~by Cheryl

*This post was originally published on September 30, 2009

From Dance Partners to Life Partners:

Initially, Marie and Tiafau met in high school, but he was a couple of years older than Marie and friends with her older brother. However, when he got back from an LDS mission in 2007, she asked him if he would be her dance partner and audition for the BYU dance team. They began dancing together in August of 2007 and were partners for a couple of years. Although they would be together a couple of hours each day for practice, Marie had a policy not to date her dance partners. ”I veered away from that for a really long time,” she said “but it didn’t work!” In November of 2008 they added dating to the dancing.

Engaged on August 18th, 2009, the couple had to quickly make some decisions about the wedding date. “There was a family situation to schedule, plus we had to leave on a dance tour in October” said Marie. With these considerations in mind, they quickly chose September 25th, 2009 as the big day –a mere 5 1/2 weeks later! Without missing a beat, however, they dived right in and started planning. Marie still had to think of school, work, and dancing, but the hard work definitely paid off!

The Gown:

Marie really wanted an ivory gown with a lot of lace. But as a dancer, she was also going for a modern look. She chose a Tara Keely strapless gown –but she needed some customizations to make it fit her religious preferences:

Because Marie is a petite woman, Nancy angled the skirt onto the bodice. She also removed the bodice and redesigned it to Marie’s desires, and added, much to Marie’s delight, some extra fabric in under the arms for easy movement. “Nancy knew dancing was important to me; most wedding gown sleeves make it hard to lift the arms, but the inserted fabric underneath allowed me to dance in my dress!”

When asked what she liked best about her dress, Marie said “Everything! I felt like a princess. Working with Nancy was so wonderful; she was really accommodating to my schedule. I was so grateful because I was so busy and she met with me whenever we could work it out.”

Marriage is not a ritual or an end. It is a long, intricate, intimate dance together and nothing matters more than your own sense of balance and your choice of partner.

- Amy Bloom

Congratulations Marie and Tiafau!

Here is a quick glimpse of a bride. Be sure to check back in a few weeks  week to read about her story!

Kaely had a sleeve buildup done on a Liancarlo gown:

Original:

Buildup:

Like most brides, Alexandria (Alex) wanted her wedding gown to be beautiful and unique. She and her mother had been searching for weeks to find the right dress, but they kept finding the same fabrics and patterns everywhere they went. The search was equating frustration, until finally, Alex’s mom, Vanisha, found Avenía Bridal in the yellow pages. She ripped the page out of her phone book, and drove to the boutique.

Well, she tried to drive to the boutique.

For some odd reason, the address in the yellow page ad had been printed incorrectly. The phone number, however, was accurate! Vanisha called, and Nancy guided her in. Ironically for Avenía –and Vanisha –this was the first day the boutique was open for business at the new location –Vanisha arrived just as furniture was being delivered.

Moving furniture, however, did not prohibit Vanisha from being thrilled to finally find gowns made in exquisite fabrics. In fact, she was so excited, she called Alex right away! Later that afternoon, Alex got off work early in order to see the dresses. She immediately fell in love with the Cristina gown by Junko Yoshioka. It was the first gown she tried on, but after trying on 4 others, she knew the Cristina gown was for her. “This is the one for me! But I need sleeves. What can you do to give me sleeves?”

Nancy just smiled.

The results of Nancy’s sleeve buildup are seen below. Vanisha admitted to being worried that adding sleeves would take away from the original gown;  she and Alex were were both afraid they would alter the beauty and integrity of the dress. However, after viewing the final product (seen below!), they were so relieved that the sleeves took nothing away from the gown. It was perfect!

The best part of this experience for Alex and Vanisha was that after finding the Cristina gown, it changed the whole experience of the wedding. Everything else flowed from there, and fell right into place! And as easily seen below, Alexandria was a beautiful, beautiful bride.

Before and After:

Nancy and Alex:

Alex with her mom and sister: