Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1458429
"Most wedding gowns, after purchase, require alterations. A tuck here, a seam let out there and at the very least a hem," she said. "But a custom gown addresses these issues from the start. Every custom gown is different, but the common denominator is fit. It is specifically tailored to each bride." By November, the wedding satin was cut and my final dress was ready. Even though I had spent countless hours in the prototype, there was still something magical about wearing the finished gown for the first time. Even for Berrie, that moment is special. "My absolute favorite part of making a dress," she said, "is the joy on the bride's face when she tries on her finished gown. It is a culmination of her vision and reflects the authentic, unique beauty of who she is." Never have I worn anything so beautiful or so fully an expression of me before. The dress and the journey to its completion were truly one-of-a-kind. And if you think I am extra for having a custom-made dress, just wait until I tell you about my second dress. That's right, I had two. My second dress is perhaps as opposite as one could get from the first, in every possible way. In style, in intention, in circumstance, dress number two foils the first entirely, and I love it. When we had an emergency venue change nearly two months before the wedding day, the start time was pushed two hours later than originally planned. The lighting, the venue and the time constraints all necessitated a first-look, meaning the wedding photos needed to happen before the wedding. Call him old-fashioned, but that was one of the few suggestions my groom, Trent, was not a fan of. Though initially decided against, the situation we found ourselves in overruled personal preference, and the pre-wedding photos were accepted by us both, along with the new location. While I was discussing this plight with our photographer, Jave Bjorkman, an idea emerged: A decoy dress. I would get a second dress to wear for the first-look and preserve the custom-made dress for the ceremony. Surprising the groom with a reveal at the aisle that I knew he deeply wanted was an idea too tempting to dismiss. But with only two months until the wedding, I had to act fast and find a gown I loved that was available off-the-rack. It was way easier said than done. That Saturday I went from one bridal store to the next in desperate search of something that might work. Unlike my first visit to a bridal shop, nothing I tried on felt right. One felt too similar to my first gown, another too casual and still another felt impractical. Many stores didn't sell off-the-rack gowns or have availability for an appointment with me for weeks. After a day of coming up empty-handed, I was about to give up hope. Then I found Carrie's Bridal Collection on Second Street. Operating in Macon since 2016, the bridal boutique features dresses by a Georgia designer and exclusively sells off-the-rack dresses. Bingo! Shawna Ramirez greeted me with excitement (probably in part because I was her last bride of the day) and quickly pulled 46 maconmagazine.com | FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022