“I felt like an African queen. Everyone loved my dress. Thank you for making my dreams come true!”
This is a beautiful gold lace hijab wedding dress, accentuated with yellow crystals and scalloped lace. I designed and made this fully bespoke look for a bride for her interfaith wedding.
The bride wanted a simple and elegant dress made in layers of duchess satin and lace. It had a boned bodice with a sweetheart neckline and supporting straps, leaving the bride’s gorgeous arms on display. I fitted the dress to her curves until the hip, then flared the skirt out dramatically to the floor. The back had a cut-out moment framed with more beautiful scalloped lace. The whole dress closed with a concealed zip at the back, with a long column of covered buttons all the way down to below the waist.
I absolutely love the bride’s choice of materials – that golden ivory looks absolutely beautiful against her skin.
A hijab was also made to go with the dress, with the design elements from the dress also included. I used the same pale gold lace with yellow gold crystals.
Making a Gold Lace Hijab Wedding Dress
The first step of making a bespoke wedding dress is ensuring that the pattern I’ve drafted fits properly. To avoid cutting into the more expensive fabrics, it’s usual to make a toile first. A toile is a trial run made with cheaper fabric, allowing me as the dressmaker to see what needs to changing. It also allows the bride to see if she’s happy with how the design looks in 3D, compared to the sketch.
I didn’t need to make many changes for this bride, so I quickly got started on the dress itself.
Then came the rest of the fittings. The images below are from the first fitting, where I can put the basic shape of the dress together. We also checked how the gorgeous pale gold hijab looked with the dress. And I asked the bride whether everything felt right. I might have a good idea by looking, but the most useful perspective is that of the person actually wearing the garment.
For the second fitting, I started work on the details. I refined the placement of the scallops around the sweetheart neckline and the open, peekaboo back to accentuate the beautiful lace.
The Finished Gold Lace Hijab Wedding Dress
The final fitting is to confirm that all parties are happy. I have to make sure I’m happy with how the dress looks, how it fits and that everything is finished beautifully. And most importantly, that the bride is happy!
You can also see the finishing touches I added, including the bustle loop, for hooking up the skirt when it’s time for dancing. The lace scalloping was added to the edge of the skirt and train, as well as the hijab. I like to make sure I consider every little detail!
I learnt a lot whilst making this dress, and I’m grateful to this bride for her guidance and generosity. If you’ve been invited to a Muslim wedding but you’re not sure what to wear, this article offers some useful advice.
If you’re looking for more cross cultural wedding inspiration, have a look at this dress I created for an Indian fusion wedding or my post featuring many fusion wedding dress designs. Or if you’re loving the opulence of the gold, you will definitely want to see this bespoke rose gold wedding dress.
I make wedding dresses for a whole range of brides, so if you’re looking for someone to design something that reflects who you are as a person, you can check out the rest of my portfolio. And then, if you like what you see, you’re welcome to book in a no-obligation consultation.
