20th wedding anniversary

1994 Original Wedding Dress 

My original wedding dress, from 1994.  Custom sewn by me, with all hand beaded lace, including the hem and train upon which was appliqued 8" deep, hand- sequined and pearled lace.

Inspiration Dress

The modern 20th wedding anniversary gift is platinum.  I wanted to wear a wedding dress for my anniversary party, but instead of white, I chose to wear a silver (platinum!) dress.  I tried on many dresses in my search for an inspiration.  This side draped dress was close to the preferred silhouette.  In my fabric stash, I found a pale silver fabric to pair with some white chiffon.

Recently I took a class called Fast Track Fitting by Joi Mahon on Craftsy.com.  I really liked this technique of creating and altering patterns based on detailed measurements, and used it as the basis for this dress and cocktail dresses for my daughters (future posts).

The final results.  A side draped dress with a sweetheart neckline.  Rhinestones follow the drape, leading to a chiffon inset (in person the rhinestones stand out significantly more dramatically).  The necklace was made from the same rhinestones as the dress.  (More details about the rhinestones in a later post).

Due to fabric limitations, the dress was not quite as full as originally planned.  Hopefully I'll lose a few pounds before the actual anniversary which will add a little more draping.  (I'll also not be sewing right up to the time the photo was taken, so I'll have time to iron!)

Final Version!