• Name: Riley (from Inside Out)
• Pattern: Anna dress from By Hand London and Emerald Faille Party dress from Gertie’s Ultimate Dress Book.
• Fabric: Tulle with 3D blossoms from Saab Tekstil, off-white peach skin fabric and lemon yellow cotton poplin from Minerva Crafts.

I love my wedding dress. It’s not very complicated, but its very me and it was comfortable to wear. A joyful dress for a joyful occasion. The shell was made out of  Anna dress bodice with 3D floral tulle and the skirt is a maxi half circle skirt. The pattern for the lining/inner dress was from Gertie’s ultimate dress book. It’s the first dress I ever made with boning and waist stay. The waist stay was the most amazing thing, it held my dress in place at any time! And that is about everything I’m going to say about the dress for now. I usually talk about my makes and today I want to talk about my wedding day.

The day I married the love of my life. Today is the 10 year anniversary of when we first became boyfriend and girlfriend at the age of 17/18. He has been my rock ever since and today is the last day that we will be celebrating October 21st. I think it’s a bit sad that from now on we only celebrate years we are married. We have a two-part wedding day, so it was a very long day. Usually, in Vietnamese tradition, you’re supposed to have an engagement party before and then a wedding ceremony. We chose to have it all in one day. We started with the Vietnamese ceremony were the grooms family march over to the brides house with gifts for the family in order to get to marry her, yes, VERY old-fashion.

Afterwards, we had some small finger foods my mother made and a small break. As you might know by now I was wearing my mothers’ wedding dress from 25 years ago. I’m so happy it was in my favorite color and fits me perfectly! You might also notice that I’m marrying into a very tall family. Even my brother-in-law’s girlfriend is super tall. But I love my tiny Asian family.

Now over to the actual ceremony, the one that made us legally married. Neither my husband and I are Christian so it didn’t make sense to get married in a church. We read around to see about other options and there was one organization that stood out from the other. The Hufo organization which is a humanist organization. I really appreciate the ceremonial text they have. It felt right.

We took a lot of photos that day, and with every guest present, more than once at times. So when they mingled with food and booze we went to take the official pictures that my cousin did. Somehow I didn’t get pictures of myself in my dress alone, but it was fine. I love having my friends and family with me, they have been the best people to share the day with.

I love my girlfriends, and in my opinion, I don’t think there was a prettier bunch of girls on that day, or maybe ever. I made their bridesmaids dresses and I’m so glad they liked them. I also love my extended family. I really like this family portrait. I also made the dresses that my mother and sister wore. The last photo here is so funny I had to include it. I was just doing an Asian squat to relief my feet from my heels and suddenly all the girls thought it was a great idea and this photo happened. The couples on our left (in blue and pink) are actual couples and those on the right have boyfriend and girlfriend of their own.

After dinner, I slipped out of my long wedding dress to the dress underneath, the Gertie dress I made. Unfortunately, the only good photo I have of this is with my cousin and her husband. She is the one that made my amazing hairstyle, she also fixed it after I went from formal dress to party dress. She is so amazing. I forgot my makeup at home when we went tot he venue, so she took with her more makeup for me and fixed me up every now and than. She is the kindest most thoughtful person. Amazing to have at a wedding, I mean, look at my hair!

My husband told me afterwards that he had not been nervous all day until he saw me walking down with my father. I am so happy slapping that ring on his finger and becoming his wife. Celebrating that day with family and friends, and good food! I can’t wait to go on our honeymoon, we don’t know when and where yet, but I’m excited!

Credit for my wedding photos goes to my cousin Rosalyn.

Sophie Bach Meuche