As soon as she found out we were engaged, FMIL begged to make my wedding dress. She used to be a seamstress, but I don't think she has sewed anything professionally, let alone a wedding dress, in years. She also has very different personal style than me (she likes more risque designs and I am a little more traditional) and I'm afraid she might take her own creative direction. My FI also warned me that she made a prom dress for a family friend that was very "plain" and the girl hated it because it was not what she wanted.
The thing is, I know if she made my dress, it would save us some money. If I bought a dress, the budget would be around $300-$500 and I would have to sacrifice some other things. We are pretty close, so I don't have a problem telling her what I want. Our wedding isn't until Sept 2012, so we have time. I'm wondering if I should have her do a practice dress, maybe something I could wear to rehearsal dinner or for trash the dress pics, to see her quality of work and see how well we work together. What do you think?