Tuesday, June 29, 2010

    How to Bustle a Wedding Dress

    Imagine.... it's your wedding day: the ceremony was beautiful, emotional, and everything you hoped it could be. You're married! The photos with your new husband and bridal party were fun. Your first dance was bliss. Dinner (what little you ate because you were talking to people) was great. The toasts made you laugh and made you cry. Now it's 10:00 PM......time to boogie!!! Time to let down your hair and tear the dance floor up! Two minutes into getting your groove on, you feel a strong resistance then a snap of whiplash through your body. Somebody just stepped on your bustle and now it's dragging 6" behind you getting stepped on all over the place. You grab your Maid of Honor and rush to the bathroom and ask her to fix it ASAP as you want to keep dancing! She's a little boozy at that point and those cute little color coded ribbons underneath are one gnarly mess. But 10 minutes later you're back on the dance floor. And a few minutes later, that poor bustle has been stepped on again. Repeat the process as your wedding reception slips away or you just say forget it and toss your train over your arm.

    Unless you've had a Bustle Preemptive Strike. By Preemptive Strike I mean we've attacked that mountain of satin before the dancing even begins. By using good old fashioned Diaper Pins. Yup, Diaper Pins. Those babies are made for piercing through layers of fabric and holding firm. Because I've seen too many of the above stories we now use Diaper Pins when we bustle your dress. Those hook & eye or color coded ribbons are great in theory, but I wonder if the dressmakers have ever actually tested out their gowns in a roomful of people bringing sexy back? Probably not. Otherwise they'd sell wedding dresses with Diaper Pins already rigged inside of them.

    Photo of Katie doing the conga taken by the talented Lukas VanDyke

    5 comments:

    Suzanne said...

    That is awesome! I swear by diaper pins, too! I love the image of a crowd and a bustled bringing sexy back! ;-)

    Anonymous said...

    Oh good gawd Amber, you are hilarious!!! I have seen this image more times than I can count! Even as a Catering Director, I keep those puppies in my office, just in case they are needed. Good advice; one of those small details that Wedding Planners are always thinking about so that brides don't have to...
    ~Meliss

    Amber Events said...

    Thanks for your comments, Suzanne and Melissa! I actually need to go restock my emergency kit....

    Anonymous said...

    Amber, I guess my only question is? Do those pins damage the gown. I'm sure the bride isn't too interested at the time but I've had a dry cleaner use large pins to pin the train to a hanger after pressing and the holes and the run in the fabric caused the store to have to put a new skirt on the dress.

    Amber Events said...

    Hi Jane! Good question! I try to pin the dress in a way that will not cause damage, but by 10:00 PM the dress is a bit of a wreck anyway. If it were a couture rental gown I would be mindful about where the pins are going, but most of my brides have purchased that dress for one day only and just want to get back to the dancefloor :)