Garter

John and I decided the garter toss tradition was creepy. We've seen it at so many weddings, so we don't knock you if you do it, but we just thought it felt a little weird to have him crawling up my leg under my skirts with all those family members at our wedding. Plus, I didn't have a spare bouquet to toss, and I certainly wasn't going to get rid of mine, which was everything I dreamed of and more.

Thus, in my heart I knew the garter wasn't really an important detail in the grand scheme of things. It wasn't going to be an old, new, borrowed or blue. But then I stumbled across Florrie Mitton's garters on etsy:

Perfection.

It's girlier than I would normally go, but there was something about the fluffiness of it, and that amazing applique, the glittery tulle. But it was way out of my price range ($92), so that seemed to settle it. It sat in my favorites and I would look at it longingly from time to time.

Then, a month or so after I discovered the garter, I discovered this listing in one of my favorite millinery suppliers. So I ordered it, cut it apart into individual appliques, removed the cheap sequins and pearls, and tea-dyed them (it sounds really labor intensive, but it wasn't that bad).

Dana: That looks just like the applique on that garter!
Hmm...

De-sequined, ready to be tea-stained.
Did this while watching The Social Network with John.

Yes, that may or may not be Harney & Sons Wedding Tea
in that tin. I'm so cute.

I left the appliques in for about 40 minutes. I guessed
as I went along, checked for color every now and then,
and removed them when they looked slightly darker
than I wanted them to be (since they dry lighter).

Also tea-dyed some lace leaves while I was at it, which
I use in my hairclips/fascinators. It smelled amazing as it dried.
I like that they're dyed in wedding tea, even though nobody
would know that detail without my telling them.

Wedding Tea is basically Vanilla/Rosebuds/Lemon, in a
white tea (of course). It was one of my favorites long
before being engaged.

After that I did some searching for nude colored glitter-tulle, and found one in a color called sand. From there, it was simply a matter of beading the appliques with 3 and 4mm swarovski bicone beads in silk (which I had lying around from other jewelry projects), and champagne seed beads in the leaves. This was the tedious part; I only completely beaded a handful of pieces before getting caught up in other projects. I may finish the rest and turn them into necklaces, like this one:

A finished applique. This one became a lace necklace a la White Owl.

So much better with the tea stain and the different beading. The
original trim looks so cheap in comparison.

I'm actually wearing this necklace as I write this entry! :)

From there, I asked John's mom to help me by sewing it all together. She has a sewing machine, so she gathered the tulle on elastic so it would fit around my leg. I basted the applique on it and I think it turned out great!

My one regret is that I added a bit of watercolor to the original applique, which wasn't diluted enough to get the gently muted effect of the original. It turned out too green and wasn't as subtle as I had hoped. I considered carefully taking a seam-ripper and removing the original and replacing it with one of the regular, un-painted versions, but I loved it just the same. I can't wait to see pictures of me getting ready, pulling the garter on and the like. Should make for some nice photos.

The garter added a fun layer of tradition to my day to have it, even if it wasn't my something-anything. I recommend having it, even if you're a non-traditional bride. As with many things pertaining to weddings, when do you ever get to do this again? How often do you wear garters in real life? Or big white dresses? Or veils?