I MADE A WEDDING DRESS!

Wedding Dress : By Maree Worrall-Bader & Sandra Snook

Flower Crown : By Maree

Photography : Rose Tinted Photography

To follow on from this weeks posts about my beautiful friend Jessie and her fiancé Jed, I finally can share with you the images of the wedding dress I made for her with help from my mother. They recently got married with a gorgeous wedding in Nuneaton, England! I couldn't be more excited for her, what a stunning bride!!

The ivory dress is a combination of a full skirt with soft layers of tulle, and a delicate bodice embroidered with lace appliqué. It has tulle straps that become invisible so it appears to be a strapless dress. But our favourite part was the back. We love how the tulle straps cross over, wrap round the waist and tie into a bow over a sheer lace back.

The design is based on a Grace Loves Lace dress which she instantly fell in love with, however the price tag was a little out of reach. Considering they were getting married in England where her family resides, most of the expense went towards the airfare. I knew of her struggles and of how cheesy/awful/tacky inexpensive wedding dresses can be, so I offered to make her dream gown. We kept the design elements that Jessie loved, but altered it to make it her own. She didn't wish to wear a traditional bridal veil, so I crafted the flower crown using pastel tones of pinks, purples and soft yellow to complete the look.

We set out with a budget of approximately $100 NZD for materials and I knew it could be done. We spent a day visiting the best fabric stores in Auckland and found everything we needed except the piece of lace for the back. The funny thing is I had a night dress given to me by my Mum who had never worn it (because it's a little bit on the dated side). I actually joked with Jessie when I showed it to her saying, " I made a start on your dress!" Her expression of shock/horror/politeness was priceless! But actually the night dress was a blessing. We used the skirt as a petticoat, and it had the perfect amount of pretty lace for the back!

If you remember, I also designed Jessie & Jed's wedding invites which you can see in this post. I also took some of their engagement photos in a styled shoot and put together their save the dates. I was pretty devastated that I couldn't actually attend their wedding, especially since I was so involved with helping out in the planning process. But I can tell you from the pictures that I've seen that it was a beautiful wedding with a gorgeous couple.

As for the making of the dress, it has a lot to do with the fact that I've grown up with an amazing Mother who is incredible at sewing. Most of the important garments I've ever worn including my wedding gown, engagement dress, 21st dress, school ball gown etc. have been handmade by us together. I'm so blessed to have her as a Mum, and I couldn't have done this wedding dress without her wisdom & knowledge. Sewing can be very stressful, and she has the patience of a saint. So when I would be super worried and frustrated when the overlocker keeps un-threading or when it wasn't quite fitting perfectly, she would be my calm. She always had the solution to any problems that arose. The thing with sewing is it always seems to be one step forward and two steps backwards. This is probably why I don't enjoy the sewing process so much, but I love designing garments, choosing fabrics and the final product! Plus seeing the joy & happiness Jessie felt when she had her final fitting made all the hiccups worth it!