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~Sarah’s Bridal Collection~

My client Sarah fell in love with the Stella Clutch from my Signature Collection but wanted something more petite with individual elements that matched each bridesmaids personality. Her wedding was a black tie affair held at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago and each of her bridal attendants were wearing black taffeta knee length cocktail dresses with gold accessories. She wanted them to be able to use their clutch for other special occasions so we chose a neutral color palate in black with shimmering gold and bronze accents. I used man-made pigskin and crocodile hide and hand finished each fabric with metallic screen printing inks to add texture and dimension. The carved wooden medallion details were hand painted and lacquered and embellished with an array of Swarovski Crystals. They each had a double interior magnetic snap closure with an inside pocket and Sarah added some customized lip gloss, and a penny. She passed along to me a belief that her father had passed down to her when she was young: “You should never give someone an empty handbag or wallet, adding a penny is a wish for good luck and prosperity” Taking those wise words to heart, I now add a penny to my handbags to bring good fortune to each of my customers.

Sarah’s bridal handbag was a total surprise to her, one of her friends contacted me and asked me to create her bridal bag as her wedding gift to Sarah. I must say I was just a bit nervous since the bride herself was in no way involved in the design, but her friend had lots of pictures of her dress, shoes and accessories so I at least had a good point of reference to work from. I wanted to replicate the detailing in her dress as part of clutch and the inspiration for the embellishments came from a shimmering beaded belt that Sarah wore with her dress during the reception. I used salvaged vintage pearls and Swarovski Crystals to accent the medallion at the top of the bag. I was absolutely thrilled to find out that she loved it and that it matched her dress and other accessories so well…whew!

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~Betsy Bridal Collection~

The Betsy Bridal Collection was one of my favorites because each bag was so completely different, though it was a bit more challenging since I had to create five brand new patterns. Betsy chose a royal blue heavyweight satin to complement her bridesmaids dresses and wanted to incorporate peacock feathers and jewel tones to match her peacock themed wedding invitations. Each bag was carefully embellished with hand sewn Swarovski Crystals, beads and sequins and were well worth the extra hours to create the careful detailing.

Betsy’s bridal gown was stunning, with complex draping in the skirt so we chose to do a simple and elegant envelope clutch with a pleated detail and lots of hand beading. I used a bright white raw silk and an array of vintage pearls, Swarovski Crystals and sequins to give it a bit of shimmer.

If you are interested in having me create a Custom Bridal Collection for Your Wedding please contact me via e-mail, or simply fill out the form below and I will be happy to talk to you about your project!