Guest Post by Alison: My fiancé and I strategically planned our wedding. We knew right away when we got engaged that we wanted a destination wedding.  But beyond that, we admittedly had no clue.  Out came the legal pad and the beginning of our “2013 Wedding Strategic Plan and Logic Model.”  Sounds romantic, right?  But for two busy, independent thinkers, it was our way of logically making decisions in an area where we had little to no experience or knowledge.

Words like private, unique, sophisticated, fun, casual and beachy came to describe our vision for what the perfect wedding celebration with an intimate gathering of friends would eventually look like.  We found the perfect venue in a small town in sunny Mexico, a photographer whose point of view we loved and was willing to fly there, a florist and a wedding coordinator we’ll call friends for life, but now I needed a dress.  How on earth was I going to find one that fit all of those traits we’d planned our wedding around?  To the NYC bridal salons I went!  Kleinfeld, Amsale and even a small boutique in DC I had a great bridesmaid experience with a few years ago.  Nothing seemed to fit that unique, sophisticated, fun, casual, beachy theme we’d designed.

On the referral of a friend, I scheduled a consultation with Janice Martin accompanied by my best friend.  We looked at beautiful fabrics that weren’t shiny and looking like they’d spontaneously combust in the sun! We looked at books of other custom designs—and out came that unique, sophisticated and one-of-a-kind quality I was looking for.  And then we found it, finally!  In Janice’s immense collection of unique lace and embellishments, we found a small piece of pink lace with delicate gold embroidery that made it all start to come together.

From the time Janice started the design with the muslin forms, proceeding to drape that yummy fabric that I had a hard time walking away from after every appointment, through one minor emotional breakdown over seeing myself in the almost finished product the first time, and the time when the lace started to appear; each appointment was an opportunity for me to see my input matched with a masterful designer and seamstress to finally create a one-of-a-kind gown that fit like a glove and gave me the confidence I now wish for every bride to have on their wedding day. Even my mom had some input into the design.  An iterative process with lots of flexibility was exactly what this indecisive bride needed.

My sophisticated yet beachy, unique yet casual custom gown wound up fitting the strategic plan perfectly.  And the wedding?  Simply perfect.