As you all remember, I decided to keep my dress a surprise from everyone before the wedding! It was really hard to keep the secret, but I did it, and I’m so glad I did! It made the impact even more exciting!

When I bought my dress, I loved it, it fit perfectly and needed no alterations! Katy, my amazing planner and seamstress, did my bustle for me, and it was ready for me to take home! But on the day I was meeting her for my fitting, I had second thoughts….my dress had a really plunging neckline. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I didn’t want to look especially sexy on my wedding day, I wanted to look pure, and classy. So my mom and I came up with the ‘privacy panel’ idea–my mom, in fact, sent a text that said “Jaime, add a privacy panel to your dress. What is under the panel is for Steve to enjoy AFTER the wedding…”–I kid you not.

And so, Katy and I met at JoAnn fabric, on a mission to find material that would match my dress, and look fabulous for my ‘privacy panel.’

Here’s my dress, pre-panel:

And here is what I sent Katy as an idea for what I wanted:

And this is what she came up with (in like an hour–she is a seamstress GEM!)

I of course LOVE what Katy did! She made a panel that looked like it was originally part of my dress! It was not ultra-amish, and added to the original beauty of the gown! I encourage brides to take risks with their dresses-personalize them to your specific taste, and don’t feel like you MUST wear your dress ‘as is’–this is your day-and time to shine–so do it girls!!

I am SO glad I went with my gut and opted for a more tailored, modest look….thanks Katy for making my dress even more perfect than it was to begin with!

Photo: Joey Kennedy Photography

How did you or do you plan to customize your look? Did you regret taking a risk?