Caroline's
Wedding!!!
What
does the Midlands Premier Wedding Dress designer choose to wear
on her own Wedding Day?
This was a very difficilt decision to make. I had been working
on ideas from Christmas, and as my partner David works very
closely with me in the business (as most of you will know from
meeting him at exhibitions!) - I really wanted to wear something
that was a little different to the designs I was already doing,
although having said that I quite fancied a few of the gowns
myself.
My favourite wedding dress from the samples I had made was by
far Zara. This was a
great style on me and the bright red colour suited my skin tone
very well (and red is my favourite colour!!)
There lies another thought...... I felt that many people would
expect me to wear red, as I was seen in this colour 50% of the
time!!
I wanted to wear a wow dress, and as I am somewhat well known
for designing more colourful, and striking gowns for the 30+
age group, I was expected to wear something really off-the-wall.
With this in mind I desided that I actually wanted to go a little
more traditional!!!
I played around with different fabrics to my normal Silk dupions
and Silk supremes, which are fairly crisp silks, giving structured
clean lines. I had often used Silk Marrocains and satin backed
crepes for bias cut shapes I had made for my bespoke clients
so I made a few samples and tried them on, but alas only being
5'5" tall and quite heavy boned - this wasn't the best
look on my frame!
I have never really been a fan of satin and to a large extenthad
avoided using Dutchess Satin in my ranges. The only time that
I would use satin was as a lining to my bias cut wedding dresses,
or with the satin on the reverse showing a beautifully fluid
crepe, which moves and drapes so perfectly.
So I gave it a go. I wanted to create a fairly full shape with
a flat hipline, but incorporate a more fluid look than usual,
so I used satin backed crepe (satin side out) and made it in
the style of Gypsy which
has a full net underskirt and optional hoop.
For the bodice I already had a few ideas which I wanted to experiment
with. I have always liked the idea of incorporating two different
fabrics in an outfit. I like to see different textures, movement
and fabric densities. With this in mind I chose a silk geargette
to compliment the satin and in a way, to tone down the sheen
on the bodice. I made the base of the bodice as Tiahana
and Eleanor in the
satin silk, which was heavily boned and lined in the same. I
then "modelled" a piece of silk crepe georgette over
the satin in a ruched fan across the bodice, giving a pleated
effect from left to right. This was a very tricky procedure
with each pleat being hand pleated in the bias cut crepe georgette
onto the actual bodice. This isn't a technique which can be
mass produced due to the movement in the fabric. I also wanted
a little sparkle, so I then added a series of Swarovski Crystals
and Diamantes along the pleats. To do this I had to carefully
hand bead through only the georgette, as stitching through all
thicknesses distorted the lie of the pleatts on the bodice when
it was fastened tight!
As
for the colour!!!!
The big question....... I really didn't want to wear white or
ivory, having been married before. I didn't want to shock too
much with the red or black (which I did think about for a while!).
In the end I went dor a colour which suited my bridesmaids and
was probably the second best colour on me.
The reason for matching the bridesmaids before me, was that
I had already chosen a delightful range of bridesmaid dresses
from Olive called "Anya".
I had chosen a beautiful Raspberry colour in crepe geaorgette
for them. I had to do this 3 months before the wedding because
of delivery dates. This was approx 2 1/2 months before I decided
what I was wearing........ Yes I actually decided on my colour
2 weeks before the wedding!!!!! - I was the worst customer ever
according to my wonderful staff!!
Anyway...... the colour...... it was Magnolia (very similar
to Bridal Gold) take a look
and the bridesmaids........and Dippie the dog (Ringbearer!)
I
apologise for the photo quality, I have had to post these as
everyone is asking to see them..... thanks!!!
Iwill post some better ones ASAP...... work load permitting!
If
you would like to see this or any other of the samples in the
shop please arrange a consultation with Caroline by clicking
here. Thank you to all of my loyal and very supportive clients....
I realise now how it feels to be bossed around in the changing
room (my staff took much pleasrure, believe me!!)
Central News Bride - Wedding of The Year
We
are very pleased to have been selected to design the wedding
dress for Central
TV News Wedding Competition. This was launched on Central
TV on February 14th as their Valentine's day Win a Wedding
competition in association with Severn
Trent Water, who hosted the "Big Day" on May 6th
at Carsington
Water.
The competition was won by Reham Qirem and her partner Greg,
who live in Grantham, Nottinghamshire.
Central
TV News have been featuring episodes throughout the last
3 months following the winners through their final preparations.
Reham has been into the Wedding Wardrobe to see me (Caroline)
for her design consultation and we are currently hard atwork
making the dress!!!
Here are a few photographs of Reham and her Mum and friend Margaret,
along with the news crew in the shop!
Reham with presenter Madelaine |
Reham with camera crew Kelly |
The tears were certainly real from Mum and Friend! |
We
are waiting for photos from the day from Reham herslelf. We
will post these ASAP - So keep looking!!
The
National Wedding Show - Birmingham NEC 18 - 20 Feb 2005
The
Wedding Wardrobe had an extremely successful show, with orders
and compliments from all over the UK.
We had five outfits featured in the main catwalk show, which
was performed four times per day. These included two gold outfits
with bronze embroidery featuring a shrug jacket and a full length
chiffon cape. We also previewed dresses from our softer bias
cut range with the gown Caroline being extremely popular. This
was a silk Marrocain bias cut gown with a slinky fishtail train.
One of the last scenes featured "Roxy", our new burgundy
sample which demonstrates our new bespoke embroidery to the
bodice panels.
SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
These were definately made at the Brides "Make over"
stage. This was a fabulous show with Caryn Franklin (Ex Clothes
Show presenter) who chose a "Bride to be" from the
audience, who was then treated to a full make over, including
hair, make up and wedding dress!
Our gowns were featured twice over the weekend!!!
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