MARCH 8 is International Women’s Day. I strongly believe your mother is the best woman to celebrate on this important day.
Long life to her for there is no one who can take the place of a dear mother. There are some unique gifts God has placed on each woman.
As women, we need to display a willingness to use the gifts God has entrusted us with in order to nurture others and strengthen others in faith and their day-to-day lives.
Women are just gifted with many things.
A strong woman builds a strong family and community. Apostle Paul acknowledged this in Timothy. “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure dwells in you as well.” 2 Timothy 1:5 ESV.
Timothy came from a long line of strong women.
Why not celebrate your wedding in a grand style by wearing your mother’s wedding gown and using her story as part of the theme.
It is a wonderful idea after your wedding that you clean and carefully preserve your wedding dress so that your daughter can wear it some day.
The old mother’s wedding gown looks too obviously dated or as a daughter you have your heart set on a different style.
Even women who might want to wear their mother’s dresses might find themselves wearing a very different dress size.
For whatever reason, many people find themselves with an old wedding dress they cannot wear but do not wish to part away with either.
Fortunately, there are a lot of ways to re-use your mother’s wedding dress either in a new wedding or for other occasions.
An old wedding dress can simply be worn by a new bride. Some brides feel much honoured to be able to wear their mother’s wedding dress even though a few alterations may be necessary to update the look or improve the fit.
You can wear your mother’s wedding dress at the ceremony and your own style at the reception.
Other brides might not want to wear their mother’s dress themselves but still want to incorporate parts of the gown into the wedding for luck or as a tribute to their families.
These two options are not incompatible. Sometimes altering a dress yields enough scrap fabric for some very nice, do-it-yourself projects.
Most probably the simplest way to update your mother’s wedding dress is by adding accessories. A sash ribbon or belt can dramatically change the look of the wedding dress without compromising its original structure at all.
This is a good option for women who cherish the historical value of a vintage dress but still want to look fresh and modern at their own weddings.
The dress can then be passed on, intact to the next generation in turn. And who knows? What looks like a dated monstrosity today might look stylish and new in another couple of year. Fashions have a way of coming around again.
It keeps on recycling itself, one design flower placed strategically would make a huge fashion statement and it shows a bit of your mum’s fashion sense mixed in with your own huge statin bows, the best thing about dresses from way back is that they were heavy and had a lot of fabric. Fabric and wedding dresses were cheaper those days.
A woman’s wardrobe never goes out of style regardless of the age. Women buy many dresses, suits and skirts which are timeless. Always in season.
A skilled tailor can re-size an old dress or even give it a completely new look. Necklines can go down and those puffy shoulders can give way to a slinky strapless look. The structure of the old mother’s dress does impose some limits.
A floor length gown might not look very good if cut into a mini-dress.
On this it is important to hire a skilled tailor for the job, part of a tailor’s skill knows how to work with existing garments to improve, not ruin the look.
Some vintage dresses differ from modern wedding dresses, mostly by having dramatically more fabric.
If hiring a tailor to minimise the arms, raise the hemline and remove the train, do not forget to save all the extra fabric wedding dresses are made from very high quality fabric that can be reused in a wide variety of other projects.
Perhaps the old dress is just not what the new bride wants at all or perhaps the dress was stored improperly and became damaged.
Alterations might not work and leave a lot of the wedding dress on the tailor’s floor.
No matter the circumstances, part or all of your mothers dress might become the raw materials for new wedding related projects.
It can be worn as a cocktail dress or a ball gown or used for flower girls. A design can be copied to make something borrowed and make her international women’s day to remember.
Use buttons from mum’s dress to make chic vintage earnings.
It is very easy to turn buttons into earnings, wear them on your wedding day and you can also wear them on any other day or any function.
Some fabric from the dress or veil can be used to tie your bridal bouquet flowers together.
In some families it is a tradition, your grandmother wore her mother’s dress, your mother wore her grandmother’s dress and you are next in line.
Most likely you are feeling a mixture of excitement to honour a treasured tradition and dread over the decades old dresses but who says you cannot put your twist on tradition.
Keep your dreams alive and keep your tradition strong, your mum will see her dress put to good use and have a super glam.
This month as you celebrate Women’s Day tell an entire story about a beloved woman’s life by using material from several dresses representing significant points in her life.
Her wedding dress, a favourite party dress and the dress she wore to her retirement party or her Sunday best.
As a bride you cherish and honour your mother’s life. Use her wedding story to be yours and celebrate Women’s Day in style.
The wedding colours that can be used for Women’s Day theme are peach, yellow, pink, lilac, green, orange, fuchsia and red.
The décor should be simple but elegant and memorable to the invited guest’s minds.
Wedding favours are mainly given to guests after the wedding reception. Last week l received a wedding invitation card and a wedding favour to enjoy before l even attend the actual celebrations.
There is always something new in the wedding industry. Many weddings are taking place on weekends so you have to be on top of the game.
Elegance is an attitude while creativity is a livelihood.
Comments: sunittasyabeene@yahoo.com, 0966665468