How the Things That We Love Become Who We Are

Amy’s Story

Upcycled Wedding Dress, Wiltshire wedding photos

“Something old, something new,
Something borrowed, something blue.
Happy is the bride with a sixpence in her shoe”

Today, I am truly proud to be able to share the unique Upcycled Wedding Dress story, born out of a lasting love of heritage, family heirlooms and a love of the arts. Our bride, (and I say that loosely as you will soon discover) is a true artist in every sense of the word. Amy, is a passionate creator and lover of upcycled products and nowhere is this passionate more obviously shown than in her desire to create a truly unique wedding day packed full of familiar and repurposed cherished items.

.

Designing Amy’s Upcycled Wedding Dress

IS, a huge challenge to pull off especially if you choose to design your first wedding dress by yourself and especially if you have never made anything really challenging before. But, for those who are handy with a sewing machine, and who chose the right types of materials to work with, it is absolutely doable – something that I will address in a later post if you are interested? BTW, do drop me a line by email to say ”I’m up for this”.

Amy contacted me to ask for help with her wedding dress that she had made for herself. As I would expect, she was uncertain how to tackle a few areas and just needed a little bit of guidance and help. Well, naturally, I love helping others to achieve their goal. I know the passion, love and patience behind any lovingly made garment – and my background in teaching immediately connects me with any student who passionately wants to learn and deepen their skill level – so I said Yes to the Dress.

The inspiration for my upcycled wedding dress came from many different places. And the main reason for wanting to have a major hand in designing and making it myself is a simple one – I simply didn’t know what I wanted. So even trying on many of the gorgeous wedding dresses in bridal boutiques, none of them felt quite right for me!

So being able to evolve my ideas with my dress was key to me feeling myself on my big day.

.

The Inspiration

My journey began with my Granny’s wedding dress which she had given to me when I was studying historical fashion at secondary school and I was determined to use its beautiful lace.

Vintage Upcycled Wedding Dress

Designing my upcycled wedding dress project took lots of attempts on paper and it wasn’t until we were on a family holiday in India and my [now] husband commissioned a bespoke jacket that my plans began falling into place – (deciding on the jacket style and fabric was a marathon in itself, but we got there, since he wears a suit to work every day he wanted something super special for his big day and they certainly delivered!).

Finding My Own Wedding Day Style

Without him knowing, I purchased an extra metre of the fabric and created a sweetheart, strapless bodice out of it (the same romantic neckline as featured on my Granny’s wedding dress!). This led me to start researching bridal separates and I discovered the joy of mixing and matching styles to find the one which completed my look – an A-line full length skirt with a train (and pockets!) which was simple but so elegant.

The Little Details

The final design for upcycling my Granny’s wedding dress was to cut the bodice open and create a bolero inspired, long-sleeved jacket with the skirt gathered on to the back of jacket, giving me an elegant cover up for the church while retaining the original style & feel of Granny’s wedding dress.

I was also given a beautiful Alencon French lace from Alex’s Grandmother when they cleared out her house and amongst the dollies and trim there was this long section of gorgeous gold lace, it was so beautiful and matched the gold in Alex’s Indian jacket so perfectly I just had to use it.

Again, there were lots of different ideas but since I only had a certain length, I really had to think carefully about how to upcycle it with zero waste. I took my time to cut it neatly up and reworked the lace design into a belt to compliment the design pattern of the bodice and the A-line princess skirt. I also decorated the train with it and played around making the flowers 3D to attached to a headband to complete the look!

I then added beads and pearls on to the lace, everywhere, to add a little sparkle!

Designing Our Bespoke Rings

Upcycled wedding Dress, bespoke wedding rings

In terms of other wedding items, we actually made our own wedding rings and Alex designed my engagement ring with THE JEWELLER so there really wasn’t a part of the wedding we didn’t get stuck into!

My beautiful necklace was a wedding present from Alex (opened the night before because I was far to excited!) and it was lovely to have something completely new, just for me!

The Final Look

I purchased an additional bolero style fluffy jacket off Etsy to go over the top of everything since it was November I thought I’d better be prepared! My bridesmaids had white ones too! And my shoes were simple Victorian style ankle boots with a low heel which I think I got off eBay, love a bargain and they were so comfy all day!

modern Upcycled Wedding dress .

A Little Helping Hand from Oui Madam Bridal

I couldn’t work out how to take up the skirt without ruining the beautiful lines and hiding my stitching, nor how to best join the bodice to the skirt or alter the train to be swept up in the evening. I really needed the help of someone who could and would be willing to just help me to bring the whole outfit together. I needed to put my dress in the hands of a capable professional who knew exactly how to make a wedding dress work, with excellent stitching and years of experience which was how I found Cynthia. She was so helpful. She really listened to my story and what I wanted to achieve, gave advice when required and helpful tips for the day!, I would recommend her to anyone looking for a personal touch to their wedding outfit.