Say Yes to the Dress

Today was a traumatic day. Dress shopping... who knew it could be so hard? I had picked out the most perfect dress online. It seriously was everything I had ever wanted in a dress... everything. And it was within the wedding budget to boot.
Perfect, right?

Wrong. I could not find a single dress store in St. Louis that sold the dress. I was going to order it online, but did not want to order something without having actually tried it on. So my friend Stephanie and I went to try on dresses that were similar just to make sure that the style looked right on my body so that I could potentially order the dress online anyway.

To sum it all up, let me say that it was a fiasco. It was the worst possible style for my body and I was back at square one. Not only that, I was also racing against a deadline. I learned today that wedding dresses are not actually already made. The reason that they take so long to get in to the store is that they make the dress after you order it. Usually a minimum of 12-18 weeks.

Our wedding date is in 16 weeks. Yeah. Problem.

After trying on multiple dresses in all sorts of styles, we decided to go to David's Bridal since there was the possibility of buying a dress there instead of ordering it-- thus avoiding the time problem. We went to DB and it was a zoo and I almost had a panic attack.

Then Stephanie offered the perfect solution: she is going to make my dress!! I am incredibly excited. She is incredible and the dress is going to be fabulous. The end.


Stephanie Struckmann is a dear friend of the bride's and the two were college roommates for three years. She majored in Fashion Design and made five couture wedding gowns for her senior project which were then featured in various fashion shows. She has since continued her business as a seamstress-- teaching sewing classes, altering clothing, and even making personalized dresses and costumes on occasion. She was even able to make her flower girls' dresses and bridesmaids' dresses for her marriage to Craig Struckmann! Such talent and such a dear friend. Thank you so much, Stephanie, for making our day so very special!

Here is one of her gorgeous creations
for our friend Hannah Wright