In continuation of my wedding series I wanted to share details about my lace wedding dress and handmade bolero. I had such a specific vision in mind and in the end I ended up with the dress of my dreams. Read on to see how I brought my vision to life!

Anyone who knows me understands that I have a small obsession with Kate Middleton and her wedding dress. The ballgown, the lace, the pleats, the structure….everything about it screamed timeless elegance. I wanted a dress inspired by Kate that I could also look at 20 or 50 years from now and still be in love with.

To my shock it was hard to find a simple ballgown dress. A lot of the dresses I found had too many embellishments , beading, sequins, etc. They were just too busy – who would have thought finding a simple wedding dress was hard? Luckily, after months of searching I finally found the dress of my dreams on a trip to the Chicago Macy’s with my sister Monica. Here it is before the alternations and personal touches!

My favorite part of the dress was the lace wedding jacket I had made from scratch. I was lucky to work with Grace from Grace Designs, a very talented, self-taught seamstress. She brought my dream to life and if you ever need something hand made or tailored knock on her door. She will not disappoint.

I loved the process of having to choose the lace, buy the fabric, and then work with a very talented seamstress to design the fit and style.  It was an slow and old fashioned process in the best kind of way. When I was choosing my lace in Evanston’s Vogue Fabrics, I kind of felt like one of those ladies in a period movie pouring over fabrics to design a new dress. Clothing was very personal back then – people carefully considered each button and thread they used for their clothes. In today’s world of mass produced clothing – it was a fun to get to think about which fabrics, colors, and buttons I wanted for the lace wedding jacket.

And now here is the dress on its big day – it rained a lot the morning of my wedding — it made everything feel cozy and the lighting was dramatic and moody.

On the morning of the wedding I remember waking up at 5am in anxious anticipation of the wedding. I spent the next few hours nervously looking out the window at the rain while sipping a cup of tea as my family and bridesmaids started to get ready around me.  The first photo below was right after I had put on my wedding dress and it wasn’t until this moment, that I started to calm down and really enjoy the day.  Wedding dresses have a transformative effect  — which sounds cliche, but there is a magic that happens when you watch someone put on their wedding dress on the big day. I’ve seen it with my other friends and love watching their eyes light up when they put on their wedding dresses.

Here are some shots of the full length dress and lace wedding jacket….I need to find some event where I can wear this gorgeous dress again. Any ideas?!?!?! 🙂

After a morning of solid rain, the afternoon cleared up and Ted and I would rush outside in between showers to take photos. In all of my outdoor wedding photos I’m secretly wearing my rain boots and my sister is crouching behind me trying to protect my dress from the rain. I owe her big time on her wedding day and fully intend to return the favor 🙂

Again, I have to make sure that I give credit to my fabulous wedding photographer Erin Hoyt who took all the photos for my wedding. If you need a photographer for any event — look no further than her. She is amazing!  Check out her website here as well as her blog post on our wedding day !