From Wendy, our guest blogger:

When the sample fitting was finished, the girls measured me every which way, and then sent us off with many recommendations for shopping and food.  We were to come back the day after next, in the morning, for the first real fitting.  Meanwhile, the dress would be made from scratch.

The next day while they worked on the dress, my mom and I we wandered through every shop, passage way, park, museum, ate terrific food, and took in the panoramic views from Citta Alta, the city’s crown jewel.  The Citta Alta is the oldest part of Bergamo, with ancient city walls and Venetian checkered buildings; it sits high on the hill overlooking the plain of Lombard and was absolutely charming.

The following day, I went to Giuseppe Papini’s for both the first and final fitting of my actual dress; I was shocked at the precision and quality with which the dress had been made–and in only one day!  It was flawless.  Only a few final touches, such as the addition of “something blue” to the inside of the dress, and Giuseppe’s trademark ribbon down the back, needed to be added; the dress would be entirely finished by the following afternoon, when I was to return to retrieve it.

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From Wendy, our guest blogger:

But no one else seemed to be. Just then, Valentina came rushing out a different door and said apologetically that she had to meet a client for 30 minutes and could we get something to eat?  My mom was pleased.  We put our suitcases in the boutique, and just as we were walking out, I noticed a somewhat shy, handsome man in the alley who I recognized immediately to be Giuseppe Papini himself!  Valentina introduced me to him and said that he wanted to see how was my body like?  He was very kind and shook my hand and immediately looked me over, like a master mathematician with a new problem to solve.  I felt self-conscious in grey tights, faux Mary-Janes, a grey high-waisted skirt, and a green and grey checkered sweater; oh, and no make-up, since I made the rule for myself that if I didn’t look good in the dress without make-up, then I wouldn’t look good at all.  But my plain appearance didn’t seem to affect Giuseppe or Valentina, and Valentina led us away to a modern-looking cafe to eat lunch on them.  My mom and I just smiled knowingly at each other and ate our first lunch in Bergamo.

Valentina returned shortly and we were back off to the boutique.  She had 2 helpers with her, and one of them, a red-head named Erica, carried in a large clothing bag.  Valentina said that they had brought a sample to make sure this is the one I would like?   I went into the fitting room, and to my surprise, Erica and the other seamstress went in with me.  I had to reveal my ugly old bra and the holes in the toes of my tights… and they needed me to take off my bra!  Oh the horror!  But I decided to get over being self-conscious and rise to meet this moment.

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Wendy also had these custom shoes made to go with her dress. How gorgeous is that off-center bow?

From Wendy, our guest blogger:

My mom and I figured out that we could take a bus from the airport to Milan, and then take a train to Bergamo.  Unfortunately, our bus ride was an hour longer than expected, was stuffy, and by the time we got to the bus depot, we were nearly out of oxygen. Furthermore, I was starting to dwindle on little sleep and airplane food.  My mom found a food stand and offered to get me something to eat.  NO ONE SPOKE ENGLISH.  I think she said that we were Americans, so they ended up giving us americanos instead of food. Nevertheless, the caffeine was temporarily good, and we figured out how to get ourselves on the correct train at Stazione Centrale, the beautiful, industrial, Mussolini-looking train station in Milan.

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From Wendy, our guest blogger:

I got on the plane to Milan, Italy with my mom and I was terrified.  The previous week of work, I had spent 14 hours per day in the lab, trying to get a good result to somehow justify not only my absence from work, but also the reason behind my absence: I was going to Italy to get my wedding dress.

A couple of months before, I had gone to a bookstore in search of wedding magazines to ransack for ideas.  By this point, I had been engaged for 7 months and I was beginning to be disillusioned with wedding dresses, since I hadn’t found a single design that really struck a chord with me.  Well, this particular bookstore happened to carry an Italian wedding magazine, called “Vogue Sposa”.  I decided to buy the magazine on the off chance that I might find something different than what I kept seeing in our bridal salons.  My friend and I flipped through the pages, and then my heart stopped–there was THE DRESS.

It was a simply a work of art; an A-line with sculptural folds of Duchess silk that danced around the shoulders and reminded me of Frank Gehry’s architectural marvel, Disney Hall.  The designer of this masterpiece was a man named Giuseppe Papini.  I didn’t know it at the time, but Giuseppe Papini had previously worked for both Versace and Dolce & Gabbana, before creating his own line.

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This week Wendy, a dedicated reader of this blog and a Santa Barbara bride, will share a very unique story about how she found her wedding dress.

This post first came about when I asked Wendy to write about the challenges she’s experienced as a bride during the planning process and if she had any stories or advice to share that with other brides. When she mentioned she flew to Italy to get her wedding dress, I knew that would be a great tale for my readers. So enjoy, our five part series, “Made in Italy.” And a big THANK YOU to Wendy for writing this post while she was on vacation.

I’m off to Outside Lands and will be back to my regular blogging schedule next week… We’ll have one guest blogger and bride who will share her story about finding her dream dress in Italy!

On Monday I had the pleasure of meeting Janey of Mary Jane Photography. Another graduate of Brooks, she’s very light-hearted and easy going. One of her favorite things to shoot are engagement sessions. It’s a chance for her to get to know her couple and vice versa, without the stress of the big day.

And on the big day, she’s really good at getting those subtle little moments. I love this shot of the bride giving her dad a high five after the ceremony.

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Wall Decals have been around for a while, but I’m really loving these new designs from Blik. My favorite are these chair decals. How fun would it be to use as decoration for the bride and groom’s chairs? 

It would be especially cool to use the decals on a ghost chair.

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Sorry there was no Shoesday last week, so today we’re doing double time. The top and middle shot is by the lovely Katie Moos and the shoes are made by Grace Footwear. I love the sophisticated little bow.

Below, by Halberg Photographers is a stunningly chic, feathered shoe. By who else, but Manolo Blahnik.

A couple of weeks ago Holly Hatam of TearDrop Weddings, an invitation boutique, contacted me about doing a feature on my work as a wedding planner and event designer.

You can check out the posts here and here. Holly likes to use real weddings as inspiration for her designs. Here is her drawing based on my wedding:

Thanks Holly!

Now that we’ve had a little behind the scenes look at what goes into making couture paper goods, I thought it would be fitting to end the week with some serious eye candy. Here is just a small sampling of some of my favorite designs.

From Sugar Plum Invitations, this invitation features three runs on the letterpress. One red, one brown and one without ink (called a blind stamp). The look is modern and clean without being cold and stark.

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A big thank you is in order to all my guest bloggers:

Megan of Nutmeg Press

Becky of Sugar Plum Invitations

Christine of .cevd {custom invitation studio}

Laura of Laura Hooper Calligraphy

I hope all of you enjoyed their posts as much as I did! And for more of their inspiring words and pictures be sure to check out their blogs:

She Walks in Beauty by Becky

A Lucky Orchid Wedding by Laura

pretty.pretty.paper by Christine

Words on Paper by Megan (coming soon)

[top image via Sugar Plum Invitations, bottom image via .cevd.]

Thank you so much Kelly for giving me my first ever guest blogging opportunity during your couture paper goods series.  I’m Laura Hooper of Laura Hooper Calligraphy and I spend most of my days hand-lettering envelopes from clients around the world as well as creating other pieces of art using calligraphy.

When it comes time to place your invitation order that is when you should consider booking a calligrapher if you choose to use one.  If you have the money in your budget I recommend choosing someone who is a professional calligrapher, because you are more likely to appreciate the end product.  Thanks to the Internet, you don’t have to be restricted to finding someone in your area, especially if there happens to be a shortage of calligraphers where you live.

The type of calligraphy I practice is called “pointed-pen” calligraphy. It is one of the most time-consuming ways of lettering and can be the messiest if you are not careful! This form of writing involves dipping a calligraphy pen numerous times in an ink well in order to form each word. It can be quite difficult to develop an affinity to how to hold your pen and how much pressure to apply. Every person is different and there are hundreds of different pen tips available for that reason.

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Below, Christine from .cevd. will take you through her design process while I’ll be discussing mine over at Laura Hooper’s blog, A Lucky Orchid Wedding today and tomorrow. Check it out for some tips on how to find your inspiration and design your wedding details.