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Saturday, February 28, 2009

Eco Friendly Terra Amore Wedding Dresses



Terra Amore means love earth, and designer
Jessica Iverson is producing a line of
earth friendly wedding dresses that she
calls "eco couture". She not only
designs high fashion designs, but for each
dress purchased, she gives back either by
donating a percentage of her profits to
land preservation or planting a tree.

Her fabrics use only low impact dyes on
natural silks, her other silks are not
bleached and remain a natural color. There are
no unnatural dyes or finishes applied to the
fabrics she uses in her dresses. She uses
fabrics like hempsilk, silk shantung,
silk chiffon. I have not seen hempsilk yet,
and I thought I'd seen ever fabric ever made.
Hempsilk is 40% raw silk and 60% hemp.

Here is my favorite part: She doesn't use
sweatshops to produce her products. All her
seamstresses are paid a living wage using
fair trade and fair labor practices. They
work 8 hour days and 5 days a week. For more
info on her labor practices and fabrics,
click here.




Jessica Iverson is a talented wedding dress
designer with a heart and a passion for
saving the earth. You can learn more about
her and her passions and see her designs
at TerraAmore or
her green collection for Portovert.

I am impressed with Jessica's standards and
designs because I'm tired of the dresses
being mass produced and churned out from
China. She is a breath of fresh air in
the bridal industry and her designs will
help you breath fresh air from her ethical
practices. Check her out!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Murphys Law and the Importance of a Plan B in Wedding Planning

You've all heard of Murphy's Law, "Whatever can go
wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time."

My life lately has been Murphy's Law in action.
My father passed away and then I got knocked
down by the flu. Not just a mild case of the flu,
the kind that knocks you on your butt and keeps
you down. And did I mention I had a flu shot?
The last three and a half weeks have been hell.
Its been sadness, grief and feeling like crap,
all the while putting business in the background.
And it got me to thinking..what if I had been
planning a wedding?

Whenever you are planning a wedding and putting
in a lot of time and effort, you need to have
a plan B in case Murphy's Law hits.

If you are spending a lot of money, insure
the wedding. There are policies that insure
the cost of the wedding, if God forbid,
something happens that causes the wedding to
be cancelled.

If you are marrying outdoors, have an alternate
indoor location in case it rains or the weather
doesn't cooperate with your plans.

If you or your groom starts to feel sick before
the wedding, get to a doctor stat so they can
prescribe something to make you feel better.
The longer you wait, the worse you'll feel.
If I had gotten to the doctor as soon as I started
feeling sick, the doc could have prescribed Tamiflu
to knock it out faster. But I was busy taking
care of family business and put myself last. Don't
put your wedding plans before your health. You
don't want to be sick the day of the wedding!

Ask all your vendors what happens if they get sick
the day of the wedding. Do they have someone who
will perform their duties? You don't want to scout
for a DJ or photographer the day of the wedding.
Professional vendors will have a back up crew
who are just as qualified "just in case".

Buy travel insurance for your honeymoon. If you are
traveling to the Caribbean during hurricane season,
don't even think about it, just buy the insurance!

Pack an emergency kit for the day of the wedding and
print out how to handle a wedding dress emergency.

Contact all your vendors to make sure you are on the
same page and make sure they are ready to go
before the big day. Reconfirm details and times they
are expected to arrive at the wedding venue.

Think positive, be prepared and formulate a
plan B and get ready to have a wonderful
wedding day without any hitches!

Thursday, February 5, 2009

How To Deal With A Wedding Dress Emergency

Now that you have packed your wedding dress emergency kit, here's how to fix the problem using the goodies in your wedding dress emergency kit.

If the zipper sticks, use the paraffin or wax pencil to wax the zipper. Rub the paraffin up and down the zipper and the parrafin wax will make the zipper slide easily. The wax won't be noticable and the body heat will make it disolve while you are wearing it. You can do this from the inside of the dress so the wax doesn't get on the outside of the dress.

If the zipper gets stuck in the fabric, take off the dress and gently try and pull the fabric out of the zipper tab. VERY GENTLY! Don't pull or tug or you will break the zipper. Zip it up and down a little bit until you free the fabric. Be very careful not to tear the zipper teeth. Most dress zippers are self healing, which means if it pops open, unzip it and zip it back up and it should heal back together.

If you get a spot on the dress, and your dress is polyester, blot with baby wipes. Blot until the stain starts to disolve. Don't attempt to wash the spot. To dry the spot, use a hair dryer. You can also use club soda dabbed on a white cloth. BLOT, blot, blot the spot and feather inward to avoid a ring around the stain. Don't rub and don't scrub. Do NOT do this on silk fabrics.

If your dress is silk, use the chalk to cover up the stain. Lightly dot the chalk on the spot and brush off the excess. It should give you enough coverage for photos. The stain will need to be dry cleaned. Don't wash silk, it will leave a big water spot which will probably look worse than the stain. If you don't have chalk, you can use talcum power.

Use a bleach pen on spots on white polyester ONLY if you are experienced in using a bleach pen. If you aren't, use the baby wipes.

If you get a snag in your dress, gently pull the fabric side to side to try to try to pull the snag back into place. Don't cut the snag because it will leave a hole in the fabric. Just use a back and forth motion in gently moving and flattening the snag until it starts to go back in place. You can run your thumb in the direction of the snag. If you end up with a small piece of thread, try to pull it under the fabric.

Dress tape can be used for a multitude of fixes. It is a clear two sided tape sold under the name of Sticky Straps or Hollywood dress tape. It is make to adhere fabric to skin. You can use it to keep the bodice of the dress in place and to prevent "fallout". It can be used to keep a strap inside the dress. It can be used as a quick hem fix, or to keep a snagged area from further snags. If your dress is chiffon or tulle and tears, you can put a piece of dress tape underneath the tear and hold it together.

If your gown is a corset back lace up dress, here is an easy and fast way to lace up the dress. Put a safety pin at both end of the ties. The safety pins will make it easier to put the fabric laces through the loops.

If you get makeup on your dress, use baby wipes to blot it out.

Hairspray will remove ink stains. Spray the white cloth and blot.

Don't touch your face and makeup and touch your dress. Oils in the makeup and on your hands will transfer to the dress. Brides have a tendency to nervously pat and smooth the fabric around the hips of their dress. Fabric is fluid and won't stay in place once you start moving around. If you have this nervous habit, wear gloves until the wedding starts.

The wedding dress goes on last. Apply suncreen, moisturizer and makeup BEFORE the dress goes on. This will prevent spills and spots on the dress. And if you drink, drink water so it won't stain. If you spill water on your dress, blot it with the white cloth and dry with a hair dryer.

If you suddenly realize that your dress is see through in the bright sunlight, put on a pair of opaque top pantyhose in the color of your dress. You can buy them footless for wear barefoot or with sandals.

Learn the proper way to put on your wedding dress. Have a friend help you put it on. The dress should go over your head. Put your arms through the dress like you are ready to dive into a swimming pool. The dress will easily slide down over your face and you won't transfer makeup. Practice with your dress helper before the wedding so you have it figured out before you have on your wedding day makeup. If your dress doesn't "cooperate", you can buy makeup face masks that will keep your makeup fresh and off your dress.

It is normal to lose a few beads on your wedding dress. The beading is applied by hand and normally is tied every few beads. If you notice a spot where a bead is missing, tie the thread twice as close to the bead as you can and cut off the excess thread or pull the thread under the beads. This will stop the beads from coming off. If it is before the wedding, most dresses come with a bead repair kit. You use a very thin needle to restitch the beads. The needle needs to be thin to fit through the beads. Most times no one will notice any missing beads.

If you have gained weight and the dress is too tight, zip the dress until it is comfortable and set the zipper tab down to lock the zipper so it won't come down. Use dress tape to keep the dress in place above the unzipped area and in the front to keep the dress in place. You can put a piece of fabric under the open spot attached with dress tape, or cover it with a ribbon or veil.

If you have lost weight and the dress is too loose, turn the dress inside out and using a safety pin, pin a dart under the arm near the seam. Do it on the INSIDE of the dress so the pin doesn't show. It will make the dress fit and use dress tape to keep the top in place. This is a quick fix used by models at fashion shows.

If you get a tear in your wedding veil, use dress tape. Don't attempt to sew it, it will show in the tulle. If it is a small hole, rip or tear, just ignore it. It probably isn't very noticable except to you. If you have a plain edged veil with no beading and the tear is near the bottom....just shorten the veil using the scissors. Fold the veil in half and follow the pattern of the veil.

And last, don't panic. Most emergencies can be easily fixed by someone with a cool head using the above tips. Dress emergencies are few and far between, just be prepared!

Pack a Wedding Dress Emergency Kit

Prepare for a wedding emergency on your
wedding day by packing up an emergency
kit. The more you are prepared, the less
things can go wrong, right?


Pre threaded needles with the thread
that matches your dress and the dresses of
your bridesmaids.

Safety pins

Dress tape will keep straps in
place, pin up a loose hem or or keep a
gaping neckline from gaping.

Baby wipes, use to dab a spot on
any dress. Key word is dab, not rub.

Hairspray, use for hair or to remove
ink from a dress.

White chalk or talcum powder. Use it
to dab on a spot on your dress to cover it
for photos. Talcum powder also works for
spots. You can also use talcum powder in
your shoes to stop rubbing and blistering.

A white cloth to dab on club soda to
remove a stain or to use as a pressing cloth.

A bleach pen

A pair of scissors

A small piece of paraffin wax or a wax
pencil from a fabric or notions store.
Use the wax on zippers to make a stubborn
zipper work.

A pair of gloves to keep pantyhose
from snagging when you put them on.

Hair dryer to dry out any wet spots
or to try to get out a stubborn wrinkle in
the dress.

Opaque pantyhose in the color of your
dress just in case your dress is see through
in the sunlight.

You can use the needle and thread to stitch
any strap, hem or any thing that needs a quick
stitch. If the zipper breaks, you can be sewn
into your dress.