Tessa is a wedding photographer from Southern California. She couldn’t find the perfect dress for her elopement in Hawaii.

Tessa’s dream wedding dress was an A-line silhouette, V neckline with deep plunge, open back. She wanted sparkle and glitter, a fun, easy to wear and sexy wedding dress. Her vision was so clear and the process of designing and creating her custom wedding dress was straight forward. We communicated through emails and Face-time and even shipped the dress to her for a mid process fitting.

Hoping you will enjoy the photos with notes from Tessa’s custom wedding dress process.

Tessa’s epic photos from her Hawaii elopement was photographed by: Caramia Photo.

We started on Tessa’s wedding dress by creating the skirt pattern. We then cut all the skirt layers. Tessa wanted a “see through” skirt with no lining. We used multiple silk organza layers and the glitter tulle layer. Next we created the top mesh. The lace placement on the top took longest. Once the lace placement was finalized we started to sew the lace on by hand.

Tessa's skirt pattern

glitter tulle skirt - detail

textured layers: silk organza over glitter tulle layer

preparing the sparkly beaded lace for the top

behind the seams - the lace is always sewn by hand

working on top details: incorporating the mesh tulle in the lace top

sides plunge

lace placement on the dress form

reviewing the lace and glitter mesh placement before starting to sew by hand

assembling the top with the skirt

Reviewing the top before we started to sew by hand. We shared this video with Tessa so she could envision the lace placement on the top.

Tessa eloped to Hawaii. She looked absolutely stunning in her custom wedding gown.

Tessa’s words about having a custom wedding dress designed and created for her:

“INCREDIBLE custom designer!!!! After trying on a ton of dresses I had a specific vision in mind that I couldn’t find. Then I found Daci, who completely brought my vision to life and made my dreams come true!!! She’s the kindest human with a heart of absolute gold and makes the process so easy and fun! I seriously loved it so that it actually inspired me to become a wedding dress designer as well! If you’re looking for custom THIS IS YOUR GIRL! Or if you’re looking for boho, whimsical, flowy designs her dresses are IT!!! Couldn’t be more grateful for Daci!!”

Elopement photos: Caramia Photo.

Sparkle and magic: Tessa’s custom wedding gown for her elopement in Hawaii