Guest Post by Bride Julie: When I was a little girl my father came home with two pictures for me from a neighbor. One featured a portrait of the Kelly family and Prince Rainer on their engagement and the second was Princess Grace and Prince Rainer on their wedding day. Her wedding dress was the most beautiful dress I’d ever seen. And from that day forward whenever I pictured my wedding I was in a dress that looked an awful lot like Princess Grace’s gown.

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The stunning wedding photographs graciously provided by paper antler. 

Suddenly I was 24 and engaged to my other half, Matt, and it was time to plan a wedding!  I knew from watching endless episodes of “Say Yes to the Dress” that the dress I envisioned was not going to be found in stores. My mother was telling her fellow gym goers about my engagement and the dress I envisioned when her teacher suggested I meet with wedding dressmaker, Janice Martin. She also mentioned that Janice had worked on Grace Kelly’s actual veil for the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I was sold and my mother and I scheduled a meeting.

We met over Thanksgiving 2010 and I described the dress that was in my mind’s eye. Janice showed me satins, laces, and picture of dresses as we discussed the gown, the wedding, my fiance, and I felt she was trying to understand me and get to know me. My mother and I felt comfortable with Janice’s expertise and excited by her vision and we got to work right away.

Over the next 12 months, I looked forward to our appointments with increasing anticipation as the dress came together piece by piece. The beautiful lace and the luxurious satin transformed into gorgeous dress that I couldn’t wait to wear. I also looked forward to seeing Janice, hearing about her other projects and watching her work through each snag we ran into with such ingenuity.

Suddenly it was November 18th and I was picking up the dress.  Janice presented me with a sixpence for my shoe and sent me on my way with the most beautiful dress I could imagine! On November 19th, I felt so beautiful and elegant as I walked towards my soon-to-be-husband and then danced the night away with him in my beautiful gown.

More details from Janice Martin Couture: Grace Kelly inspired the contemporary classic gown of silk satin and hand beaded French lace (from the same company as that used in Kate Middleton’s gown) with shirred cummerbund and a long train with lace overlay.