This weekend I flew back to NJ to surprise BM Mary at HER bridal shower (her wedding is one month from tomorrow

) I flew in on Friday and the shower was Sunday so I used Saturday to get some wedding stuff done. I asked my mother to call her mother and sisters and have them come over so that I could try on Gram's dress and take some pictures. So Saturday afternoon my aunt's come over, and after discussing EVERYONE on the board (which, BTW, I thought was hilarious

that they read all of your PJ's and TR's) we watched the full version of Caryn's wedding video (which was lovely, but really cemented me on the fact that we don't want a video. I sound weird on tape) Then it was time for me to try on the dress.
First, let me state that this dress weighs a TON! I don't know how my grandmother wore it for a whole day in JUNE! Seriously, I would have died.
This is the best pic I have of the dress itself.
The top of the dress
The lace appliques (sp)
The buttons
Okay, so now you have a general idea what the dress looks like right now. I tried it on and immediately my arms and chest started to itch. This dress has been sitting in a box for 55 years and hasn't been cleaned. So I assume that's why but whoa! I was miserable. I actually started turning red and over heating (I felt like Carrie in the Sex and the City epidsode where Miranda makes her try on the "bad wedding dress" and she starts screaming "Just RIP IT! JUST RIP IT OFF!!!") It was seriously, that hot. So we tried to button one or two of the buttons, just to see how it would fit. Of course the buttons don't button and the sheer fabric in the back of the dress starts to tear slightly, so we went with my aunt just holding it in.
Here is what I want to do: I am not a lace person. I don't want to be covered in lace on my wedding day. The satin under all that lace is GORGEOUS. Just beautiful... It's yellowed a bit (to which DF said "You're going to wear a YELLOW dress???? And I replied that really, it's more like Ivory) I don't really care about the yellowing. I like that satin. I want to take the existing skirt and keep it pretty much the way it is. (A big ball skirt) I think it might be a little too short so maybe I'll use some of the lace and make a trim. The top is another question. My mother really likes the original top of the dress. DF and I don't. (There is this netting stuff that creates the sweatheart neckline that DF said looked "like I was stuffing my bra"

which isn't really the look I'm going for.) So originally I was just going to take that out. Then I realized that the top of the dress doesn't close and would need to be let out. (A little backstory. Gram wore the dress in 1954 and then lent it to her neighbor Jeannie Falletti who had it altered and taken in. Jeannie Falletti must have been a skeleton....) There is a lot of seam allowance that I thought I could use, until I realized that the seams would be a different color because they hadn't been exposed to light. I also have gram's slip, which is covered in the same satin. So I'm hoping they can make that into a top and then attach it to the bottom. With the extra lace, I'm going to make a little bolero, something to wear either in the ceremony, or more likely, outside during the reception. I thought my aunts were going to faint when I said that I was getting rid of the lace!!!
I don't think I articulated well enough that I want my wedding dress to look like MY wedding dress. Something modern and nice that I could buy in a store but that also happens to be the same dress that my grandmother wore. I don't want to look like I'm wearing my grandmother's wedding dress. I don't think I said that right... I was a little overwhelmed and seriously hot.
Right before I took the dress off we did a recreation of the Grand Floridian shot in my hallway.
I have the name of a person in Sarasota who was recommended by two people in NJ who specialize in wedding dress restoration. I'm going to call and make an appt. and see what they say.
After all of this, I finally put the dress in vacuum seal bags and put it in my suitcase. I literally had to sit on this suitcase to get it to zip FSIL is on spring break this week and got on the same flight as me going home, as she is staying with us (a really rockin' spring break, I have to say...

) so she met me at Mary's shower and we went to the airport. We are about to board and the nasty flight checkin lady tries to tell me that I have to CHECK THE SUITCASE WITH MY GRANDMOTHER"S WEDDING DRESS!!!!!!!!!! Well on the list of things that were not about to happen, this was number 1. I nastily informed the lady that there was no WAY I was checking it and that I would make it fit. (I did).
We got home and there were two boxes of stuff from Caryn which I will take pictures of later.... We're taking FSIL to Ohana for breakfast this morning (YUMMO) and showing her the WP....
So, what do we think about the dress plan? Is it okay? Should I utilize more of the lace? I didn't realize how confusing, overwhelming and stressful this would be.