If Karen is my bridal savior, then hands down, Claudine was my bridal fairy godmother. Without Claudine, there was no way that I would have had the amazing dress that I got to wear on our wedding day.
The dress was not an original design from Bridal Perfections, but she truly made it her own. She rescued the dress and made sure it fit me perfectly. Bridal nerves made me lose weight in the last two weeks and the dress was adjusted several times during that period. How she got it all done, made a personalized veil with hand beading all the way around, and worked on her other clients - including my mother - was a miracle in and of itself.
The sample dress that was sent to me was 3 to 4 sizes too small for my frame, so Claudine was left with a seamstress' nightmare to work with. The beading, the shape, and the construction were all mysterious elements to her. She had to take it apart and make sure that everything was reset in a way that would flatter my frame and still be true to the intended shape. And the need to get it to close in the back and still save the elements that I fell in love with were just the extra levels of difficulty that she conquered.
I never thought that I had such an emotional attachment to this element of the wedding, but the dress fittings were my favorite part of the whole planning process. Whenever I left my fittings, I was always looking forward to the wedding and had less stress about whatever was going on. Spending time in the dress and seeing how it would fit against my body would induce me into twirls and absolute giddiness. And the recurring theme song that ran through my head was "I Feel Pretty" from West Side Story every time.
Not only did Claudine rework the dress, make an entirely new bodice, re-bead a good portion of the dress, but she also delivered my dress to my hair dresser's when my day of beauty treatments took longer than expected. I'm not sure that every couture maker would take the time to run a dress out to a client, but that's Claudine.
I don't have any shots of the dress details at this time, but I hope that those were captured by the photographer so that I can showcase them here.
As much as I love the dress I wore, I wonder what sort of deliciousness Claudine would have concocted had I first gone to her to create something for me. I can't imagine being more comfortable in a dress or looking any better, but Claudine is a magician and artiste, so the possibilities are endless.
I wish I knew future brides so that I could send them all to Claudine so that others could get that Cinderella feeling. She is AWE-MAZING.
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