The Wedding Gown

Yippee! I am having my first meeting with Christian Siriano today to discuss the design of my wedding dress. OK, well, I will admit that although I adore him and his talent I was MOST enthralled by his appearance on Bravo's Project Runway (now on Lifetime). He is a diva and so am I...I am much more understated however. We met through a mutual friend and I instantly knew I wanted him to make the dress. The scary part was that in 2005 I was flipping through a magazine and found THE dress of my dreams: the one you look at that surpasses all others and just fits. Everything about it, material, design, silhouette..it all just grabbed me. I want you to know I have the original cut out, and even my fiance Brad has found it around our apartment from time to time. It is a miracle it survived, and silly that I didn't think about finding the designer's collection online so I can finally get rid of the clipping. I have to share the image with you!

I had to figure out a way to not offend Christian by sharing this dress I loved so much. I wanted his take on it; I didn't want to stifle his creativity. It is very different when you're clipping dresses you like to go find something like it in a shop. Can I just say that I hope, before brides consider shopping for a new dress, that they look at the thousands of gently worn dresses out there that can be equally special when they wear it for their day! Buying a vintage dress was definitely the route I was going if Christian had not said he would design my dress. When I started investigating vintage, I was amazed at what was out there...even for a fashion snob like me, and for any budget! I always though it was so gluttonous to purchase a dress once and never wear it again. Let's not forget our carbon footprint, and knowing where the dress comes from. All this should be a factor when deciding on our wedding clothing. I was definitely concerned with this. 

At this point, I have decided that I will do my part to conserve and feel good about it by auctioning off my dress (with a commitment from the new owner that it will be recycled) and donating the proceeds to a charity. That was my way of justifying not going vintage. I am still trying to find an organic material; that will also make me happy. They do exist, people! I'm hoping Christian's expertise will help. 

I will let you know how the meeting goes!