Bridal Headpiece Creation

I am just coming down from a wonderful high.... The high of one of my dearest friend's wedding.... Not only was it such an honor to be a part of her wedding as a bridesmaid but also, as a designer, to create her headpiece!

Laura's dress was gorgeous (of course!). An elegant gown with a layer of ivory chiffon flowing over the top of the A-line skirt, ruched strapless bodes with a taupe sash and two petaled flowers sitting to the left side on the waist. She had told me she wanted something simple in her hair, maybe some sort of flower with feathers.... Feathers, of course I will use feathers! We had looked at some photos and headpieces in stores, so I had a gauge of what she liked and had in mind. I had her tell the seamstress to save the fabric from the hem of her dress. I knew I would use this to create the headpiece. (As it turned out, I was able to find an almost exact match of chiffon and I ended up using that. But if I had only the hem I would have used it... Having the extra fabric gave me insurance and peace of mind!) I had a detailed photo of the flowers on her dress and used this as my inspiration.

I began cutting and cutting petal after petal... The flower had five groupings of petals, then had four tiered layers.... All total there was 135 petals! It was then embellished with a few pearls and a vintage rhinestone flower, which ended up being her "something old" and even more special as it came from our friend's (and also a bridesmaid) grandmother's old jewelry collection! I hand-dyed white feathers in coffee to get a perfect ivory match. I wasn't sure if feathers would end up working.... I played with it and was able to incorporate them....








As with any client, but especially your friend, you want them to be happy with what you create. I had explicitly told Laura I wanted her to honest with me and tell me what she liked and didn't like when I brought her round-one of the piece..... As it turned out she didn't love how I had done the feathers. The were grouped together in one section coming out from behind the flower. Once we put it in her hair, it didn't lay right... The flower was also a bit flat and not as whimsical as she had hoped.... As I had planned accordingly to have enough time to make any changes, I was not concerned about getting the job done so she was completely happy with it... My roommate Stacy (another bridesmaid and my sounding board for design ideas!) and I bounced ideas off of each other of how I could change it up.... So I worked on creating fuller petals to fill in the gaps and give it some depth. The feathers were removed from their "clump", cut down and then individually placed in between layers of petals scattered throughout the piece.
When I brought it back for Laura to try, her face lit up. When we put it in her hair, she beamed. It was now perfect for her and if I do say so myself... It looked much better in her hair than version one!!! I could breath a sigh of relief. She loved it!












Laura made the most beautiful bride from head-to-toe! Congratulations to Laura & Imran!