Shanda Louis-Grieb

I don't think I've ever seen a photo as beautiful as this wedding portrait of Shanda in her magnificent Tudor gown! This entire outfit is completely stunning, so be sure to take a peek at a full-length picture found here and you can also see the happy bride and groom in this gorgeous photo. Shanda has also shared the wonderfully romantic tale of her betrothal and wedding and a nice description of the construction of the gown which can be found below the picture. If you would like to contact this amazing seamstress, you can email her at qtd(at)charter.net.

Here's a little background on the Tudor gown, in a nutshell, if you will.

My husband Glenn and I met at the Bristol Renaissance Faire in 1994. We talked a day and night away and then he went on to other faires (I was a patron and he was working for K. Dopita, a pewter sculptress) and eventually went back home to New Mexico. What started out with a few simple letters soon blossomed into a long distance love affair. By the following spring he moved here to Wisconsin to be with me. The next year he surprized me at faire by having us called before the Queen and proposed to me on bended knee before the whole court. I accepted and there wasn't a dry eye in the house. We then decided it was only natural for the nuptuals to take place at Bristol the following year on the anniversary of our meeting during the last weekend of the faire, August 24, 1996.

About our wedding clothes... When I decided to take on the project of a renaissance period wedding, I didn't really know all that much about the differences between Elizabethan and Tudor attire, I just knew I liked the smooth lines and simple elegance of Tudor styling. I found pictures of Henry VIII and the Princess Elizabeth and modeled our clothes from them. Of course the white was a modern day affectation, but it was oh so lovely for a wedding day. I have to tell you that when I started this project, though I'd been taught to sew at age seven, I hadn't sat down to patterns and a sewing machine for at least 10 years, and I'd certainly never tackled anything quite like this before. I basically poured over as many period portraits as I could get my hands on and studied every last fine detail for construction ideas. I then found a set of period patterns and worked from there. After a few nearly disastrous mistakes (due to the extremely poor nature of this pattern company's pattern pieces, layouts and directions; I learned alot!) I felt very satisfied with my first attempt at period attire. I was especially pleased with my French Hood. Though I did start out with a premade pattern for that, I eventually embarked on my own design ideas. Of course, as any costumer will tell you, every costume is a learning experience and there is always something you would do a bit (well, sometimes alot!) different if you were to do it over again. I still really love that gown, though various and current circumstances prevent me from wearing it anymore.

As for the body of the gown and the French Hood's crescent, they are constructed of the most sumptuous cream cotton panne velveteen I have seen then or since. It is just luminous. The forepart and undersleeves are a lovely white and gold brocade, and those beautiful Tudor turned back bell-shaped sleeves were made with a most exquisite pre-embellished off-white silk I found at a fabric store in Colorado. My husband's doublet is of the same velveteen and brocade, and his jerkin is constructed with a lovely cream satin. It was an amazing feat getting the pleats to fall nice and even and an even greater chore getting the black and gold ribbon trim even and symmetrical on them.