Three DIY Ways To Create A Brangelina Style Wedding Dress

Photo Courtesy of People Magazine

Ever since the first photos of Brangelina’s secret wedding appeared earlier this week, it’s been all about Angie’s dress. Naturally, the 39 year-old actress looked picture perfect in her Atelier Versace silk-and-lace gown, but it was her veil that took the world’s breath away. Jolie had her close friend Luigi Massi, Versace’s master tailor, hand-embroider dozens of her children’s designs — monkeys, music notes, stick figures of the entire family— into the floor-length chiffon headpiece. While mere mortals probably can’t afford Jolie’s custom made Versace veil (let alone their 1,000 acre French estate where the couple chose to marry), we asked Stone Fox Bride’s Creative Director Molly Guy to recommend three DIY nuptial gown ideas that won’t blow the wedding budget.

1. Look To The Past: A great way to incorporate a sentimental element to your dress or veil is to sew a piece of heirloom fabric into the gown or veil. According to Guy, clients often come with an heirloom broach or their mother’s wedding dress that they can repurpose into a shawl.  Add something blue to the mix, and you’re good to go.

2. Make A Costume Change: There’s no crime in changing into a more comfortable dress after the ceremony. This is the perfect opportunity to enlist a friend or family member to help design the second dress of the night. “A lot of times there is a mom, grandma, or aunt who is an amateur seamstress that would like to be involved in making the wedding dress, but our clients don’t trust them to create the more formal gown,” Guy says. “The second dress allows brides to wear more cute and funky styles.”

3.  Get Creative: Family heirlooms can easily be repurposed into a headband. What might have been a stylish piece in the 1940s— say a super cool rhinestone bracelet—might not translate to a modern-day look. Instead turn that bracelet into a headband or incorporate it into your veil. “We had a client recently come to us with her mother’s brooch and she was like, ‘When was the last time you saw somewhere wear brooch?’” Guy says. “But she wanted to include it in her wedding look it so we made a headband for her out of heirloom fables that we sourced. We were able to include it into the mix to create a beautiful headpiece.”