Angie wanted a blue halter neck wedding dress for her special day. As a mature bride I encouraged her to have whatever she wanted and I love that is had the confidence to live our her fantasy wedding dress dreams. Choosing a colour instead of white can be more flattering to the mature figure and skin but there is no need for it to be ‘mature’ in any other way.
I designed this bespoke blue halter neck wedding dress using layers of hand dyed cotton muslin in pinks and blues. This complimented the mixed pastel colours in the beautiful lace that Angie choose. She also chose a silver embroidered tulle with tiny stars and diamante stones. I used the blue floral lace as the top layer for the bodice and cut it away at hip level in an organic, asymmetric line. I tore the edges of the fabrics that I layered up for her ballet length skirt to give a ‘grandmother attic’ or fantasy Elven vibe.
The back was Angie’s wedding dress was created with a lace-up ‘corset back’. I used silver eyelets and pink organza ribbon to compliment the colours of her dress. Shot taffeta in pale blue and gold was used to made the modesty panel that goes behind the lacing. The made the waterfall bustle piece in the same three-tone shot taffeta that we sourced from Michael’s bridal fabrics, one of my favourite suppliers.
Accessories for a blue wedding
Gloves
I also made long blue satin ‘glove-sleeves’ for angie. This provided her with some coverage for the church and also some confidence. I do find many of my mature brides have a difficult relationship with their arms and I am always happy to find ways to make sleeves or gloves that match your dress perfectly.
I used silver elastic to create a stretch opening on Angie’s sleeve-gloves. This meant they could be pulled on and off without having to undo or re-lace them each time. The top of the gloves was finished with more torn layers of muslin and the a point extended over her hand with an elastic loop to finish.
Bird cage veil
I designed and made a silver birdcage veil to match Angie’s bespoke blue halter neck wedding dress. I sewed the veil to a hair comb which made it easy for her hair dresser to slip it into Angie’s hair on her wedding day. The birdcage veil was trimmed with blue lace flowers and hand twisted silver wire stems each tipped with a Swarovski crystal. I also added a beaded fringe all along the end of the veil and dotted more crystals over the netting.
Shoes
Angie found very simple silver ballet slippers to wear for her wedding day and so I suggested we add some embellishment. I cut more lace flowers, with beading attached and arranged it on Angie’s shoes so it matched with her whole outfit perfectly.
Making Angie’s blue halter neck wedding dress
Angie’s first fitting was in the very base layers of her wedding dress. Just the pale blue duchess satin with only one panel having lace.
At the next fitting I had progressed the creation quite a lot. You can now see lace extending further down her dress, and some of the layers in the skirt. I had also by then made the taffeta waterfall bustle piece and adding the eyelets to the back fastening.
Even though Angie wanted her shoulders exposed with the halter neck design she also wanted options to cover her arms and shoulders for different parts of her wedding day. I design the long sleeve-gloves and also made her a simple shawl in the hand dyed muslin fabrics or pink and pale blue.
Above and below: some pictures of the finished blue halter neck wedding dress on the stand. You can see all the layers of lace, tulle and muslin that were carefully curated, hand dyed and torn to create the floaty layered skirt.
If you would like to see more examples of wonderful mature brides you can see my dedicated blog post. Or another fairytale type blue wedding dress here.
Or get in touch to talk to me about having a dress designed and made for your own wedding.
