Well, I am back…. as a married woman!

Wow, that makes me feel/sound old! I just got back from the most incredible 11 day wedding trip / mini-moon to our favorite place… Miami and I want to say { TAKE ME BACK there! }

We did it, we tied the knot and I hate to say it but I am soooooo extremely relieved that the planning is over. I did enjoy a lot of the process – especially designing and making my dream wedding dress (more on that in this post), but I won’t miss the pressure, opinions and stress of the wedding planning.

I’m SO elated that we are married and now we can enjoy our time together because it was a heck of a stressful year (did I say that already). Being married – is AMAZING. We feel so much more like a team and like our roots are grounded deep into a sturdy foundation.  I feel like there is a new found respect and deeper love that we have – and I didn’t think it was possible or that much would change since we have been living together for years.

Brides-to-be, let me assure you that your wedding day will be everything you dreamed of AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!

You will look the best you have ever looked (thus far), everything will fall into place, the venue and all of your vendors will create a magical fairytale land that you are the QUEEN of and it gets so much more fun than that!!

Gratefully, my wedding went off without a hitch! Some minor things did go askew but they are things that only I would notice. We ran late getting ready which cut into some photo time but we all looked gorgeous and the shots we did get (which were still a TON) are insanely amazing and I haven’t even seen all of them yet! – SO much more on my wedding to come….I am waiting for those amazing photos to give you more details!

THE DRESS 
The one thing that was the most important to me, and the only thing I ever was certain of as a little girl was that I wanted to design my wedding gown.

Growing up, you accumulate stories in your head about why you are not good enough, talented enough or capable enough of living your WILDEST dreams. My wildest dream (well one of them) has always been to be a renowned fashion designer. So, like any well-acclimated person in society would do – I doubted myself.

When it came time to find a dress, I went to many stores, tried on dozens of gowns, but none were for me. I found some I could love if I changed this or that. I found gorgeous dresses that anyone else would be ecstatic about. Yet, in my head, it wasn’t mine because I hadn’t designed it. That small voice was being stepped over by the more socially acceptable voices of the sales people and onlookers that “this looks great on you”, “it’s beautiful”, “it’s perfect”.

Months of agonizing and finally finding ONE dress that I did become obsessed-in-love with, it turns out that it was literally 10x’s my budget.

I found a white feather on the floor when I left for that dress appointment, I thought it had to be a sign that this dress was THE ONE.  Imagining in my mind that I could some how make that impossible budget happen (I could buy the sample, I could call a friend to get an industry discount, call directly to Israel where it was made and befriend the designer etc. etc.) Yeah. MMMKay. Not happening.

This was the blessing. I had exhausted my options. It was my wedding and I would NOT settle for a dress I wasn’t in love with. I couldn’t have that pricey designer dress, so I was going to have to dig into my deepest fears, pull out my strength and design the dress of my dreams.

I wasn’t exactly sure what that would look like yet (Ha!) but I sat down, and I designed. I knew what I wanted it to feel like, I knew the silhouette, the glamour, and the impression I wanted it to make.  I know my body and what flatters me, I tried on enough dresses to know what I didn’t like.

Ready for my main inspiration? Please don’t laugh…

Do you remember this scene from The Little Mermaid

The one when Ariel came out of the water with as a human to meet her Prince? She was covered in the most stunning glimmers of white sparkle. This was what I had in the back of my head when trying on gowns and nothing came close.

Now on to find the fabric! I scoured the garment district walking up and down and into every single store looking for clear or white sequins to do the trick. This idea was hard to come by. Finally I found the fabric. It had come straight from India and it was exactly what I wanted. It had that shine and sparkle I was looking for. It was sheer, so it needed to be backed.

So production began and my dress was born! There are a lot more details that went into it but I’ll spare you the nitty gritty.

I am all about the little things so I designed my train to be 111 inches long (I wanted the train to be extremely long and super dramatic, plus 111 is a powerful number for good luck and blessings) and I had a piece of my great grandmother’s veil sewn into the lining of the dress over my heart.

The dress was inspired by Old Hollywood glam and I wanted something unlike anything that was out there on the market today.
I designed an Old Hollywood take on the modern sweetheart neckline. I went with a figure flattering mermaid silhouette and gave it a modern feel by going with no embellishments or lace aside from the sequined fabric.

In production, my dress had two layers of train, needed over 70 yards of sequined fabric, 30 yards of silk faille, 50 yards of crinoline, an internal corset, padding (so no undergarments were necessary) and horsehair lining all around the two layers of train on all the hems.  The top layer of train was not holding the shape like I thought it would but I realized that was because the sequins were so heavy. I was disappointed at first but I realized the sequins were more important to me than the structure on the train so instead I hand laid each tuck and fold of the train and how it would flow.  It really became a couture dress with real blood, sweat and tears soaked into it somewhere.  Due to the weight (25 pounds), it was really hard to walk. We decided to make the bottom and longest train detachable so that I could take it off, bustle the top layer and actually dance!

This was a real labor of love and something I am so proud of myself for and so grateful to my mom (and family) for believing in me and supporting me to make this possible.

So with out further adieu, I present to you my gorgeous wedding gown.

Right before I walked down the aisle!

There are so many more photos of me, behind the scenes with the dress in the making and my fittings but I will save that for another time.

This is not the first wedding gown I have made and I LOVE working with brides who want to create something so unique to them and show off their personality. If you or someone you know is interested in a custom made wedding gown please email me at Emily@EmilyBrickel.com

Remember: If you aren’t afraid, you are not dreaming big enough!

Hope that inspires you!
xoxo
Emily

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