Photography – Andrew Brannan
Real bride, Janet, had been following me on Instagram for a few years before she got in touch. When we had our first Zoom meeting, she said she had been waiting for the perfect moment to be able to have a dress designed and made by me. I think a wedding definitely counts as the perfect moment!
Janet did a lot of research prior to us talking, and brought lots of gorgeous reference photos and ideas. She knew she wanted a simple enough dress, but with some ornate, thickly beaded details. Janet talked about the idea of lots of overlapping organic textures, like coral, but sparklier. She also decided she didn’t want to go with traditional white or ivory. Instead she chose something a little more unusual – a deep green. I couldn’t have been more excited to get started!
After our chat, I designed her a forest green beaded wedding dress. The base of the dress was a silk satin, whilst the top layer was made from matte, crepe-texture silk chiffon (or georgette), which was slightly sheer. The overall outline was a gentle A-line, and the light weight fabrics ensured beautiful movement, as well as comfort for the bride. The front neckline was a simple scoop, whilst the back keyhole neckline was fastened with a matching covered button.
This dress was even featured on the Love My Dress blog after Janet’s wedding!
Keep scrolling to see more beautiful photos from Janet’s wedding day, and for a little look into how I approached the beading portion of the dress.
Making a Forest Green Beaded Wedding Dress
To start off with I drew out a few designs for the placement of the beads on paper. I pinned them to my mannequin to check how it would look in 3D.
Once I got Janet’s approval, I traced the pattern onto the silk chiffon with disappearing ink. This meant that when I had finished, I simply applied hot steam and the ink disappeared. Magic!
In order to achieve the layered, textured effect that Janet wanted, I used lots of different kinds of beads. They were made of either glass or crystal, which helped keep the feeling natural. I used seed beads, bugle beads, Swarovski crystals and sequins. I spent a good amount of time choosing which colours looked best against the beautiful emerald green chiffon. The colour palette I went with ended up being purple, red, gold and teal.
Aren’t the beads on their own already a feast for the eyes?
Once that was done, the hard work began: time for sewing on the beads by hand. Lots and lots of sewing on the beads by hand. Here you can see each step of the process: draw on the design, start with the biggest shapes and then add detail.
And after a lot of hours, I was finally finished!
The Finished Dress
I’m personally really proud of the finished look. All of the lovely beaded detailing elevate a simple and elegant dress into something truly unique and special.
I recently made another forest green wedding dress, which I think is particularly beautiful. Think of something Florence Welch would wear for a woodland ritual. And if you’re curious about what hand-beading can look like in another context, there’s this teal wedding dress as well.
