The Wedding Dress Story

I want to start this blog entry with a bit of background on me as the bride. I dream of weddings and have since I was a kid. I can imagine almost every part of the wedding. What the tables will look like, my groom at the end of the aisle, the centerpieces, my mom and sister, my bridesmaids but there is one major problem. I have always had a hard time imagining myself as “the bride”.
Until about a month ago I couldn’t imagine me in a wedding dress, I couldn’t imagine myself in white and I couldn’t imagine myself walking down the aisle. A lot of that had to do with “the dress”. I couldn’t imagine one that would “be me”.

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And here is the story of how my dress and dress designer found me.

I have been looking for my dress. I have looked in magazines, in shops, in ads…everywhere. Don’t get me wrong, I love Vera Wang and even saw a few dresses at David’s Bridal that were gorgeous. But none of these dresses were perfect. I decided to try on some dresses…hoping that would help.

The first dress I tried on was BLACK…yes completely 100% black. It was gorgeous and I tried it on with my bridesman Patrick and my bridesmaid Morgann. I walked out of the fitting room with pleading eyes and they both promptly shook their heads. We all agreed that the dress was a great fit, great feel and great idea but no way, no how were they going to let me where black. The dress did come in white but it just wasn’t the right dress.

(not the actual dress)
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(not the actual dress)
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My best friend and bridesmaid Jaime took me to a shop in her home town. We tried on about 10 dresses, just the 2 of us. It was fun and interesting and the dresses were beautiful but they weren’t me. It was at this point when I started to get scared. Was I going to find a dress. I had months and months to find one but was I going to find “the one”.

I decided to start looking to wedding photography from some of my favorite photographers hoping that something would spark. And one day it did. I was looking through the photography of Anna Naphtali Photography and Wide Eyed Photography when a dress caught my eye. The dress was impeccable. It was different and striking but soft and gorgeous. Here is that dress (below) and a link to some more amazing pictures of it! :

(image by Wide-Eyed Photography)

(images by Anna Naphtali Photography)

Luckily I knew the photographers and promptly sent an email. I wrote to Anna and told her that I had seen a dress in one of the weddings she had photographed and could she find out where the bride got it. Then I heard the words that I dreaded. “The dress was a one of a kind, designed by a designer near Charlotte”. For a minute my heart stopped. A one of a kind…well there goes that. But Anna then mentioned that she knew the designer and she would put me in touch. She also mentioned that she didn’t think she was “over the top expensive”. My heart was a flutter.

And that is when Michele Nassaney walked into my life. Michele is one of the most talented wedding dress designers that has yet to be discovered by the masses. She has studied in NY and LA and currently lives in the Charlotte, NC area.

I reached out to Michele and she was wonderful. She told me she could re-create the dress or work with me to design my own. She mentioned a price and it honestly was right within my budget of $1,000 to $1,500.

We met for the first time around Christmas and I shared with her some of my favorite dresses. I told her I wanted to work with her to combine all of the things I loved and make the perfect dress.

Some of the dresses I shared with Michele for inspiration:

(Saja Bridal Line - source)

(Alvina Valenta Gown - Our Labor of Love Photography)

(Vera Wang Dress - source)

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Just a few weeks ago I was had all of my measurements taken so she could start on the bodice. I will try the bodice on for the first time in March and then she will continue with the rest of the dress.

I am so excited and I just feel like this is “right” and “me”. A one of a kind dress at a great price. What more could a girl ask for.

I am finally starting to imagine myself in a wedding dress. Let me know if you are interested in getting in touch with Michele. Here is another great dress she designed.

(dress by Michele Nassaney - images by Anna Naphtali Photography)

I can't wait to share more details with you!