How the adventure began...

The idea of making my own wedding dress began about a year ago.  After trying on some wedding dresses with a couple girlfriends and a bottle of bubbly I was told that the simple dress I liked was 3200 Euro!  I was really discouraged.  How was I going to find the dress that would make me feel like a princess on this special day?  I got on the computer soon afterwards and happened upon Ralph Pink's video tutorials on how to make a couture corset.  I was totally inspired!  Not that it takes much to inspire me to start yet another project ha!
My first glitch came when the friend that was supposed to loan me her mannequin was in the hospital having her baby.  What to do?!  With only six weeks to get the task done I was afraid to wait another minute.  I searched all over Florence, asking store clerks and text messaging friends.  Finally found a great store and very friendly owner on Via San Jacopo.  I bought my mannequin and stand and the rest is about to be history!
The very next day I was using black electrical tape to map out the design of the corset.  I really love the idea of a very feminine and flatting corset with a princess like skirt (most of the design ideas are from Ian Stuart).
In this photo I've already decided the corset's design and I'm using vilene to trace out the design.  These pieces are then ironed onto paper, scanned into the computer and finalized using Adobe Illustrator. 

I was sooo excited that it actually fit! - not just on the mannequin, but on me too!!!  Now to go shopping for the real fabric, pins, zipper, lining, dress ruler, steel boning,...  you get the idea.

Making your own dress is not cheap!