REAL BRIDE STORIES
Maria’s Custom Lace Mermaid Wedding Dress
From Her Ideas to Her Gown
When Maria first contacted BridalMelody from Australia, she sent us a few mermaid wedding dress references. She wanted a really fitted look around the hips—something very “mermaid.” She did not describe the cut in technical terms, but our designer understood straight away which part of the silhouette mattered most to her.
She was more specific about the bodice: a scoop neckline and boning for corset-like support. With those details in mind, we began working on the design and looking for her lace.
Making It Work
We selected two lace options for Maria to compare. She chose one with fine embroidery and tiny beads. It was beautiful up close, though the detail sat quite flat against the fabric. We suggested adding 3D flowers to give it more texture.
Once we started working with the flowers, we felt there was still something missing. They added some depth, but the result was not quite there yet.
We went back through the samples, looking at around a hundred floral options before finding another style of petal to try. We placed it over the flower we had originally chosen. Together, the two worked much better: the petals gave the flower a fuller shape, with the embroidered and beaded lace still visible underneath.
We used that combination throughout the gown, sewing the 3D flowers on by hand from the straps to the end of the train. Finding the right pairing took some experimenting, but it became one of the loveliest details of Maria’s dress.
The fit needed just as much attention. We added boning to the front and back of the bodice to support the bust and shape the waist. For the skirt, we kept returning to what Maria had told us at the beginning: she wanted that very fitted mermaid look. We considered the train length carefully from the back, so its proportions would work with the shape through her hips.
On the Wedding Day
After her wedding, Maria sent us photographs and shared how happy she was with her experience. We had spent so much time working through the lace, the flowers and the fit with her—it was lovely to hear from her again and see a little of the day it had all been for.
Photography: Nathan.lapham
