The Gown

The bride's beautiful dress:

I had made the pattern before so I was elected to help her with it! The pattern: Butterick 4919. We used the same alterations I made to make the cap sleeves, but we altered the neckline to make it wider. And we altered the skirt, using the two back pattern pieces from a vintage wedding gown pattern to form the train. She overlaid the whole thing, except the ties, with lace. It was truly beautiful. One of my favorite memories of this dress is the two of us lounging on either end of the sofa while we hand stitched the hem. Great girlfriend time.

We definitely couldn't have done it without the help of my mother and sisters. They gave advice and helped, especially with the lace we carefully hand stitched along the bottom to make the border. Many hands make light work, as Mummy would say.

And notice the amazing arrangement of flowers? That is thanks to Miss Penny with help from her daughter and a friend, who did almost all the flowers for the wedding. I'm so grateful to her for doing them. She did a beautiful job with a cheerful servant's heart. One thing I especially appreciate about her is that she is quite a bit older than me with a lot of experience doing weddings, but she didn't try to usurp in any way, but made herself and her talents available for whatever was needed.

I should also mention that those flowers didn't cost a small fortune. The gorgeous dahlias were from the couples soon to be neighbor, an elderly gentleman that kindly shared from his garden, and the roses were from a city rose garden where you can pick with a permit from the Community Center. The greenery was from assorted yards. Beauty doesn't have to be expensive.