Meet Me at the Alter|ations: Fabiola

"Meet Me at the Alter|ations" will be a series dedicated to bridal alterations commissions completed by Syreeta C.

Today's bride is Fabiola!

Fab certainly lives up to her namesake. As a destination wedding travel agent, she wanted her own celebration to have glamorous touches throughout. That included sparkle in this case. When she wasn't blinging out Converse and bridal party favors, she was dreaming up shiny additions to her ceremony look.

After purchasing her gown, the base of her commission included standard alterations. We took in the gown in the waist and bodice. There was a fitting in the midst to ensure those changes were appropriate. This is always a great idea when working over a larger time frame or if a gown features embellishments like beading or lace. Those layers often have to be lifted in order to perform alterations and it's nice to check before securing them back down.

A bustle was the other run-of-the-mill edit that we applied. More tacks were added around the gown hem to ensure all layers move in unison when lifted.

Now for the fun stuff!

Fab knew early on that she wanted removable straps for her gown. It was a strapless style, but she craved more security for when her cultural roots made their way to the dance floor at her reception.

Many gowns can come with removable spaghetti straps but they tend to be plain. Fab requested something snazzier and we decided to use crystal appliques for the job.

Her bridal party was commissioning custom bridesmaid gowns (stay tuned for this blog post) and a few featured shoulder appliques. Our original idea was to match the straps to them. I added a few extras to the other to cover it. Upon arrival, I had a realization: ... they were asymmetrical and did not come in mirror pairs. Thus they worked well for bridesmaids on a single shoulder, but couldn't be flipped to match on both shoulders for straps.

Oops! (This is something I generally know to look for but my brain skipped it this time around.)

However, we did find a lovely alternative and I used additional rhinestone chain to lengthen them as needed.

Speaking of chain and straps, the Mother of the Bride also received custom bling straps and a few other snips on her gown. Her straps were made from simpler rhinestone chain that I backed with grosgrain ribbon for a smoother, stronger, and more comfortable finished. The ribbon selection was pink to coordinate with mom's gown color. They turned out super chic!

Her additional snips, you ask? the usual take in at the overbust that happens on strapless gowns and a little evening out at the hem.

As we completed Fabiola's 'must-haves,' she went back and forth with the idea of an overskirt. Something that made the gown more traditional but wouldn't weigh down the look for her tropical destination ceremony. She intended to remove it for the reception.

We finally decided on a tulle overskirt and, by then, she was obsesses with appliques so we centered one on the front of its waistband.

Lastly, matching tulle was used to create an easy veil with a blusher for her walk down the aisle.

This Meet Me at the Alter|ations recount was a great combination of standard and customized edits.

Not only did we take care of the Bride and Mom, but there were alterations on a welcome dinner dress also. To that, a zipper was shortened and a lace-up added for better fit. (This lace-up was short and sweet, but a similar motivation as our other Alter|ations Bride, Jontae.)

I can't wait to further the story with an upcoming blog post about her custom bridal party commission! Because that was a wild ride, too.

Mega kudos to Fabiola for remaining so sweet and smiley through it all. Her energy was unmatched and sparkled even brighter than all of the crystals we layered onto her wedding look!