Bridesmaids for Elsa King
Official Wedding pictures by Chris Legg

Ellie found bought her bridesmaids dresses from the high street but had the necklines extensively altered to meet the modesty standards that were important to her. The gorgeous little boleros were actually made by Ellie's mum using silk sourced from my fabric books for a perfect colour match.

I do not normally take on alterations for anything other than bridal wear but as Ellie was having her own wedding dress made I agreed to help with her bridesmaids too. The work done on them wasn't just the usual changes for size anyway but much more extensive restyling.

The style alterations to these dresses each took about 4 hours and cost around £100

Bridesmaids for Elsa King
Official Wedding pictures by Chris Legg

Bridesmaids for Elsa King
'Before' pictures

The dresses as bought from the shop were very pretty but not suitable for Ellie's wedding day. The sweetheart strapless necklines were too revealing and needed building up for modesty. The dresses came with long satin sashes that tied at the back so these were removed and used to create the necklines.

Bridesmaids for Elsa King
'After' pictures

The satin was ruched to match the underbust sash and then sewn across the neckline to create a higher square neck. More of the sash was then sewn from the underarm up and around the neckline into a pretty halter neck providing more coverage. A ribbon at centre back held the new halter neck in place. Lastly the back wasitline was finished with a ruched satin sash so the line did not break at the side seams but matched all round the dress.

The short sleeved boleros that Ellie's mum made finished the new, more modest dresses.

Bridesmaids for Elsa King
Official Wedding pictures by Chris Legg

Ellie also had extensive style alterations to her own wedding dress. Click here to see more pictures of Ellie's dress.

Bridesmaids for Elsa King
Official Wedding pictures by Chris Legg