Wedding Highlights: The Dress

Photo by Cami

I could go on forever about how amazing my dress is. It was custom made by a family friend, Jann Marie, and I'll tell you what, she is amazing. The dress is amazing. I love it.
The process of making the dress actually started before I was even engaged. I knew it could take a while, so as soon as we got a wedding date, I called up Jann! I went to Jann not really knowing exactly what I wanted. But with only 2 months, I knew I had to get things started! I showed her a few things I liked and we went forward from there. It was a lot of Jann saying "brooke this would be cool!" and me going, "okay!" I'll admit, it was hard for me to picture things before they were right in front of me, which was a struggle. But Jann knew what I liked, knew what looked good, and was really really great to work with. 

Like I said, I could go on and on about how great this dress is. But to make it easy, I split it into 5 points. 

1. It's comfortable. 


The very first time I met with Jann, I told her the most important thing to me was to be comfortable. I wanted to be able to move. I wanted to be able to dance and run around and have a good time at my wedding! If I was going to be wearing this thing all day, it had better be comfortable. And it was.

+ I had FULL RANGE OF MOTION IN MY ARMS. Can you believe that? That's unheard of in the bridal world!
+ I could breath. This may seem like it's a given, but even after a few rootbeers and some pizza, I was still gettin oxygen!
+ I could bend any which way I wanted. Perfect for dancing.

Exhibit A:
Photo by Cami

2. Zippable


See that beautiful button detail? Amazing huh. Jann's idea, of course. The buttons are hand-made and covered with the same vintage lace my dress was made out of. Best part about this? It's actually a zipper. That means it doesn't take your mom, 3 bridesmaids, and the photographer to put it on.

I know, I know, it's amazing.

Photo by Claire

Photo by Claire

Photo by Claire

3. One of a kind


Everyone likes to think of themselves as a 'one of a kind,' and I wanted my dress to reflect that. Really, I wanted my whole wedding to reflect my personality, and our relationship.

I never had a 'dream dress.' I knew what I hated, which was pretty much everything I had ever seen. Plus, it's hard to add features, such as sleeves, to dresses that weren't designed to have those features. I didn't even want to go there. I guess I always knew that in order to find something I was going to like, it would be a loooooong search, or a custom.

There's something really cool about having a dress made just for you. I didn't point to a single dress and say "give me that." And I didn't go to a bridal store and find one that maybe 100 other brides would wear. I loved so much that it was made for me, I had a part in it, and that it just felt, well, me!

+ I bought the lace used for the body of the dress at a store down in Arizona. It was old and smelled funny and we just thought it was gorgeous.
+ The fabric and trim on the sleeves actually was given to me by my older sister. She found it at a thrift store for $3!

Photo by Claire

Photo by Claire

Photo by Claire


4. Lightweight


The dress was so light. I have some sunday dresses that weigh more, honestly. It was awesome. I felt like I was wearing just another summer dress! I just feel like that's a really rare and awesome for a wedding dress not to weigh more than the bride. Even Jann was surprised!

+ Body made of rayon/cotton blend
+ Cotton lace
+ Silk chiffon
Photo by Claire

Photo by Claire

Photo by Claire

Photo by Claire

Photo by Claire

5. SURPRISE! It's actually 2 Dresses!


This is probably the coolest feature of the dress. Throughout the process I kept thinking what I'd do for my getaway dress. Somehow we started talking about making this my getaway dress! I think it started as a joke, but then things got real, and fast. We were both way stoked on the idea!

Jann made the actual dress a short one, with a chiffon bottom. Then she made an attachable long skirt. That way, I could take off the long part and BOOM! Getaway dress. You couldn't even tell, could ya :)

She is a genius.
Photo by Cami

Photo by Cami

Photo by Cami

The longer I wore it, the more I loved it. And looking at these pictures makes me want to go put it on and marry Casey all over again, and again, and again.


10 comments

  1. Absolutely gorgeous dress and pictures. Congratulations!

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  2. your dress is truly one of a kind & so perfect. i can't get over how it is actually short with a long skirt. such a good idea!

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  3. I'M SO OBSESSED WITH YOUR DRESS

    DEAD SERIOUS

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  4. SUCH a gorgeous dress!! I'm absolutely in love with the back and the fact that the bottom of the dress comes off!!! That is seriously genius.

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  5. SO pretty brooke. that back detail is amazing!!!

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  6. That dress is absolutely amazing!

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  7. The best ever! I love that it's custom made and so unique, plus it's a double dress oh my! You're one very lucky lady :-) Congrats again!

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  8. Yeah its actually two dresses but i loved them both!

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