Even though Rebecca lives in Germany, she sought me out specifically to make her bespoke pastel rainbow ombre wedding dress. There’s something about me and German brides – we just get along. This is my second bespoke order from Germany! Rebecca had seen my colour work and fantasy-inspired designs, and decided I was the perfect fit for her (pun intended).
Rebecca wanted something whimsical, colourful and fit for an elven princess. I designed a pastel rainbow waterfall dress in layered lace and voluminous organza. The lace-up corset bodice was boned, with a layer of subtly sparkling beaded lace. I also used the lace wrapped around her shoulders as off shoulder sleeves.
I made the skirt from two layers of organza, with a horsehair braid hem to create the dimensional waterfall effect, being short at the front and longer at the back. The whole thing was hand dyed in a beautiful wash of dreamy watercolour shades. Starting from aqua, going through sky blue, sapphire, lavender, lilac and baby pink.
As well as the dress, I made a dramatic floor length cloak with a hood. I used white chiffon to create elegant draping, which billows beautifully in the breeze.
“I am overjoyed with my wedding dress from Felicity! From the photos I sent her, she created a unique gown perfectly tailored to me. The colours and the beautiful gradient are absolutely masterful.
– Rebecca, Bride
Felicity is incredibly heartly and truly passioned about her work – I felt instantly welcome and in the best hands. Even the distance between Germany and England was no problem thanks to her expertise.
On our big day, I truly felt like a diamond. I would have a dress made by her again anytime!”
Photography – Pesto Wedding Photography
Making A Pastel Rainbow Ombre Wedding Dress
I’ve had many overseas brides, and they often choose made-to-measure: where I make the dress according to their measurements (following my strict instructions on how to take those measurements). This process leaves less space for changing the design, and always requires some additional work from a seamstress once it has been sent. However, Rebecca and I found a different system that really worked for us during this process. The dress was made over the course of six months, during which time Rebecca visited me in condensed clusters.
Rebecca first visited in May for four days, during which we had three separate fittings. At our first fitting, Rebecca tried on the toile I had made. The toile is the rough draft of the design, where we can both see if anything needs changing, before I get started using our fabrics of choice.
The Dip Dyeing Process
Rebecca returned to Germany and I worked on the dress, including the intricate dye techniques required to achieve this pastel rainbow. Before I got started on the actual dress, I spent some time experimenting with the best approach to achieving the perfect blend of colours. Shout out to Jacquard’s Acid Dyes for offering every colour I could ever need! Here I used Pink, Sky Blue, Blacklight Blue and Teal.
Once I was confident I knew how the colours were going to interact with each other, and specifically how they would behave on our chosen materials, I began the lengthy process of hand dyeing each piece. First was the satin bodice, where I blended sapphire blue into turquoise.
And then I dyed the organza for the skirt. This continued the colour blue from the bottom of the bodice, and faded into lilac and pink. I think the fabric looks so pretty in the water.
I think the result of the dyeing process is really beautiful. The colour blended perfectly. I even managed to achieve the full blend of all four colours on the corset ribbon – although, admittedly, that was quite fiddly!
With all the pieces now dyed, it was time to do some more sewing. For the bodice this meant layering this pretty beaded lace, covered in 3D flowers.
The Final Fittings
In September, Rebecca visited for another three days, three weeks before her wedding, with a fitting every day. After the final fitting, she took the dress back to Germany with her.
For this bride, having the full bespoke experience was absolutely the right choice. During our fittings she changed her mind on a few design elements – including removing the sleeves – meaning that by the time it was finished, it was exactly what she wanted. You just can’t beat bespoke.
More Unique Wedding Dress Inspiration
If you feel you should have been born as an elven queen in a romantasy novel, then I might just be the right person to bring that dream to life 
making beautiful, dramatic and colourful looks is my speciality, so let me point in the direction of a few others you might from inspiration from. First there’s this theatrical wedding dress, with a similar waterfall skirt as the one above.
Or there’s this Santorini blue dip dye wedding dress, using the same ‘wet dye’ technique as I did for Rebecca’s.
If the pastel rainbow ombre wedding dress has made you really excited about adding colour to your wedding look, you can find out more about my dip dyeing services here. Which colours will you choose?
