On Tuesday
Cooper,
Susie,
Breazy, and
Jocelyn left comments demanding to see my wedding gown and what my bridesmaids wore since I mentioned my mother made all the dresses. Having no other actual ideas for this week's Slice of Lime I am
subjecting you all to showing you the requested pictures.
First, the evidence. My mother took over my vacated bedroom to use as sewing space. The clean, empty floor was the only space big enough to lay out all the fabric and patterns. Here she's cutting out a bridesmaid dress.
My gown, my veil, a couple of bridesmaids gowns, and her own dress for the wedding, which she also made. I only asked her to make my gown. She eagerly volunteered to make the bridesmaids' gowns as well. My girls were ecstatic to only have to pay for the cost of fabric and notions. It's hard to beat $35 for a full length taffeta dress.
The finished product for Mom and me. Please keep in mind this was 1988 when hair was worn big (I never had big hair. My conscience is clear regarding the effect of Aquanet on the ozone layer.) and wedding gowns were expected to drip beading and baubles and pearls and bows and all manner of other geegaws. Fussy, complicated gowns were the style. Mine was fairly understated for the time...well, except for those linebacker shoulders. Hey, don't laugh.
The Little Mermaid wore that dress a few years later. I didnt' have a flower girl or a ring bearer. They were misbehaving so as punishment I carried them inside my sleeves. Mom did a beautiful job. Everyone was happy with how their gowns fit and she actually changed the waistline on mine. It was supposed to be straight but I wanted the v-shape so she changed the pattern.
The one fussy feature about the dress was the 40 or 50 buttons that went up the back of it. Mom asked if I wanted the buttons or if she should just put a zipper in. I asked for the buttons. She covered each one in satin and hand crocheted the loops for them. That's motherly love. It took my girls a while to get me buttoned in. I had ideas as to how fun it might be having them unbuttoned later, hence my preference for buttons over a zipper. Mr. Lime did not share my thoughts on the matter. I want to further emphasize the understated design of this 80s gown. Gigantic bows on the bride's rear-end were the in thing. I opted out of that particular trend if you'll notice. My girls had very small bows atop each shoulder. My mom made enough extra bows out of scraps to go on the bases of candles on the tables at the reception. Afterward, we gathered them up and every year I put them on our Christmas tree.
So now that I am all buttoned in and bedecked in the various finery here's the fully finished product of my girls with me as my maid of honor adds the last touch. May I say the buttons are the only reason getting dressed took me more than 15 minutes. I did my own hair (single french braid down the back) and didn't wear any make-up. Heck, this was even in the days before I decided eyebrow plucking was a good idea. It was well before middle aged hormones and my Greek heritage would conspire to provide me with an upper lip in need of regular waxing. Low maintenance, baby. But I digress, I was supposed to be showing the finished product or my mom's labors.
Take note of the $9.99 Payless shoes with a half inch heel in this next shot. I do believe I have mentioned I hate high heels too. Comfort, that's what I am talking about. I guess I clean up reasonably well, but I still can't be overly formal for very long. We got married the week before Christmas. At the reception I took off my grandmother's pearl earrings and wore red Christmas ball earrings.
If I knew how to photoshop in arrows and labels and stuff I'd do that but I can't so you'll have to tolerate the explanation in paragraph form. See the two older ladies looking like they might beat the crap out of anyone who tries to take the bouquet from them? Yeah, those are my great aunts. The girl in the red dress who has her hand up is my cousin. The girl in the front in the black dress with the red belt is also a cousin. They are all in a life and death struggle for that bouquet and fully intend to launch themselves at whoever catches the garter. Such is my family at a wedding. Twenty years later and the white haired, octogenarian aunt will trip you with her walker then beat you senseless to get at the bouquet. However, the winner was the slight girl in the blue dress. She promptly came over to gleefully hug me at which point one of my Christmas ball earrings pulled off its wire and found itself down her neckline and nestled in her bra. As I whirled around trying to find it she deadpanned, "It's in my bra. See? I look like I have three boobs now."
Finally, I'd be remiss in not having at least one picture showing the groom. Neither of us quite understood what the heck the photographer was trying to get us to do at this point. The pose you see is what we wound up doing spontaneously. I liked the playfulness of it.
So there you have it. My mom's mad sewing skillz on full parade nearly 20 years ago.
Thanks, Mom. You're the best!
