How I Designed My Own Wedding Dress
As a little girl, I doodled all sorts of wedding dresses. I think watching The Parent Trap (the one with Lindsay Lohan) had something to do with it… the photo shoot scene at Elizabeth James’ shop with Annie/Hallie and the hats… SO FUN!
Side note before we get much further: I DID NOT sketch my wedding dress as part of the process of designing my own dress LOL, just to be clear - I am really bad at drawing so I’m very glad to report that sketching skills are in no way a part of the process! ;)
ANOMALIE
So I guess when I first discovered Anomalie, it was something about the memory of those childhood doodles that made this company so mesmerizing for me. The thought of designing my own dress seemed pretty far fetched but discovering that there is, in fact, such an option for someone who isn’t Kate Middleton or Meghan Markle… that drew me in, so I followed them on Instagram and tucked that bit of knowledge away for the future (this was well before I met Darrell so ya know, still a far-off dream of wedding dress shopping but I didn’t want to forget).
DRESS SHOPPING
When the time came to find a dress, I had a pretty solid idea of what I was envisioning. I had decided I didn’t want to miss out on the traditional wedding dress shopping experience so my mom, sister and I went to a local boutique. I had a really sweet evening and enjoyed trying on the dresses. I ended up falling in love with a gorgeous dress that was actually pretty opposite of what I ended up designing/what I had initially envisioned. I wanted to wait until we had a better idea of a few other pieces to the wedding planning puzzle before I made the purchase but I left that night thinking I would go with the elegant form-fitting gown I fell for in the store.
“MY DRESS IS AN ANOMALIE”
As time went on and wedding plans continued, something just kept drawing me back to the idea of designing my own dress and the opportunity to create a dress that had all the features I was looking for, and closer to my budget. I wrestled with this for weeks. I wanted to explore designing my dress with Anomalie but I was afraid it wouldn’t fit my budget. When I finally made a decision, it was almost too late to even go the route of designing my dress so I was blessed that it all worked out. I scheduled a call for a night Darrell and I wouldn’t be together. Via a conference call on my laptop, an Anomalie stylist and I designed my dream dress! And it came in under budget! A CUSTOM dress, made to MY measurements, AND under budget?? Yep!
“A CUSTOM dress, made to MY measurements, AND under budget?? Yep!”
THE DESIGN PROCESS
Together with my Anomalie stylist, we looked at a variety of Pinterest photos that had features I wanted, talked about what I didn’t like, discussed body image and how I wanted to feel in my dress - it was truly an amazing experience. I am short and a lot of times don’t have enough of a torso for fancy dresses. I am extra blessed in the chest and wanted to feel supported and covered but still bridal. I wanted classic touches like skinny spaghetti straps, a sweetheart neckline, a train and buttons allllll the way down the back of my dress.
The stylist altered the computerized sketch of my dress right before my eyes as we spoke. From trying out different train lengths, to how low the back of the dress cut and more. We tried out different skirt styles and she helped me determine the amount of structure and look of the fabric in order to narrow it down to a few fabric swatches they later sent me.
CHOOSING MY GOWN’S FABRIC
After approving the sketch, I was sent a box of fabric swatches, the cutest little champagne gummy bears and a measuring tape. I was able to select my dress fabric and color (yes, there are many different versions of white). My options were all lovely: a poly mikado and a satin, both with ivory or soft white choices. I went with the soft white poly mikado. I was not familiar with this type of fabric prior to my dress designing experience and while the texture is not what you’d expect, it surprisingly gives the appearance of satin in many ways without the look of satin’s shadows or heavy/drapery look (in my opinion). I loved that the poly mikado had a hint of shine to it and had structure to provide the shape and silhouette I had envisioned.
“The opportunity to have a dress made to MY EXACT MEASUREMENTS was a huge factor in my decision to go with Anomalie.”
THE PERFECT FIT
At the same time of deciding between fabric swatches, I submitted my measurements for the dress pattern! The opportunity to have a dress made to MY EXACT MEASUREMENTS was a huge factor in my decision to go with Anomalie. While it does not mean you won’t need alterations - because they even tell you up front, you will still want alterations - it is made to fit YOU, not a random dress size mannequin.
My friend helped me record all of my measurements to ensure accuracy. Anomalie asked for every measurement imaginable, not just my height and bust size but like ever-y-thing. I felt confident that the dress would fit - and it did! I had very little done to the dress during alterations.
Then production on the dress began! I loved receiving emails with updates about where my dress was at in the production process!
MY DESIGN INSPO
One detail I was adamant about including, was a bow. It seemed like a defining detail that captures my personality, makes the dress standout, and was also a nod to my mother and the bow she had added to her wedding dress.
While wearing my mom’s dress on my wedding day was out of question (beyond being the epitome of 1989 fashion, it didn’t fit) but I loved the satin and the bow. I did, however, try on Mom’s dress. It was a fun night going through some of mom and dad’s wedding keepsakes, a few items of which we ended up using for our wedding (like their cake serving-ware and my mom’s wedding shoes… more on that in a future blog post!)
This was the first time mom had taken her dress out of its box from where it had been preserved 30 years prior. It was a very special moment for mom and I enjoyed getting to share it with her!
IT’S HERE!
My dress arrived EARLY! I was so excited I had to open it right away! I wanted to wait for my crew to be with me when I first saw it, but I couldn’t handle waiting days to see it. So I had Darrell stand behind the couch and video me opening the box to peek! HAHAHA! True story. (He couldn’t see the dress!) We were on our way to a Friendsgiving party and I was just dying to see it.
Honestly, I was a little shocked at just how large the bow turned out, but it was exactly what I had said I wanted. During the Unboxing Party (scroll down to read about that…) I became worried it was too big for my frame to compete with, so I reached back out to Anomalie and they were excellent - they offered to send matching fabric to my alterations lady and walking me through alternatives. I debated just not wearing the bow at all - it was removable, so it wasn’t going to alter the look of the dress. But I REALLY wanted a bow. When it came time for alterations, I worked with the seamstress to turn the existing bow into a smaller option that showed off more of the buttons.
UNBOXING PARTY
My sweet bridesmaids, mom, mother-in-law and sister-in-law came over for an “Unboxing Party” a few days after my dress arrived. My mom made little signs so I could have a “Say Yes to the Dress” experience with my ladies in attendance. It was a super sweet night and honestly one of my favorite moments in the wedding planning process!
DRESS DREAMS DO COME TRUE
Have I mentioned how much I LOVE MY DRESS? It was an amazing experience that I HIGHLY recommend to future brides! If you have a very particular vision for your dress, Anomalie can bring that vision to life!
A lot of friends have asked me what it was like purchasing my wedding dress online, having never tried it on before buying it. I think you have to reallyyy know what you want before entering a process like this. I had a dream dress in mind (and now in real life) but I also knew that aspects of the dream dress were going to make me feel beautiful because I had worn certain styles of formal attire recently that definitely did or did not flatter or make me feel “good.”
I am a huge fan of Anomalie and their exceptional customer service and I cannot recommend this company enough! They’re based in the U.S. and work with manufacturers in China to produce the dresses.
If you’re a bride or even if you’re not but want to ask any questions about this experience, I am an open book and would LOVE to chat so don’t hesitate to reach out!! Seriously - I can’t think of a more fun topic to discuss!