Not your usual wedding dress.....

Thursday 18 October 2012
Lizzie asked in the comments to the last post whether I'd ever blogged about my wedding dress that I made.  Well I did - it was actually my second ever post on this little blog, way back on 12 February 2008! It's funny you should ask, because not only was it our 7th wedding anniversary just two weeks ago but I also had my wedding photos out (still in the box not in an album!) because I had a coupon for greatly reduced canvases so I thought after all this time it would be nice to have one of them on the wall!

But I'm happy to oblige and repost some pics since you asked so nicely ha ha ha! And whilst we didn't have a wildly unusual or bizarre wedding, I didn't wear a standard white dress with bouquet in a church either.  We had a civil ceremony in the beautiful Chinese Gardens in Darling Harbour here in Sydney, followed up with a thirteen course banquet in a very fancy Chinese restaurant on Sydney Harbour.


Because spring in Sydney can be very hot (and indeed it was an extremely hot day), I decided to make a knee length dress in a traditional red colour:





I used McCalls 9395 (now OOP), with no modifications other than to lengthen the sleeves.  When I tell people that I made my wedding dress they think that I'm a highly skilled couturier until I tell them that the dress was just a very simple sheath dress with a mandarin collar! And the dress I wore was actually meant to be a practice version - it's made from a polyester brocade that I bought in Spotlight and it turned out so well that instead of remaking the dress it in a nicer silk brocade I just left it at that.  So my wedding dress cost me about $20 in the end!




I also chose not to carry a bouquet for the simple reason that I thought it be too much effort carrying around a heavy bunch of flowers all day! My bridesmaids and I made wrist corsages which were much easier to wear.

Speaking of the bridesmaids I also made their dresses from the same McCalls pattern, in a lilac brocade they selected from an Asian fabric store out in Cabramatta, which is fabric store mecca here in Sydney. I had to make the frog closures for their dresses from some silver cord because I couldn't find any to match the gold ones on my dress, but I think I did a pretty good job on making them.



Of course we had to have the obligatory Sydney Opera House shot:


And the reason why my husband is sitting in most of our wedding photos? 'Cos I'm a dwarf even in the highest heels compared to him!


30 comments:

  1. What gorgeous wedding photos! Beautiful touches and I love that you made your own dress.

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  2. Beautiful dress! How nice to see such a stylish alternative to the mandatory white meringue. And so practical for a hot spring day. You both look gorgeous :-).

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  3. Love it! Thank you for sharing. You look so stylish in the dress. You're a rockstar for making the bridesmaids dresses too! As an aside, the best pan-Asian food I've ever had was in Australia. I ate Chinese, Korean and Thai twice a day, every day for two weeks. My mom was my traveling companion and living in Korea at the time. She was so annoyed with me but I didn't care. Mmmm.

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  4. Your not the usual wedding dress is gorgeous. Love the color, fabric and the photos are beautiful.

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  5. Lovely, happy photos. What a gorgeous bride you were.

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  6. Emerging from Lurk-dom (sp??) here, and an expat from beautiful Sydney, your wedding dress and bridesmaids-EXQUISITE!!! LOVE color fabric and style.
    What a magnificent dress, day, view, and couple.
    Bravo!

    (My U.S husband and I married in Rose Bay, reception at Doyles, and now we are living in U.S....sigh......!!)

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  7. Such a lovely dress! ditto what JoanneM said :)

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  8. Thanks for sharing your pics. Everything is so beautiful—you, your dress, the pics, the frogs...

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  9. Gorgeous wedding - dresses, location, wow!

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  10. I can't believe that I've been following you so long that I actually remember you posting about your wedding dress! Wow! A wedding, a house renovation with new sewing room, and two babies...I feel like I'm an essential part of your life! *LOL*

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  11. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  12. So lovely! Thanks for a peek at your wedding. Your dress was beautiful. Happy 7 Years!

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  13. Love the photos and the dress - thanks for sharing. ( I also just noticed your new blog design. I like it) I didn't make my dress, I wasn't in to sewing back then. I think if I got married today though, I def would.

    Just wondering - How do you feel about a Sydney bloggers catch up? I'm keen to meet a few, present company included. Any dates you can suggest? I guess Saturday afternoon suits most.

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  14. Thankyou so much Kristy for doing this post about your wedding. I LOVE your dress and your bridesmaids too. The venue is beautiful- I have been there when I visited Sydney a couple if years ago. How wonderful that you made your dress for $20! It certainly does'nt look it. Thanks again for sharing, Lizzie.
    P.s if I was in Sydney I would like to meet up with Sydney bloggers too.

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  15. Happy anniversary!

    Thanks for posting the photos. What a fantastic venue for a wedding. I love that garden - I've visited it a few times. You all look great, and I'm stunned that you made your dress for $20 - that's brilliant!

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  16. That's so gorgeous! I love your story - I'm just embarking on making my own wedding dress, so it's really inspirational to read tales like this.

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  17. You look lovely.

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  18. wow that wedding dress is stunning! U look fab x

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  19. Gorgeous wedding dress, and the bridemaids as well. A Sydney bloggers meet up that would be lovely.

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  20. Wow - I am TOTALLY in love with your wedding dress - it's stunning. I'm lucky enough to have friends from a variety of backgrounds, and as everyone's getting hitched at the moment I'm loving going to weddings that have a different cultural flavour to them. You (both) look smashing!

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  21. Love the dress, looks great and suits you to a tee.

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  22. You looked beautiful. I believe that often the most stunning bride is the unconventional one.

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  23. What a beautiful and unique wedding. You look lovely in your wedding dress and I can't believe you had the time to plan a wedding and make your bridesmaids dressed too. Thanks for sharing.

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  24. Really lovely dress! it really suits the location...it's incredible you also made a dress for your bridesmaids. Love the traditional Sydney shot!

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  25. Looking good in that dress. Nice photos.

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  26. Congratulation! You look amazing! And i believe that you two will live happily ever.

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  27. Great job on the wedding dress. I bought one similar to that from Cabra for our tea ceremony. Your bridal party also looked so lovely. Love the colour of their dresses. Here's to many wedding anniversaries.

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  29. Beautiful wedding dresses, every girl dreams to have a perfect wedding dress.

    Mulberry silk dress

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