Something Old, Something New

My little brother got married a few weeks ago in the lovely Fredericksburg, Virginia.  Anyone that has a younger sibling understands how weird it is when they get hitched.  Not weird in a bad way, just weird that they aren't little anymore.  You have been protective of them all these years, and now they're all grown up.

For their wedding, his wife asked if I could take her mother's veil from the early '80s and make it something more modern and simple for her to wear on their big day.  The veil was a lace cage headpiece with pearl details.  Lightweight tulle with a lace trim was attached for the veil, as well as a tulle blusher.

Kristen, the lovely bride, decided she did not want to have a blusher and wanted to keep the veil in it's original state.  However, the cage headpiece had to go.  She wanted to somehow incorporate a piece of the lace from the headpiece, but in a much more understated way.  We decided to keep it simple and create a small comb that rest at the back of her head.  The veil would be attached, and we would use some of the original pearls in the comb.

First, I removed the veil and blusher.

I then removed a section of the lace and reattached a section of the pearl trim.  The original headpiece was made with pieces of lace laid over horsehair fabric, which is used to keep the shape and stabilize the lace.  Because of the age and construction of the headpiece, I had to piece together bits of horsehair from other areas.  

It then looked like this.  I reshaped the wire at the bottom and removed a section of the side.  I used the original clear plastic comb and reattached it to the top of the new hairpiece.  I also applied the loose pearls in random places so it did not create an obvious pattern.

The final product?

{first and final photos courtesy of Tait Photography}

www.taitphoto.com