Amanda and Jonathan

Amanda’s fairytale wedding took place at Cavalli Estate, we worked lovingly on her dress for 6 months before the big day and she was a vision! Her dress was one of a kind and started with a luxurious blush silk satin overlaid with a mirror image lace. Each piece was cut and placed by hand. Her dramatic tulle skirt was one of our favourite parts and the soft scatter of lace leaves was the perfect finishing touch to this masterpiece! We would also like to thank Hanri Human for these breathtaking photographs!

Ashley, well where do we start. This amazing lady came into our studio and she was all sunshine and magic. She became known as “The Lucky One” everything was seamless and I can truly say she went from client to friend. We absolutely loved working on her full lace gown with Oyster satin underlay. Every piece of lace on the bodice was cut out and placed by hand. She was breathtaking on her special day and I absolutely loved every second of working with her!

Amy was my unicorn, fairy, cat loving all things magical and quirky bride. I remember her stepping into my studio with these big eyes and a sweet shyness, after the initial chats about laces and tulles she said, "but you know what I really really want is a butterfly wedding dress." I was delighted and so set about creating Amys' 6 layer hand dyed tulle ball gown wedding dress with laser cut butterflies that were each sewn and applied by hand with love, a butterfly strewn veil completed this fantasy, the photos by Jack and Jane photography captured it all perfectly!

This post is extremely personal as it is my wedding gown. I can say that designing my own dress was a privilege but also challenging at the same time. I had so many ideas buzzing in my head but I knew I wanted something timeless but also with unusual and unexpected detailing, my lace had silver gray undertones and had a gardenia floral design, a flower much beloved by the women of my family. I decided on a mermaid silhouette and an underlayer of silver silk satin. The top was an illusion bodice that had every piece of lace lovingly appliqued by hand. The ombre pearl beading was done in-house by our very talented beader and it really was one of my favorite elements of my dress. Another special piece was my headpiece created by Lorean Jewelry, he incorporated pearl flowers from my grans wedding headpiece to fashion something new for me, a treasure which i hope I can pass down through the generations. 

Nicolene was the most breathtaking bride, what I remember most is how serene she was on her wedding day. I absolutely loved working on her dress, she wanted something classic, and traditional but also ethereal and textured. It turned out to be 40 degrees on the day of the wedding but even this didn't stop Nicky from wearing her long sleeve Chantilly lace gown a la Princess Grace of Monaco.

Zimasa is just one of those people who radiates happiness, a kind word for everyone in the studio, making her dress and dressing her on her wedding day was a very special process for me. Zimasa wanted something dramatic, yet elegant, we decided on a silk crepe mermaid gown with an illusion bodice, hand appliqued floral lace and custom pearl beading and of course a dramatic train and cathedral veil to finish the look. 

Nicolene was just a delight, we were blown away when we saw her, the most stunning girl with dancing green eyes. She trusted me completely with her design, her words were something different but timeless. The team and I created what can only be described as an iridescent dream. A soft oyster silk mermaid gown with a gorgeous pale silver lace overlay, it almost looked like tiny snowflakes and leaves had crystallized on the gown. Her wedding took place in Tulbagh and the dramatic flowers by Anli Wahl were the perfect complement to her gown.

Jessica is dynamite in a small package, as the owner of Jessica Notelo Fine Art Wedding Photography I knew that making a wedding dress for her was going to be an amazing process! Jess loves the sea so it could only be a beach wedding for her, we loved creating this whimsical gown, snow white silk sarin was overlayed with a beautiful corded leaf lace and a silk chiffon skirt. the veil was cathedral length and trimmed with matching lace. I loved working with Jess and she looked gorgeous!