Alice’s beautiful diamante belt wedding dress was made in layers of white chiffon with hand beaded detailing.
I made Alice’s dress with a fitted and boned bodice. I designed a soft v-shaped neckline and invisible zip back closure. Her waistline is decorated with a double loop of hand beading in Swarovski diamante stones. Then we added echoes of more diamante scattered all down the train.
Design detail
I created the dress in six layers of silk chiffon, with a light ‘crinkle’ texture for extra floaty-ness so Alice’s dress falls beautifully. A silk satin base provided the structure needed for the boning and support. Netting held out the shape of the skirt. I cut each chiffon layer shorter than the one beneath creating graduated petals on the skirt. I finished each layer of chiffon with a roll hem. This made each hem curl and frill a little to emphasise the layering. We used bright white silk over the skirt and bleached white (pale ivory) for the layer that comes up to the neckline. Using a softer colour near Alice’s face is a subtle difference but exactly the sort of little extra thought you get with a bespoke service. The diamante belt was created separately from the wedding dress and hand sewn on when complete.
I made each tie in silver satin to match the bridesmaids dresses and finished with a white silk lining. I added silver satin hankies to finish the look perfectly.
You’d never guess from these pics that Alice had just had a baby just a few months before! I’m very good at helping brides who know their shape is going to change. Having had three babies myself I can anticipate how your figure might (or might not change) and I will work to make you feel your best! I made sure the diamante belt wedding dress has the detail sitting just above to highlight Alice’s slimmest area .
Alice also had her grown-up bridesmaids’ and flower girls’ dresses custom made.
Kind words from the bride
Alice wrote: Thank you so much for all the hard work and stunning detail you put into making every dress, tie, hankie and knickers!! I felt amazing on the day and it’s all down to you. Thank you so much.Lots of love Alice, Richard and Esme
Hand beading for the Wedding Dress
We used Swarovski diamante stones in a mix of shapes including oval, round, square-cut, marquise and drop shape to create Alice’s ultra sparkly detailing. The work took 42 hours to complete and used £900 worth of Swarovski crystal stones. There was no holding back in the creation of this diamante belt wedding dress!
I created a diamante buckle to finish the waistline of Alice’s dress and to be something lovely to see when Alice turned her back because the back is as important as the front in wedding dress design!
The buckle fastened across the zip with a secure hook to make dressing easy on the day.
Detail of the train layers beading.
Each layer of the skirt had a pretty motif hand applied in diamante stones to echo the sparkle
Making Alice’s diamante belt wedding dress
Fitting Pictures
Alice at her very first fitting in the ‘toile’ or trial run in cheap fabric.
At her second fitting Alice tried on the dress in the real fabrics for the first time.
On the left is Alice at an intermediate fitting and the two pictures on the right are her final fitting in the finished dress. The picture on far right shows how the train hooks up for dancing.
Detail of the waistline beading in progress.
Diamante belt wedding dress all finished and ready to go.
I steamed Alice’s dress to perfection and prepared it to be collected after her final fitting. The dress has been stuffed with tissue paper to hold its shape and prevent creasing while it travels. I also provided a long, waterproof, gown-bag to protect the dress
I added a wrist loop for Alice so she could pick up the train herself for walking across grass etc. Even the hidden areas of a couture wedding dress need to be beautiful, so in this case I added a ribbon bow and diamante sparkle to echo the belt detailing.
Alice wanted a snow-white dress but was worried that the bright white colour would wash her out. So we used the layering of the dress to good effect. We chose a very pale ivory colour for the top layer of chiffon (called ‘bleached white) instead of the same ‘optic white’ of the other layers. You can just about see the difference in these pictures though the effect was very subtle. This meant a slightly warmer tone was nearest to Alice’s face while keeping the dress a lovely clean white.
Extra Details for the Groom alongside the Diamante belt wedding dress
I made the groom’s tie special by the addition of three tiny Swarovski diamante stones. I hid the sparkles on the back as a secret way to match the groom’s outfit to his wife’s diamante belt wedding dress.
Official Wedding pictures by www.laurencephotography.com
If you’d like to talk about ideas for your own diamante belt wedding dress just get in touch
