Entries Tagged 'designers' ↓

I made a little discovery today and I’ve had so much fun with it!

Are you stuck with picking a colour scheme for your wedding?

Try this – the DeGraeve.com Color Palette Generator!

It is actually used for generating colour codes for website and blog designing, but I had a ball!

If I remember correctly, the first time I saw a ChristaB creation it was in a magazine. In my mind’s eye, the model was dressed in red from top to toe, standing on a ladder and looking over an ivy covered wall.

I was smitten.

I decided then and there that if I could, when I got married one day it would be in a ChristaB couture gown. I never dreamed it was even possible, but my husband is the most wonderful man, and I was lucky enough to have a wedding budget that allowed me to indulge my dream.

My first contact with Christa was via email just over a year before my wedding! Here’s what I sent to her initially:

Our wedding colours are red and purple with a paisley theme!
What else can I tell you…?
I do not want to wear a veil, I would like a hat though, or some kind of striking headpiece or fascinator.
I need legroom to be able to dance.
I will be wearing my hair up as I loathe the heat.
I love floral applique, sequins, beads, lace, faux fur & feathers.
NO PEARLS please…

After a couple of emails, we met one Saturday morning in November at 9am! I was beyond excited! My mommy darling went with me as I had decided that no-one would see the dress except my mom and Christa… In the end I took my sisters (my bridesmaids) and my son (my best man) with me for the final fitting and the dress collection.

You can read here- The Epitome Of Nerve Wracking- about how terrifying it was for me to hand all the plans for my wedding dress over to Christa!

At our first meeting, with my mom, we were chatting about what I liked and disliked, about what I’d started planning for the wedding, and I showed her my tattoos, and she was making notes while we chatted. Then she drew a design on paper and we discussed it a little, and the she very excitedly jumped up and went through to her workshop to fetch a roll of fabric. She handed it to me when she came back in and I was horrified! It was a roll of pale pink silk!

Pink silk!!!

Not that I don’t wear pink- I do- but I am not a “pink” person at all… I was expecting a gown with a difference- perhaps red, or purple even- but Christa decided I was going to wear pink!!! She was adamant, and I couldn’t see her vision… She was also adamant that I would not wear a hat or feathers. She said that because I was already a bit of an OTT personality on my own- feathers would make me look like a clown rather than elegant and beautiful.

I decided to leave it in her hands and wait to see what she was going to do for me… but I was nervous as all hell.

The first fitting was in calico, to make sure her idea for the gown would work. By the time I tried on the pink silk bodice, I knew she’d been right about the colour. We ended up having several fittings to get the bodice right… I have HUGE boobs and the bodice had to be properly shaped to hold me, so we had several fittings before it fit right. Christa would not take “almost” as acceptable- it had to be perfect.

Make no mistake- Christa knows what she’s doing. She had her seamstresses redo several sections of the bodice until it was as she wanted it to be, and I think that they heard my name with dread until Christa called them in to the final fitting to see how well it fitted.

The dress is an A-line, not a ball gown. The bodice has ribbons stitched on individually and diagonally to create a flattering line. The lace is stitched onto the front of the bodice in a V shape to give me height, and this was then adorned with little fabric flowers and Swarovski crystals. Each flower and each jewel was attached individually and by hand! The bodice and the skirt are two pieces. The skirt was layers of tulle, the outer layer studded with jewels, and a layer of the pink silk was ruffled over the top. The silk was drawn up into a bustle in the back, and inside the bustle Christa put silk flowers in different shades of pink.

I think Christa’s vision for me was absolute perfection. I looked fantastic. She’s a genius and I do believe it was money very well spent.

These photos were taken by wedding photographer Jeanette Verster on our wedding day and at the TTD shoot.

Here are some detail shots of the bodice that I took after the Trash-The-Dress shoot.

And here is a detail of the dress’s bustle with the silk flowers (this photo was taken by my friend Wenchy).

And a useful one too!
Pronovias has stunning gowns, and they’re featured in just about every single wedding magazine available.
They have something new on their website where you can “design” your ideal wedding gown and find something in their collection that more or less matches your selections.
You make your choices in several sections, from the neckline to the fabric and accessories…

and then view the actual Pronovias collection to find similar dresses based on your selections!

Handing over everything dress-related to a designer…!! This has been the most “stressful” part of my wedding planning adventure thus far.

For as long as I can remember I’ve loved Christa B’s designs, and it was always a dream to get married in a Christa B couture gown. I considered it a pipe dream though, since I didn’t think I’d ever be able to afford a one-of-a-kind specially designed wedding dress!
I mean, who can?!
And then I met my darling Glugster…

Anyhoodle, we all know how spoilt I am.

Meeting with Christa the first time was fabulous! It was everything I’d hoped for and more. Her studio at her home is intimate and gorgeous and softly glamorous with a huge chandelier and comfortable floral couches. It’s feminine without being kitsch, and she has several gowns hanging in their own see through bags in the studio.

In all honesty, I had no idea what I wanted when it came to my wedding dress. I had many, many several pictures flagged in magazines for particular parts and aspects of wedding gowns that I liked, but I didn’t have an actual dress in mind. I was also unsure of what type of dress would suit me since- like every normal South African woman- I’m not a standard shape.
We got to talking and I showed her the magazines I had brought with me. Christa very quickly determined what type of personality I have, taking into account everything from my flowery steering wheel cover to my tattoos! We had already traded several emails so she had a vague idea of what type of person I am, but meeting her and talking to her gave her an even better idea.
After we’d chatted a bit- my mommy darling was with me- she roughly sketched something she had in mind for me, explaining the details as she went along and telling me in no uncertain terms what she thought would work and what not. She decided on the colour and explained why, and the style and so on, and left myself and my mom to talk it over.
We’re going with what she suggested and sketched, and this is the scary part.
Because now I wait.
She doesn’t have my measurements yet as I only need the dress in July and I am dieting and such first… but unlike trying on a dress in the shop and having a few alterations done, I have no idea what this dress is going to look like apart from a few rough sketches.
I can’t see into Christa’s head.

Granted, she knows what she’s doing, and I have always liked and admired her work, but I am still terrified that I am not going to like what comes out of this!

I am going to meet Christa B for the first time on November 7^th!

She’s the designer who will be making my wedding dress.

For as long as I can remember, I have dreamed of a Christa B wedding gown. Its still a little unbelievable to me that I am actually going to get my wish!

We’ve been chatting on email about what I like and don’t like, and we will actually only start doing fittings and such next year January, but we are going to meet face to face to start chatting.

I am SO excited!!!