10.10.10

Yesterday I got one of those 'remember this' notification on Facebook and it was of the pic above (first picture) of me in my original wedding dress. It got me looking over all my wedding pics and since it was nearly 6 years ago now I thought I might re-share with you guys.

For those of you that don't know I found my wedding in Saver's (those not in Australia that is an Op-Shop or Thrift Store). I used to use all my free time on weekends back then, hunting for vintage goodies in op-shops but I never in my life expected to find my wedding dress. I would never even usually look at the wedding dress section but I was getting married at the end of the year and still hadn't decided on a dress so I figured I might as well have a squizz. 

When I first saw it sitting there my heart stopped a little. It was shoved in-between a whole lot of 80's puffy shoulders and scratchy tulle so it was quite discrete sitting there amongst all that with its soft flowing layers and vintage lace. I pulled it out and instantly looked at the price tag... $200. That was a lot of money for me back then but $200 on a wedding dress would be unheard of so I did my self a little deal. I decided I would go try it on and if it fit I would buy it and take the risk of altering it, but if it didn't fit I wouldn't buy it. It fit... like it was made for me. I took it up to the counter, put it on my credit card and headed straight home to my sewing machine.

My mum helped me alter the dress after I discovered that the lace was hand made, meaning that each individual little flower and detail had been hand sewn on to create the overall look of the lace. I was too scared I would bugger it up so mum was the first one to take to it with the scissors. I was all about backless back then so I knew that was one thing I wanted to do with the dress. Although I loved the Victorian style lace sleeves and high neckline I had always envisioned myself in a backless dress. We completely cut out the back and took off the sleeves, then it was just a matter of details. We used the lace that we had cut off to create the little frill shoulders and then I sourced some lace trim from a local fabric shop to finish it all off. $232 later and my wedding dress was complete.

It travelled all the way to Switzerland with us where we married in front of close family and friends in a big Willow tree up the top of Lucerne. The whole wedding very was casual and spontaneous... We decided on the location to get married the day before our wedding, the reception we just had at our Hotel, the flowers we picked up from the local markets the morning of and the wine was 4 litre bottles of Shiraz from the local supermarket. I flew over a photographer from Adelaide, Elisa Mercurio, and she captured everything about our perfect day from my constant grin to the baby face, puppy love my husband and I still share to this day. 

I always feel sorry for brides that say things like 'I hated my dress' or 'I would change so much about my wedding.' I personally wouldn't change one single thing about our wedding and I think that comes down to not getting caught up in the bullshit. Who cares if the flowers are white and not off white, who cares if the MC forgot to announce the cutting of the cake and it doesn't matter two hoots if you have the perfect wedding underwear coz you will both be too drunk to even appreciate it anyway! This day is about you and your love. Take in every moment and make sure you kiss each other regularly thought out the day. My wedding was the best day of my life and that is the way it should be for everyone.

Danielle

xxx