Last look

this is all you're going to see of the dress until the big day.

it's just the lining, so don't flip out just yet. although, sabi ko nga kay kate, lining pa lang pwede nang ipang-marcha.

much ado about lining

the colorful pixie on my left is kate. goodness. i should probably not have any more photos of the two of us together. kate is like half of me!

The first fitting

top: beads for mom's gown; justine's dress; pia's dress and lining

second: ruffle details and the gold fabric for the tops, up close

third: the motif colors all together; mom and tria at work

bottom: mom thinks; the gold fabric that made her think twice

i was so excited for the first entourage fitting -- i would finally get to see if the colors we chose would work together off the color board, and see tria's creations on some of my dearest friends. i was ready to go with my camera and take snaps of everyone and everything! so why are there no bridesmaids in the photos?

two words: manila traffic! after sitting in a cab with my mom for over three hours, how many bridesmaids and secondary sponsors do you think i caught up with? zero! actually, most of the girls had backed out earlier due to schedule conflicts -- all except my high school best friend, hershel. unfortunately, she had come and gone before i arrived.

so tria just showed me some of the unfinished dresses, and kindly put one on a kiddie mannequin so i could get an idea of the whole look. i loved it! the colors don't quite come through in the pictures (is it the lighting? the camera?), but they were lovely and striking all together. big sigh of relief.

tria also sat down with my mom to create her mother-of-the-bride gown. and my mom, someone who has opinions coming out of her ears, just clammed up! tameme ito! fortunately, she warmed up to some of the fabrics, like a pretty deep purple silk and burnished gold chiffon. she had two designs made (decisions, decisions!) -- nothing less to be expected from a mother who is wondering why i'm not changing into another gown for the reception!

Here comes the dress

this dress is a lot of things.

it's a transition from my being a long-time fan of the amazing kate torralba to being her friend. a dress that wasn't going to happen -- i had already settled on a designer, i had this huge complex about how i couldn't possibly afford kate. a result of a quick exchange of text messages and a split-second, gut-feel decision to show up at kate's studio.

it's a real collaboration between me and kate. a testament not just to her creative genius but to how she really GOT me. it doesn't look like a single one of the many pegs i sent kate, but she GOT something from them too, and made it me! it's fun and inspiration and kakikayan and all the things that i enjoy whenever i pop on over to kate's colorful, whimsical apartment.

it's a confection of ivory tulle and gold thread, inspired by and embellished with patterns from a pair of enamel earrings i bought in a mumbai bangketa. (the trip to mumbai was for our fourth anniversary, and our last as boyfriend and girlfriend.) it has its own matching little purse and strands of beads draped across a low back -- girly touches that i love. it's corseted inside and has a little train -- perfect for our little chapel.

but maybe all it is is my dress. it's the dress i will be wearing on a saturday afternoon in december, when i marry my best friend.

so here it is!


and the earrings! i saw them on my last-minute shopping jaunt in colaba, and knew that i had to wear them to my own wedding. you would totally not believe how much they cost. wearing a bangketa find on my wedding day seems so me!


*giddy and excited*

All hail the maid of honor

and for my zexy zeester, something that totally does not look like any of the other entourage gowns!

the lady:


and her dress:

Secondary style

for the secondary sponsors (mimi, justine and hershel -- close friends from acs, college and high school, respectively), tria and i flipped the color combinations around. they get aqua taffeta skirts with purple sashes -- the bridesmaids have purple skirts and aqua sashes.

they also get a different silhouette -- the same ruffled, girly tops but with a pencil skirt this time.

Bubble girls

for our two adorable flower girls, dani and ela (the super-cute daughters of my acs friends aui and jay), tria created bubble dresses in gold chiffon and taffeta. these two kiddies also get peter pan collars and sashes in purple and aqua.

(darn now i wish i had pictures of dani and ela!)

Playing dress-up

since i have the faces of the bridesmaids up, i thought i'd post sketches of their dresses too.

if you're a guy, i know it will probably be a matter of nanoseconds before i lose you.

first, the design pegs. i had a rather comprehensive list of no's, which included the generic long, spaghetti-strapped a-line dress in shantung silk. no shawls -- any bridesmaid seen wearing a wrap will be speedily defenestrated. (or maybe i should assign one of my gay friends to be a style bouncer.) no all-alike dresses -- each of the girls we chose has a unique beauty and body type. one dress does not fit all. and no beading.

before i begin to sound like bridezilla, what were my yeses? yes to reusable, and therefore, to separates. yes to dresses made with each bridesmaid in mind. yes to short, yes to casual, and a resounding yes to girly.



now, the designer.

my perpetually perfectly turned-out friend tria villasis-ramolete runs a garment business called dream bride. plus, she's super organized, stylish and a joy to work with.

at chris's despedida -- tria's in the cute mint green blouse

and she knows my kiliti -- she only had to bludgeon me over the head once with the weighty term "special price" for me to have dinner with her. and over a huge meal at burgoo, we put the dresses together.

and here they are, in tria's microscopic, stepford-neat hand.

tria will use gold chiffon for the soft, ruffled tops, aquamarine taffeta for the sashes, and purple (o sige na nga amethyst! hahaha!) taffeta for the skirts.

i must admit i am a bit antsy about seeing if the bold color scheme we chose will look good off the color board and out in the real world. luckily, the bridesmaids' first fitting is coming up next weekend, and i can't wait to see what the dresses look like!