ever been to!
The newlyweds were absolutely adorable, and they are both so photogenic that we didn’t have even one bad picture in all the hundreds that were taken!
After we all walked back down the aisle, the guests headed down to the reception hall downstairs while we stayed back in the sanctuary for some quick photographs. The main thing that struck me about Sophia’s appearance was that she just sparkled all over! It seems like pictures can never exactly show how something looked for an evening wedding, but believe me when I say that the gown was absolutely sparkly! The crystal sequins were dazzling in the church’s lights, and between her hairclip, earrings, necklace, tiara, wedding ring, and sparkly dress, she was exquisitely beautiful!
On the right are my two "little" brothers that I used to rock to sleep. Where did the time go?
No, her veil is not on fire! It just looks that way through the sheer tulle.
And no, my parents were not 10 when they married - they were married right out of high school.
Here's another shot of the Casey clan. Most people think my mom is my sister & that I'm married to my dad. : ) In reality, they are in their early forties and will celebrate 25 years this August.
Special effects are courtesy of the photographer (who did a great job, by the way!)
Here's the "wedding party". The best man has been my brother's best friend for the last six years, and they frequently ran sound together at our church.
And here’s one last posed picture of the couple before we head into the reception:
Okay! Now we’ll see some pictures of the reception, starting with what I think is the most ridiculous tradition of all – feeding each other cake! Are the bride and groom not capable of putting cake into their own respective mouths? Does the fact that people get married mean they have to start acting completely childish while humiliating themselves in front on all the wedding guests? Well, I’m mainly joking, but I have never understood this absurd custom! : )
The bride politely stuffed a neat bite of cake into her new husband's mouth.
- The groom, I’m afraid, was not so benevolent. He squished the world’s biggest “bite” of cake into her mouth at once.
And when the cake tradition was over, I think we were all relieved. : )
The aftermath of the wedding cake...
Good thing there were lots of napkins nearby!
And when at last the time came for them to leave, they newly wed couple were met with a chorus of cheers and clapping as they escaped to their car. The bride managed to squeeze her big, pouffy skirt into the vehicle with her before they drove off to their honeymoon, and I am told that the yards of fabric nearly engulfed as she sat in the front seat. Happily she remarked to her husband (or so I am told), “I look like a great big cupcake!”
I am so thankful that God helped everything turn out so well! It was an absolute miracle not only that everything got done right at the last minute, but that the wedding went forward without the smallest problem. You really would not have known that the wedding had only been planned for the last two days – I have been to weddings planned for several months that wasn’t as beautiful as this one! So while I can certainly understand why families would need longer than a week or so to plan a wedding, I am of the persuasion that maybe most modern weddings are really “over-planned”. I have worked with dozens of brides over the years, and the ones who start planning a year out are often more stressed than any other brides, simply because they have had more time to worry!
Of course the decorations, colors and flowers are important and meaningful for a wedding day, but when it comes right down to it the audience and the wedding party will really only be looking at the bride and groom, not what size bow is on the pew. Perhaps in all the preparations to make their wedding days “perfect” most brides can lose sight of how they should be preparing to say their vows, not just worrying about if all the bridesmaids will match.
So next time you hear of a couple that wants to get married right away, don’t panic! It really isn’t that impossible. With a little help from family and friends it can easily be pulled off in a few weeks. They say that 6-12 months is the average engagement time, but I’m sure many couples get things done in less time than that. And I’d be interested in hearing how long any of you were engaged for!
Happy sewing,
Katrina
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Rachel said,
Wow- what a fabulous story
Congratulations to the Bride and Groom.
And congratulations to YOU for managing all those dresses (alterations and from scratch)
She was a beautiful bride- and you a brightly beaming, beautiful bridesmaid (oooh the alliteration!) and sister to the groom!
Jeri said,
We met towards the end of February, were “all but engaged” by Easter, engaged by June and married in July. My husband-to-be said to the pastor, “It only takes 3 days to plan a funeral, how long can it take to plan a wedding?” I guess part of it is whether you think of the wedding as a church service or as the biggest party you’ll ever throw. In your brother and sister-in-law’s case, I think an awful lot of Grace of God went into it all–I agree that I’ve seen many weddings that were in the works for YEARS that weren’t as beautiful. May they share a lifetime of love! A very wise woman (married 60 years)once said to me, “If you know you’ve found the one you want to marry–why wait?”
Neeno said,
Ohmygawd wow! U r a legend! The wedding dress looks spectacular! Your bridesmaids dress is a beautiful color. You guys look very pretty. Wow. I am amazed that you made two dresses (a wedding and bridesmaids dress???!!!) in 20 hours. WOW
Kiki said,
Inspiring. Beautiful dressed & made on time. Congrats to the bride & groom
Sarah said,
Wow you are amazing!
And the dress is just beautiful!!
Lauren said,
WOW!!! What an incredible story! Serious kudos for pulling it together so quickly and beautifully. It’s amazing, the power that God gives us when we most need it, and I’m sure he blessed you’re efforts and the wedding. Much congratulations to the couple on their marriage.
Lauren said,
*your, not you’re. Sorry, haven’t had my tea yet
Kristi said,
The cake feeding tradition was actually supposed to be a lovely picture of the bride and groom taking care of one another in love. There are also historical roots to fertility. Either way, cake smashing is horrible!
I just found your blog and I love it! Thanks for all the inspiration!!!
Edelweiss Patterns said,
Oh, I had never heard that, Kristi! Thanks for explaining!
Edelweiss Patterns said,
Thank you, Lauren! It’s so good to hear from a like-minded seamstress! There’s no way I could have done it with the Lord’s gracious help!
Edelweiss Patterns said,
Thanks for sharing your story, Jeri! That’s terrific! I agree that there’s no need to put it off too long when you know it’s the right thing. And you are completely right, God’s hand was definitely over the whole experience. I’m so thankful!
learningnewtricks said,
Absolutely amazing! The dresses are beautiful, and nobody would ever know they were made under such tight time constraints in such short an amount of time. Even though the bride teasingly said she looked like a “great big cupcake,” I think she looked more like a princess. The love shines through on everyone’s faces, especially the bride and groom. I can only imagine when the wedding coordinator said, “you have five more minutes,” your panic and excitement must have kicked into high gear. You are such a wonderful, generous, and genuinely kind lady to have made your sister-in-law her special wedding dress. Not only her dress, but yours, altered your mother’s and aunts, too!
Sarah S. said,
WOW!!! I had been waiting for this post! You did a most amazing job on that dress! (not to mention a splendid job with your own and all the alterations!!!) The bride and groom are just radiant, their faces shining with the love and purity that God blessed them with and that they chose to honor. What a wonderful testimony. May they have a most blessed marriage as they continue to follow the Lord.
) Matching the ivory fabric was not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. All of my reading up on sewing and wedding gown design paid off! 
It was by far the dress of my dreams, and was, according to my brother, the Ultimate Cheap-o Dress: Total cost was $50 for the dress and $70 for fabric and petticoat supplies. Praise the Lord! We have been happily married for 17 months now, and I hope that someday I’ll be able to help another bride with a similar project.
, but it wasn’t the most exciting part of the day. And Kristi is right that it is supposed to be the first act of service the bride and groom perform together, and that is serving each other the necessity of life-giving food.
My husband and I courted for 5 months, and were engaged for 5-1/2 months. That was PLENTY of time for planning! I found my dress at a thrift store and then made the off-the-shoulder design into a very modest gown by adding a yoke, jewel neckline, and sleeves. It was a wonderful project my mother and I worked on for many hours (because we had them!
PS. We did the cake-feeding thing, too, according to my husband’s wishes. He behaved himself,
Sarah S. said,
Oh, I forgot to say…it was great to see a picture of your family! I’d always wanted to. A very handsome bunch you all are!
My husband and I also saved our first kiss for the wedding, along with our first time to hold hands. It was ABSOLUTELY WORTH THE WAIT!!!!! I encourage every young couple out there to treasure the God-given gift of purity and holy matrimony. Amen!
Foster said,
You are amazing. There is no way I could do that. I hope you finally got some sleep.
Cynthia said,
Wonderful work, and what a great story they’ll be able to tell your future nieces and nephews of how their aunt saved the day.
Emily said,
I’ve always been hesitant to say God was involved directly in things like craft projects, but I have to say that He was clearly at work here. Wow!
Rochelle said,
Katrina,
This is much a fairytale wedding with the contributions of you and your family. What a refreshing fact that your brother and his fiance did not even kiss before their wedding! Such a Blessing! You are truly talented! I can not sew quickly, but I am thorough. Thank you for sharing your experiences and the wedding pictures with us. Where is your fabric shop? There is only one in Denver that might have what you purchased! It takes me 40 minutes to drive there! Well, Thanks again for sharing your story!
Edelweiss Patterns said,
Hello Rochelle!
Thank you so much! I live in Portland, Oregon, and America’s largest fabric store is about ten minutes away from me. I am sooo blessed, because I used to live on the East Coast where the only thing we had was a Joanns. I literally had to stop sewing until I moved back here. : )
Happy sewing!
Katrina
Edelweiss Patterns said,
Thank you so much, Sarah! I so much appreciate the encouragement and congratulations. : ) That is really amazing that you made your wedding dress so inexpensively, and I bet it was beautiful! I know exactly how you feel about being glad to have studied so much wedding gown design when a project like this comes up.
Thank you for sharing your engagement and wedding story, too! That is really wonderful, and I think 5 1/2 months sounds like an excellent amount of time for planning and getting everything ready.
Have a blessed week!
Katrina
Joy Tucker said,
Inspiring as always, Katrina! I’m going to save my first
kiss for marriage, too, just like your family did. Thanks for posting such fun and inspiring stories. I read
it aloud to my sister, and when I got to the part about the bride’s dress not coming in time, she gasped and said, “Don’t tell me that Katrina decided to make the bride’s dress,too! I have got to see this!”
WendyBee said,
Amazing story! This is the kind of story that inspires anyone who has ever had to sew (Or otherwise create) under extreme deadlines. I’m sure glad it wasn’t me — I’m not as young as I used to be, and my stamina pales in comparison to yours! Of course, the Holy Spirit often works through adrenaline, I believe!
Most sincere blessings and congratulations wished upon the newlyweds!
Doortje said,
Wow, what a great story of some challenging sewing projects! Thanks for sharing!
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Olivia said,
Wow that is a story you will tell your whole life! Very neat
Angie Nelson said,
So beautiful. Congratulations, and great job pulling that off on such short notice. Amazing!
Janel said,
Beautiful!
We had 2.5 months to plan our wedding. Everyone thought we were crazy for “rushing”. You definitely have us beat! lol
My skirt on my wedding dress has 3 layers of tulle, 1 heavy satin, 2 heavy netting and 1 taffeta. It was a pill to sew without any beading. I can only imagine what yours was like. But the lace is perfectly amazing! Congratulations all around!!
Jaime @ BusyMomontheGo.com said,
Wow – you did an absolutely incredible job. I really enjoyed this entire story from the engagement, to the dress to the first kiss. That was so sweet of your brother to swing his bride around so they could have that moment to themselves.
Shelly said,
I would have to agree with you that most wedding today are probably over planned. This just a wonderful story. I can sew and I have made a quilt in a day but dresses. I don’t think I could do it. I too live here in Portland and I think I know which fabric store you are talking about. Great story.
Eschelle said,
that is incredible that is the most amazing thing I have ever seen someone do holy cows! I love it you did an incredible job on that dress great work!
Sarah C said,
Wow!!! I cannot believe you were able to accomplish all of that!!! It is simply impressive. You did a fantastic job.
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Edelweiss Patterns said,
Oh, that’s wonderful Shelly! I wonder if we’ve ever bumped into each other at the fabric store. : )
Happy sewing,
Katrina
Edelweiss Patterns said,
Thank you, Janel! Well 2 1/2 months is still a fairly short time, though! Your dress sounds absolutely gorgeous.
Happy sewing!
Katrina
Easy2Save said,
Oh my goodness you did a wonderful job. I really wish I would have been more interested in sewing in school my sister does lovely work like you.
Edelweiss Patterns said,
Wendy, you are totally right! I definitely had “divine intervention” on this one! Thank you so much for the congratulations to the newlyweds. : )
Edelweiss Patterns said,
Oh, thank you, Joy! And I agree that the newly weds are quite an inspiration. : ) They decided all on their own not to kiss before they were married, but now they have quite a testimony about it.
Happy sewing!
Katrina
Never a Dull Day in Poland said,
My computer froze when I got the 06.00am point of the blog and I freaked!! Why would like a blog would do that to someone. What an amazing sister you are!! Higher sources where definitely watching over you all those few days.
Deedra said,
Wow…that looked exhausting! It all turned out beautifully.
Starlene said,
That wedding dress is stunning!! What a feat to accomplish in such a short period of time! You must be an excellent seamstress. Your purple dress was gorgeous, too. What a good sister in law you are! I tried to make my own wedding dress and never got past the experimental stage. Thanks for sharing with us, I also loved reading that your brother and sister in law were chaste and waiting for marriage. That is what my son has planned when he meets Miss Right.
D said,
That is just downright amazing! I cannot sew so i give you props. I bet your sister-in-law will be forever grateful.
Katie said,
What a gorgeous couple! And the dresses are absolutely stunning. I never would have thought they were put together so quickly. They look fantastic. Great job!
maggieree said,
Wow! What a story!! These will be memories to cherish and stories to tell over and over again! Both my younger sister and I really enjoy looking at various wedding dresses/stories and we both enjoyed this one! Pressure can be good and bad for sewing…but that is some kind of pressure. What an adventure that must have been!
My parents were engaged in June and got married the following November, I believe. Their wedding was quite traditional and I love to look at the pictures every once and awhile. My mother’s dress had a beautiful train and long lace sleeves that each came to a point over her hand. The bridesmaid’s dresses were of a lovely, almost dusty, “vintage” looking pink.
I enjoyed getting to see your family picture. May the Lord bless your brother and new sister-in-law in their new married life! I enjoy your posts so much – keep up the great work and may He bring you ever closer to Him!
jollyjilly said,
What a beautiful dress and beautiful bride. I just made in sep last year 8 bridesmaid dresses for my daughters wedding lol
Edelweiss Patterns said,
Thank you, Maggieree! Your encouragement comes at just the right time, and I really appreciated your comment!
Kris said,
Wow! What great work you did and what a blessing you are to your family! Your brother and his bride made such a lovely couple.
My husband and I had less than a week to plan our wedding. The reason was that we did not want to wait. We had been engaged for nearly a month when we got married. Friends pitched in and it was a beautiful wedding. I wore a lovely hand-me-down dress. We have been married for 16 years now.
Edelweiss Patterns said,
That’s wonderful, Kris! What a similar situation! That is much like theirs with the one month engagement and one week wedding planning. Looking back on it, do you wish you had longer to plan, or are you happy you did in a shorter amount of time?
And congratulations on 16 years!
Happy sewing,
Katrina
Corinne Rodrigues said,
You are a star! I can hardly believe that you came up with those beautiful creations at such short notice and under so much pressure! How lucky Sophia is to join such a loving and supportive family.
Elizabeth said,
What a great story! I loved it!
My husband and I were engaged for fifteen months. We’ve been married for almost ten years; we have five children and will have our sixth in just three weeks.
We did everything “correctly” you might say — and it was not a good experience. In hindsight, it would have been far better to have a very simple wedding without all the hassles. It was not a pleasant experience and I do not look back on it with good memories. My mother and older sister literally took it over, not just the wedding but had to interfere in our honeymoon plans and all sorts of things, resulting in us making decisions that were not in our best interests but rather kept the peace. Lack of cooperation ended up running into a situation in which there were repeated threats of “no wedding”, and I was foolish enough to cave into them. If I could do it over again, I would.
But we’ve made it ten years and have six kids, so there’s a lot of time to make things better for them!
Jennifer Flanders said,
We agree that short engagements are best. Our son and his wife decided to shorten their engagement, just as your brother did, and still managed to have a lovely wedding 24 hours later. That did NOT include making dresses for the bride and bridesmaid from scratch, though. I’m not sure I could have pulled that off, even with all my years of experience as a seamstress. Bravo for a job well done, Katrina! I know that God gave you grace and strength to accomplish the task, thus making the day so memorable for everyone involved.
Julie said,
My husband and I started dating in May and were married by October. It was a home ceremony so just plain and quick.
Eleni Poulakou said,
What a race! What a dressmaker! And what a happy young couple! Best wishes to you all.
Katy @ Experienced Bad Mom said,
Beautiful story, beautiful dresses! What a joy to have your talent and be able to bless the happy couple.
Anjanette said,
It would have taken me two years to make even one of those dresses! I’m so impressed!! And good for them for being flexible and going ahead with the beginning of their lives together!!!
Katie said,
You did an awesome job.
I was engage for about six months before getting married, so we had plenty of time to plan what we wanted.
Edelweiss Patterns said,
That’s terrific, Jennifer! Wow, 24 hours is really short – I hope they got to have a church wedding! I think you’re right about short engagements. And thanks for the encouragement!
Edelweiss Patterns said,
Thank you, Elizabeth! Congratulations on ten years and six children. : )
As far as your wedding experience goes, I think a lot of couples unfortunately experience the same thing. When “mother of the bride syndrom” sets in, it can often make the wedding planning a terrible time, especially if the relatives are used to controlling things. It’s so sad that some over-eager relatives can make what should be such a joyful time more stressful than anything else, but I’m glad with this one that there are only good memories from it!
Thanks for sharing your story!
Katrina
Glenda Cates said,
wow those dress where so pretty if I ever need a wedding dress I am going to call you. The couple is so handsome as are your parents. I bet they will be happy forever. I Loved this post and I felt like I was there. Thanks for sharing there story with us.
Lou Lou said,
What a great sister in law she has! I loved this story. How cute are they wanting to get in a minute! I loved the lace shoulders on her dress, so beautiful! Really elegant.
andrea said,
i’m impressed….
Tabitha (a.k.a. Penny) said,
I am so impressed. First off… you can skip sleep and sew and still make it come out gorgeous!?!? Second… that you were so insanely sweet to tackle such a last minute project. What love.
Nikki said,
Oh my goodness, I am beyond impressed that you managed to pull off such beautiful dresses in such an incredibly short amount of time! Seriously, that’s some talent!!
life just saying said,
What an amazing story, what an amazing sister, what an amazing sewer, what amazing pictures. Your epic was truly amazing.
Stephanie @ One Sleepy Mom said,
Wow! You are so talented. Those dresses are gorgeous! And I have to say, you might just be the best sister-in-law on Earth! Your family is very lucky to have someone so thoughtful and generous in their lives.
Kecia said,
From the photos you would never think that wedding was pulled off in 2 days! The wedding gown you made is beautiful. Congrats to the newlyweds!
Amanda said,
That was a beautiful post. Thank you for sharing. You look gorgeous and not at all like you were up all night! The bride and her dress are absolutely beautiful.
Brett said,
you have amazing sewing skills to pull those gowns off so quickly- GREAT job! what a happy occasion for your family- and truly a family wedding. congrats to you all!
Mrs. Accountability said,
Wow! I’m super impressed! Even my husband was impressed and thought you did an amazing job putting this dress together. I am sure your sister in law loves the effort you put into making this for her. And overnight. I’m still amazed. Sorry to keep saying that but the dress is really gorgeous and I can just imagine how disappointed your SIL would have been had you not been willing and able to do this for her. I love happy endings like these.
Erin @ My Mommy World said,
That dress is absolutely stunning….I love the cap sleeves! I can’t believe how you were able to get it all done in time for the wedding
Jill said,
WOW! What an amazing wedding and what a great job you did on those dresses! I can’t believe how much you achieved in such a short time – SOOO impressive!!
Emily said,
Wow, that is impressive! My husband and I were engaged for about 7 months.
Britni @ Our Eventual Homestead said,
What beautiful gowns! I can barely sew a button! Loved the story and the photos
Lisa said,
What a memorable event! That is a story that will be told again and again!
Jeanette said,
Wow, that looks awesome! Me and my hubby were the same way. We wanted to get married pronto, and planned it in about a week lol.
Kerry said,
What a life saver you were and what beautiful work you do – even under a lot of stress! I would love to be able to sew- even slowly. But I am incapable of sewing a straight line, no matter what I do. I cannot draw a straight line either so I guess there isn’t much hope for me.
Krystle said,
You are amazing for doing all of that!! I really need to learn how to use a sewing machine. I’d love to create things!
Jamie said,
What a beautiful story, thank you for sharing. It must have been super stressful for you, the results turned out amazing.
Yannie said,
Two gowns for less than 24 hours? It’s really impressive. While reading your post I felt like I was stressed out on making that dressed and it seems impossible but you made it happened.
They are lucky that they have you.
Marian said,
It turned out beautiful. I wish I’ll learn how to sew.
Congrats to them. And of course to you. You made the impossible possible.
Becca@CreatingFamilyConnections said,
What a nice sister! Excellent job on the dresses.
I’m not married, but my sister and her husband had their whole wedding planned in under 6 months.
Just Jaime said,
So impressive! I can barely believe it! Great job! This would be awesome at our link up party on Saturdays!
Dianna @ practicing frugal said,
Beautiful job on the dresses. I sew basic stuff, but nothing like that.
Sarah @ Ropeknits said,
What a touching story! And how impressive of you all to pull it together so quickly! Much happiness to your brother and his bride.
miss shirley said,
Hi Katrina, What a great job. And I must say your faith, love, giving, caring and serving really paid off big time. The dresses were so beautiful as were the trimmings!! The pictures were so welcome. How great it is to see the whole family again and how did you all grow up so quickly? I remember when———–yes, all those things too numerous to mention. What a blessing you have been to me through the years and you certainly are a blessing to everyone else. May God always bless you with all good things. love ya, bless ya Jesus & me
Edelweiss Patterns said,
Oh, thank you, Miss Shirley! We miss you, too!
Michelle said,
Wow! What a wonderful testimony of the love you have for your family and your sewing talents!
Maura said,
Super story! Love that they saved their kiss – all weddings should be like that. Take away some of the bells and whistles and keep it simple. Find a relative who is a seamstress and we can have many more weddings with pure Bride and Groom – the way it should be. Love it! Well done!!!
Laurie said,
Thank you so much for sharing such a wonderful day with us. Congratulations. The designs were truly fantastic. WOW!!
Mariah said,
What fantastic work! The dresses are beautiful and what a wonderful story!
Wendy said,
WOW! How amazing. You’d never know it was pulled together in about two days. And the wedding dress is beautiful!
Wendy
Around My Family Table
Carrie said,
Amazing story and you have a wonderful talent! Well done!
Suzy Myers said,
Wow, I feel like I just watched an episode of Project Runway! Amazing job! You do fabulous work. And the bride and groom looked wonderful. Thanks so much for sharing!
suzy
Melanie said,
I am beyond impressed. I’m tired just reading this!
See You In the Garden said,
Great sewing skills. The fact that you could just whip up a dress like that really highlights your talent. It would have been so easy to just go look for a dress, but instead you gave the gift of time and your skill to make it as close to the dress as she had wanted.
Thank you for sharing the special day with all of us.
Johnnie said,
Unbelievable!! I am so impressed. Congrats on your beautiful wedding.
Carolynn @mylittlebitoflife.com said,
Amazing job! The things we do in the name of love! How wonderful that everyone came together to pull this off in such a short amount of time!
Tracy @ usingtimewisely.com said,
Fantastic! You showed your love to your brother and sister-in-law in a most meaningful way. Beautiful job!
Making Our Life Matter said,
Absolutely amazing work! The colors are gorgeous!
Krissy @ B.Inspired Mama said,
What a lucky little brother! You saved to day.
Adelina Priddis said,
WOW! seriously, amazing work! For little sleep you all look wonderful!
Karren said,
What awesome patterns and such detail to the wedding dress, I love the bridesmaid dress too (purple) Congratulations on your beautiful day!! I’m enjoying your blogging comments. I love to read others opinions! I have come from Blogelinas 100 comment hop, and now continue to hop!! Now that we met come follow me…… on my….. GFC….Oh! My Heartsie
@Oh! My Heartsie
Karren
Jamie said,
Very pretty! Who does that? Apparently you do! Fun (and exhausting) story for the couple to remember for the next 80 years
Judith said,
Amazing how you did all that work in such a short time! Well done.
LT said,
I love that they waited until saying “I DO” to have their first kiss! Wish more couples were that determined to save themselves for their spouse. BTW, you did a FABULOUS job on that wedding dress! That lace is gorgeous!
Kathy (Kangaroo Mama) said,
That is amazing!!!! I wish I could sew like that. I recently inherited an old sewing machine and have been trying to teach myself to use it but it is really hard! I wish you lived near me so I could get some private lessons. I love what you make, the dresses are beautiful!
I was engaged for 5 months but only had 3 months to plan the wedding for which we practically planned 2 wedding receptions (different locations in the state). We also did not want to wait forever to be married so 5 months was considered long! Congrats to your brother!
Layne Lanpher said,
Beautiful wedding, beautiful dresses, beautiful story
Dawn Storey said,
What a story! Thanks for sharing!
LaVonne said,
Wow! That is amazing. Beautiful. Thank you for sharing. I am excited to see people who want to be pure until marriage and modest.
Blessings!
Clarinda said,
Wow. The dresses are BEAUTIFUL. I want to learn to sew. I bought my then 4 year old daughter material and now she’s 8 so I guess my now four year old and 21 month old will inherit the dresses when they are eventually finished.
I was engaged for 10 months and in October we will have been married 10 years.
BTW you live only 20-30 mins away from me.
Julie said,
Wow! That is impressive. As a fellow seamstress I know what goes into make elaborate dresses(for myself that is). My high school prom dress was my first and it took well over 20 hours! You did a fab job!
Jacqui Gonzales said,
Wow! That is amazing! I love the dress and I can’t believe how much work you did in such a short amount of time. It’s beautiful, as is the bride. Congrats to your brother and sister in law!
marye~ said,
You are really talented and apparent work well under pressure! Such a beautiful story.
Stacie said,
Wow, I can’t imagine having to sew one dress in a day, let alone TWO! Both of your dresses were amazing!
Tiff said,
WOW! i got tired just reading all of that! very impressive! and congrats
clarissa said,
Wow, you go girl!
Beautiful dress – and very creative idea!
Jessica, The Debt Princess said,
I’m super impressed! I can’t imagine planning a wedding so quickly! You did a very nice job.
Allie | Ramblings of a WAHM said,
OK, you made those dresses? I am speechless. They are amazing! Really. My mouth dropped when I say the work that needed to go into them AND in such short time! Amazing.
I love the photos, they are a cute couple and look so genuinely happy.
~Allie
Edelweiss Patterns said,
Thank you, Clarinda! Sewing is definitely one of the most helpful skills you can learn, and I’m sure you’ll do great at it! Congratulations on 10 years, too! (And it’s too funny that we live so close.)
Happy sewing,
Katrina
Heather @ Keep It Thimble said,
I love this post! Probably my favorite of the ones I’ve read today. What an accomplishment to get a dress and wedding dress completed in less than 24 hours. You are amazing! Both dresses are beautiful. Your brother is lucky to have a sister like you.
jenivieve said,
wow. this was a beautiful story. the love you put into making their day special is incredible. you are very talented!!!
Amber--JadeLouise Designs said,
WOw, I can’t believe you were able to create such stunning dresses and alterations in so little time! those dresses are amazing! And such a beautiful story about your brother! Such a sweet romance! I’m so happy for them!
sarah said,
wow! you are talented. i just bnought a brother sewing machine and let me tell you, i wanna learn how to hem my own dresses! i guess with a lot of patience and you tubing i will learn eventually
Modest Wedding Dress said,
The dresses simply look elegant. And it is such a wonder that you were able to finish them in 24 hours! I don’t think I can ever do that!
ems said,
You’re amazing Katrina. Sewing is not easy and you were able to finish them within 24 hours unbelievable! Congrats to the newlyweds!
ems said,
God is really amazing!
Edelweiss Patterns said,
Thank you, Ems! I’m so thankful for the Lord’s help! Couldn’t have done it otherwise. : )
Happy sewing!
Katrina
Nolagirl said,
This was a beautiful wedding, the dress lovely, and I appreciate you sharing it!
Ellen said,
We got engaged feb. 14 and married May 2 followed by 3 receptions, in early July, August and September in three cities. I don’t sew nor am I good at shopping, but my sister is good at both and took care of my dress and accessories and groom’s clothes. All 4 events turned out wonderfully with lots of help from families, friends and the Lord’s graciousness; with those things you don’t need a lot of time or money. Thanks for sharing your uberincredible story and beautifully sewn and altered dresses.
Dana Parrish said,
Katrina, thank you for sharing this story because it helped me to have the courage attempt to sew my daughter’s wedding dress. I’ll admit that it took me much longer to get the dress made. She informed me in September that they wanted to have their wedding on December 31st and she wanted me to make her wedding dress. I had to get on the ball and pick out a pattern. She described what she had in mind. It turned out that there was not a wedding dress pattern matching that description so I started looking at evening dresses and retro patterns. I found Butterick 5605 (a retro 1956 pattern) that seemed to fit the bill. When I showed it to her she agreed. I had to alter the pattern a bit and create a strapless bodice to place under a lace bodice. Since I had never done this it was a challenge. The resulting dress was exactly as I had pictured it in my head. Thanks again for sharing this story and the many retro patterns you make.
Dana
Edelweiss Patterns said,
Thank you for the comment, Dana! I’m so glad to hear that the story inspired you, and your daughter’s wedding dress sounds absolutely gorgeous! If you have the pictures online somewhere I would love to have the link. : )
Happy sewing!
Katrina
Dana Parrish said,
Katrina – I posted one picture on the Butterick Patterns facebook page. I have submitted a few more to them but they have not appeared yet. My facebook username is Dana Crouch Parrish if that helps. I have enjoyed your blog and the projects you have shared. Keep up the wonderful work! Dana
Edelweiss Patterns said,
Thank you for letting me know, Dana! I will have to go check that out. Can’t wait to see what you came up with!
Happy sewing,
Katrina
2012 In Review & Sewing Goals for the Year Ahead! | Edelweiss Patterns Blog said,
[...] gown overnight, as well as sew my own bridesmaid dress, too! You can read the full story on it here. I was really overwhelmed by the huge response I received on this project, and all the warm wishes [...]
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