Good Bye Whitefire Weddings

It is my sad duty to announce the demise of Whitefire Weddings. However it’s sterling work will continue on my new sight, Night Feather Deign, where bridal wear, dance wear and dress designs will find an exciting new home.

http://nightfeatherdesign.blogspot.com

Saskia's Wedding

Whitfire Weddings to thrilled to anounce it's first cilval parntership commision. Saskia and Pauline were married on the 13th June 2010.
Saskia's dress is in a 50's style. She chose pink and red shot silk, which is accompanied by a black petticoat. The cut is a simple one, but I drafted the dress specifically to show off the tattoos on her shoulders.

Becky's Wedding : The Big Day

As me and Becky have always been so close this was the first dress I was truly nervous about handing over, as well as it being the first of my dresses I was able to see actually go down the aisle. So on the morning of April 18th 2010 I was pretty nervous... although probably not as much as Becky and her fiancé Sam.

But after months of work and a extremely involved design process this was the finished result

As a final feature I added a loop to the train so it could be hooked out of the way during the reception.

So after nearly 170 hours, 2 fittings, 2 shopping trips and 220 cover buttons this is one of the best dresses I have made and certainly the one I am most proud of. It was an honor for me to be able to give this gift to a friend who has been a sister to me for years.

I'd like to finish by saying I wish the shiny new Mr and Mrs all the luck and love in the world, congratulations guys :) x x

Becky's Wedding : Second Fitting

Once the fabrics were bought it was all systems go to get the dress cut and sewn together. Again the time for this varies depending on the level of complexity of the dress. In Becky's case the dress was constructed in three sections: the skirt, the boned bodice and the bust. The construction of the satin pieces was relatively simple but the lace overlay and cover buttons were time consuming. By the time I was ready for the second fitting I had logged somewhere in the region of 150 hours on Becky's dress, including fittings, shopping and labour.

The second fitting is in the final fabric, as close to finished as I can manage whilst still leaving it available to changes in fit. For the final fitting it is important to have the shoes and underwear you intend to wear on the wedding day. This is because the underwear will change the shape of the dress, and heels alter the hemline. Both of these must be finalised during this fitting.

Becky had very unhelpfully lost weight so at this point, so I had to take the dress in as well as pinning the hem in place. We also decided to add more netting into the lower skirt just to give the dress a little kick out.

As we had added so much black onto the bodice we had already decided against the ribbon at the under bust seam, but we kept the continued line of buttons down the train. And I promise, despite the look on her face in the photo, Becky was very pleased.

The dress then took it's last trip to my dress stand to have the fastenings, hem and final finishings completed, as well adding in the extra layers to the petticoat. And so the dress was ready for it's big day.

Becky's Wedding : Fabric Shopping

This is usually the most fun part of any job as well as being the point of no return on the dress. Fabric shopping is left until this point to leave as much time as possible to make decisions about the dress. Also if it is left until after the dress is drafted i know how much needs to be bought, instead of estimating it and risking buying too much (wasting your money) or not buying enough (and being unable to get more of the same fabric).

When planning a wedding dress, it's important not to underestimate how much fabric can cost. Depending where you shop and the quality of the materials the prices can vary dramatically from as little as £10 per metre for Silk dupion to £90 per metre (or even more!) for embroidered fabrics. Lace and beaded tulle routinely cost over £100 per metre.

(These are just examples of typical bridle fabrics based on a small sampling to give an idea, please don't quote them)

Though quality will push the price up, you get what you pay for and the better quality of the fabrics will improve the drape and look of the dress. And if there's one outfit you don't want to skimp on, it's this one.

When fabric shopping you should always pull the fabrics out and see them against your skin as they can look different off the roll, particularly embellished fabrics.

In Becky's case the lovely people at the Silk Society pulled out a full length mirror and a drop cloth (a sheet on the floor to protect the fabrics) to drape the fabrics properly. This gave us a much better idea of what the fabrics would look like as a full length dress. This is an advantage of going to fabric stores that are used to bridal shoppers.

We quickly decided on a satin for the base fabric and began looking at some embellished laces and tulles to add some detail to the bodice. We went through quite a few options, taking swatches of fabrics she liked. Some shops will charge for these so try to only collect fabrics that are viable options, but with any sample they will also give you a record of the price and roll width, they should also tell you if it is a one off roll or regular shock. If you come across something you really like make sure you ask, just in case you can't get more of the same.

We started looking at beaded tulles and Becky instantly fell in love the scolloped edge around the hip line as you can see in this picture. It reminded us of one of my first designs with a black lace bodice.

So with several fabric swatches me, Becky and the mother of the bride Kay retired to a near-by pub, where a bottle of wine helped us make the final decisions.

I needed 9m of satin, 1.5m of embroidered and beaded tulle, 13 spiral bones, 2m of popplin for backing the bodice and nearly 10m of net for the petticoat.

Never buy the fabric on a whim and never buy the first you find....even if you end up going back to the same shop you started in. Usually the choices for fabrics are huge and can be a little overwhelming so always sleep on your decision even if it is only for a night.

Becky's Wedding : First Fitting

As I was drafting Becky's dress I soon realised I could do something more flattering for her fuller bust as well as making it a little more of a feature.

This was the final design I drew for Becky's dress. Though the shape of the dress did not change much after this point, the features were still interchangeable and the look would change depending on the fabrics chosen.

The first fitting of a dress is usually in a calico mock-up of the basic dress called a toile. This fitting is to:

- finalise design features that would effect the cut of the dress,

- check the fit and cut,

- discuss fabric options as well as design features.

As my dresses are all drafted specifically for the person each pattern is individual and requires extra time to draft, as well as the time taken to construct the toile. It differs from dress to dress depending on how complex the cut is but this process can take anything from 1 to 3 weeks solid work (based on a 8 hour day, 5 day week). For this dress it took around a 2 weeks to draft and construct, with additional time for the altered bodice.

With an army of safety pins to back me up I began the task of fitting the dress so it would sit snugly and comfortably.

The first fitting went smoothly and Becky was very happy with the cut. I drafted 2 versions of the upper bodice so Becky could see how each design would look and decided on this one. It was more flattering and more interesting, leaving more scope for design features such as beading or a lace insert.

Becky's Wedding : The Designs

On Christmas Day 2008, my best friend Becky told me she was going to get married. My first response was to tell her and her fiancé that my gift to them would be Becky's dress.... then I congratulated them both.

Whenever I begin a job the most important questions I ask are:

When is the wedding?

What is the budget?

And do you have any ideas or design features in mind already?

For the last question it is usually easiest to gather some images, either of dresses that you like or simply of features that you are drawn to, or shapes you know are flattering. These can be as vague or as specific as you like.

In Becky's case she had very little idea of what she wanted her own dress to be, she did know that her bridesmaids would be in black and the grooms men probably would have red cravats. We decided to try and include one of these colors into the detail of the dress.

I set her the task of looking through dresses and send the images of one's she liked with notes as to why. In the mean time I looked at several ways to include color onto the dress. Once I had Becky's images I came up with several eclectic designs.

These deigns cover such a wide range, this was so I could see what direction Becky wanted to go in as well as giving her some more unusual ideas she may not have considered. As you can see I thought of a variety of ways of incorporating black into the dress from simply beading to the more striking heavy black stripes.

Becky preferred the simpler cut of the 5th dress but liked the idea of the black beading on the bodice, perhaps even using lace, though she was undecided. Something else we did at this stage was to go to some wedding dress shops and try some dresses on to see what she felt comfortable in. This proved to be very useful as Becky realized she particularly like the lace look. She also decided she wanted a train, which came as a surprise to both of us.

I went away and came back to her with a second set of designs, this time a little more refined.

As you can see I added the train in as well as still experimenting the black on the bodice. She began to have a much clearer idea of what she wanted and gave me a more detailed idea for her neckline, shape and design features. So back to the drawing board.....

Becky liked the first dress so I drew up a final design including a back view and the fastening option (which we had already discussed)

This was the final design that I showed Becky before I started on the calico mock-up of the dress. The design features such as the beading, the ribbon and the button fastenings (which would either be in black or red to tie in with the rest of the wedding party).

The design process is unique to each individual dress. It is a constant process always being altered and refined throughout the construction, depending on fabric choices and the expansion of ideas. This is what makes the process so much fun and ensures you get a unique dress suited to your personality.