Danielle

Santa Barbara, CA
May 2006

To be fair, I should start off with my own story, since it was the wedding gown I made for myself that got everything started. When David proposed to me at Ragged Point, CA, and we set the date for 6 weeks later, it didn’t cross my mind that finding a wedding gown in that timeframe might be a challenge. I didn’t know the first thing about shopping for a wedding gown, and when I popped open a bridal magazine I was dismayed to find that apparently I should have ordered my gown six months ago. Oh well, I had never been one to follow conventions, so I decided I would just make my gown myself. In search of inspiration I headed down to main st, Ventura, to wander among my favorite vintage, antique, and thrift stores. I fell in love with a vintage lace curtain, which became the basis of my dress. Combined with a silk scarf from thailand and an antique beaded chiffon table runner for a veil, I fashioned a simple dress tea-length dress, which turned out to be just the thing for the occasion, given the location. Our ceremony took place at Campus Point, a favorite surf spot, on some rocks that were only accessible at low tide. We rode longboards back to my husband’s house and had a casual reception with family and friends. If there’s one piece of advice I would give to brides to be, it’s this: have fun expressing your unique personality through the details of the wedding, including your dress . . . but remember, at the end of the day the only thing that really matters is the commitment to love another person and share your life together.

Luna

Santa Barbara, CA
October 2007

Luna was the first bride who had enough faith in me to let me make a wedding gown for her. She was engaged to a close friend of my husband and I, and wanted something classy and elegant. I designed a simple column gown with an empire waist, ruched bodice, and godets in the skirt to create subtle flare. We picked out a lovely alencon lace for the sleeves and back, in order to placate her parent’s traditional tastes. The photos were taken at the Santa Barbara courthouse, where spanish tiles and spiral staircases made for a dramatic backdrop. Luna and Miguel were married a couple months later and continue to be close friends. Thank you Luna for giving me a chance and encouraging me to pursue my dreams!

Ali

Idaho
May 2008

Location
Idaho Botanical Gardens“Elliot proposed last August at the Gardens, and we have both always wanted an outdoor wedding, so the location means a lot to us and was worth the [bigger] price tag.”

The Dress

(Warning: Shameless plug ahead.)
“After many months of searching, being discouraged by [preowned] designer price tags, and searching some more, I decided to have my dress made. Risky? Yes, especially because Danielle (my seamstress/designer/hero) and I live in different states. However, let me assure you, I have no regrets. I found Danielle’s shop on Etsy and loved her work. If any one of you is considering having a custom made dress, hire Danielle – she is marvelous to work with and ridiculously talented. I found the polka dot fabric at Target. It’s actually a curtain, but it’s exactly what I wanted: textured, light-weight, and white-on-white polka dots.
The shape and structure were taken from the “Lucindia” J. Crew dress.
Ah, I.love.my.dress.”

Kirsteen

Florence, Italy
September 2009

The Wedding

“I’m Scottish and have been living in Italy for the past couple of years with my Florentine husband. We chose to get married in September in Florence for the warm weather, the food and the amazing venues you can find around Tuscany. When it came to planning and personalising our wedding, we were lucky in being able to incorporate aspects of both our cultures and offer our guests something original (e.g. a bagpiper at the ceremony, a vintage Fiat Cinquecento for the getaway car, little sporran keyrings as name place holders, etc.). On the day itself, we made a last-minute decision to abandon going to have our professional photos done while everyone headed to the reception – we didn’t want to miss out on any of the partying and, as a result, all our professional photos are just of us mingling, laughing and generally having a great time. They captured the mood of the day perfectly and, looking back, if I were to offer any advice to future brides and grooms, it would be to spend as little time as possible away from the party so you can enjoy yourself as much as anyone else – after all, you’ve spent months planning it and it *will* be over before you know it!

The Dress

I decided to have my wedding dress custom-made after realizing that the boutique shopping experience was not for me. I’ve never been mad about shopping, admittedly, but I hadn’t expected to come back from my first (and final) bridal shopping trip so disheartened. I found the shop assistants pushy and patronising and couldn’t believe the exorbitant prices of cheap-looking, mass-produced gowns. It was my bridesmaid who directed me towards Etsy (shameless plug: she has her own Etsy shop, “Sorellina”, where she sells, among other things, bridal jewellery!) and it was there that I found Danielle. While browsing through the various bridal categories, I came across the “Luna” gown, loved it, and knew I was on to a winner. I sent Danielle pictures of various wedding dresses from magazines and told her what I liked about each, and she came up with a design to match what I had in my head. Because Danielle and I live on different continents, it made sense that I find a local seamstress to help me with measurements, fittings and final tweaks – and it all worked out fantastically. On Danielle’s recommendation, I purchased the lace for my dress in Italy and posted it over to her in the U.S. Being able to choose the fabric and shade myself gave us both peace of mind that I *liked* what was being made for me. It was such a success that I ended up getting everything on Etsy – my veil, bridal combs, jewellery.. the lot! – and have no regrets about choosing to have my dress made in this way. Thank you Danielle!”

Milla

Finland
August 2010

Milla gets the prize for being the longest distance bride I have ever worked with, but that didn’t dissuade her. She requested my Ava dress, which I made to her measurements and sent off with lots of love and postage. I was delighted to receive the following e-mail and photos from her:

Hi Danielle!
So I finally got married and your gorgeous dress made my day extra special. I got many
compliments that day and everybody loved the dress and asked where I had got it. Here
are some picture of us.
And thank you once again!
Milla

Nikki

San Diego, CA
June 2010

When Nikki contacted me and said she wanted a “rockabilly dress” I had to do a bit of research. I drew up a couple sketches that fused vintage with rockabilly retro style, and together we refined the design. Nikki had a practical mindset, so her dress included pockets cleverly hidden in the side seam, and a removable mermaid skirt to convert her dress to a cocktail length for the reception. What fun!

“I had the pleasure of working with Danielle this year and it was an amazing experience!!! Danielle knew exactly what I wanted from the start. The craftsmanship of the gown was superb and I had zero dress malfunctions the day of the wedding. Her style combined with mine produced a one of a kinda gown that people will remember forever. My husband was thrilled as well. I first came to Danielle asking her if I could have a gown that had a removable portion that would enable me to speed away on the back of a motorcycle after the ceremony…I thought she would look at me like a crazy person but she was so excited! My husband was floored when I asked him to rip off my skirt after the ceremony…he couldn’t believe it!!! Everything went to plan and I had a sexy little cocktail dress to dance the night away in. BEST night of my life accompanied with the attire of my dreams!!!! Thank you so much Danielle!!!!!!!”

Derika

Santa Barbara, CA
April 2011

Derika was another friend from Santa Barbara who I had lost touch with over the years. Imagine how excited I was when I found out she was getting married and she asked me to make her dress! Derika’s fun sense of style inspired this dress with loads of chiffon ruffles, flowers, and even feathers!

“Working with Danielle was a wonderful experience. I am really tall and needed a custom gown because I could not buy one off the rack. She was one of the few people who didn’t try to pressure me with what kind of dress they thought looked good on me. Instead, she asked great questions and helped me create a gown with all of the elements I wanted. It felt really good to walk down the aisle in a gown that was not only unique and special, but totally me. I felt beautiful, got lots of compliments and loved how the dress looked in photos. Thank you, Danielle, for your professionalism, attention to detail, and creative eye!”

Miriam

Irvine, CA
July 2011
Miriam asked me to design a dress that wass classic and elegant, so drawing inspiration from Grace Kelly’s wedding gown and Dior’s “new look” I drafted a design for a classic box-pleat ballgown with an illusion lace v-neck. When I first met Miriam and her daughter Lily, her soft-spoken grace and queenly air seemed a perfect match for the design. In fact, it seemed fitting that when the photos from the royal wedding aired the much anticipated dress bore striking resemblance to the one I was already making for Miriam. I couldn’t resist shooting her an e-mail “Did you watch the royal wedding? Now everyone will think we copied Kate’s dress, but I guess it just goes to show that you have good tastes!”
However, after the first fitting, work on the wedding gown was halted by some sad news. Miriam’s fiance, Ed, had been diagnosed with cancer. We postponed the next fitting until after his surgery and I waited with fingers crossed to hear the news. Thankfully the surgery was sucessful and Ed was free from cancer. With renewed joy and appreciation for the gift of life, Miriam went on with her wedding plans and I completed her dress. Miriam’s courage, composure, and optimism throughout the process was truly inspiring and I am so happy to have played a small part in their wedding.
Thanks to Maya Myers Photography for the beautiful photos!

Heidi

Hello Danielle,
Just wanted to thankyou once again for the amazing dress! It was such a pleasure to work with you. At the beginning stages of planning our wedding I had thought that the process of finding a dress would be one of the more stressful things that I had to do. You made it so easy for me, though. You were timely with everything and kept me up to date with each step of the process. Thankyou for your professionalism, sincere concern for making a dress that I loved and your much appreciated artistic input! My dress was one of the very important things that contributed to making our day AMAZING! Thankyou again
Sincerely,
Heidi