Krista Gaal made sure her daughter-in-law Allie Gaal’s wedding dress fit just right.
Writer: Kylie Petty
Krista Gaal grew up watching her mother sew, decided to give it a try and quickly fell in love with the creative outlet. She works by day as a physical therapist and by night as seamstress in her town of Washington, making clothes for her kids’ first days of school, for homecoming dances and proms.
“I liked to tear clothes apart and put them back together,” she said.
But she kicked things up a notch when her son Braden got engaged. Before the wedding in 2016, his fiancee Allie had asked Krista to make her wedding dress. Krista felt honored, especially since she hadn’t even mentioned it. From then on, she made the dresses — and the tuxedoes — for all three of her children and their spouses when they walked down the aisle.
“She’s a force of nature,” said her daughter Marissa. “My mom can work under pressure like nobody I’ve seen.” Marissa was the last of Krista’s children to get married, tying the knot with her husband Jared Ballew at Rollins Mansion back in May.
Marissa and Jared Ballew. (Photo: Megan Poole Photo)
Before each wedding, Krista went dress shopping with each bride to gather ideas. Krista and Marissa spent a few days in New York City’s Garment District to pick out fabrics. Jared tagged along too, to choose fabrics for his tux.
Krista usually forgoes a pattern for dress tops, since everyone has different measurements, but she’ll use a pattern for the skirt. She usually makes mockups from scrap fabric to play around with shapes and silhouettes before using the more expensive fabric for the final dress.
Fitting is the hard part. When the kids still lived at home, it was easier to grab them for fittings, but after they moved out, they had to find time to slip away during family gatherings. “We had to kind of get creative,” Marissa said. But “it was really nice to get that one-on-one time, just the two of us. It was fun to problem-solve together and to see it all take shape.”
During the planning, creating and fitting, Krista said they “made a lot of really good memories” they recall fondly and laugh about often.
Krista’s granddaughter even dreams of taking after her grandmother. When she graduated from preschool, she made a poster that noted what she wants to be when she grows up: a fashion designer.
Two of her children’s spouses had lost a parent, so for their weddings Krista surprised them with personal touches to their wedding outfits. She lined her son-in-law Blake’s tuxedo jacket with fabric from his late mother’s clothing, collected with stealthy help from a relative, as if “his mom was hugging him all day,” Krista said.
For her daughter-in-law Allie, she appliquéd a heart with her dad’s name and stitched it inside the dress, right over her heart.
More than anything, Krista wants to make clothing that makes people feel special, that makes them feel beautiful and loved. “To be able to deliver that,” she said. “It just warms my heart.”
Krista Gaal’s daughter-in-law Allie held her late father’s memory close to her heart.
Krista’s son-in-law Blake Halstead and daughter Addison. (Photo: Joe Gibbs Photo & Film)
Krista Gaal also made all the dresses for the lively supporting cast. (Photo: Megan Poole Photo)
