​Hello everyone!

This is my initial design for my own wedding dress. But I am currently creating something else for my reception so I can share this now. Keeping the final design of my wedding dress confidential while it's still in progress being sewn!

Have a happy weekend!

Love,
​Sarah Zainal

Hi everyone!

Right now I'm focusing on making our outfits, not just his and mine, but for other close ties as well and that's mainly what this website and blog is about - crafts and such. I'm leaving a lot of other wedding preps up to our trusted vendor so. Being a procrastinator maybe I'll go into turbo mode later on for other things I definitely need to do like guest lists, itinerary and bookings. I'm given a deadline to sort out my outfits before moving on to other things.

I'm pushing my boundaries a little with my reception and solemnization outfits. I'm using some techniques I self-learnt and pretty much never used when I was working as a seamstress at a local bridal for 7 months previously. So the new applications are beading and using corsetry or boning for fitted structure. The corsetry can take off about 2 inches off the waistline. Already made the outfit but it's awaiting even more refinement and embellishments.

On to the "bead til I die" process works!

I'm mixing a few shiny glass beads and pearls together. Bugle beads are those elongated ones and adds the sparkle and all these together creates texture. I'm contemplating whether to add 3D flowers to it. Skipped the sequins cos it looks too plastic-y and tacky. Planning to add on very little Swarovski stones, just a delicate touch, here and there.

Restrictions can be a birth of creativity. I didn't want to splurge on more lace so these are materials I already bought a few years back and wanted to put them into good use. Who knew it'll be for my own wedding gown. Even the border lace was bought in a wholesale pack about 25 metres long.

It was an experimental start. Like I said, it's self-learnt, so initially I was doing random beading and at that moment it was a feeling of accomplishment looking at how much area was blinged up. To me, initially, this looked good:

I'd even asked my harshest critic, my mom, if it looked ok and she said it's alright. Then it dawned on me... It looked like blackheads or whiteheads! And when I sent photos to my fiancé, being the polite person that he is, he offered to buy me lace instead to decorate it. It's a nice way of saying it's ugly! So I showed him a photo of Elie Saab's haute couture dress that was my inspiration:

Even though it's a dress probably priced more than my life and he reacted in such a way, in his defense, I realised it does look like millions of pimples are about to pop.

​That's when I decided to do a criss cross design instead. Something which is organised and deliberate. And this time even my critic commented that it's nice without me asking her.

It's important to ask for feedback, in my opinion, even if you trust your own judgement. Sometimes it's just idea fatique that makes you go for the easiest but not the best option. Especially for something as important as your wedding day outfits, that you'll wear and experience once in your life, not to mention it'll be immortalized in photos. At the same time, trust your own gut feeling, some critics may not be right so have a balanced view.

And finally, this one is starting to feel like it's coming out right, Amin.

Love,
​Sarah Zainal