martha manning photography blog

So, an amazingly talented editor of a wedding blog in Brazil contacted me about featuring my photographs of Whitney’s bridal portrait on her blog.  After hearing the story of how Whitney’s dress came to be and seeing my post of her bridal portraits, she wanted to share it with her part of the world.  Here is the link to the story on her blog…

 Whitney, her Mom, Daphne, & Martha

And, here is the translation…

“Whitney, her mom, Daphne and Martha

How many times, in these many years in love with weddings, I saw my dream dress disappear with the passing time? But, since there was no wedding in sight, this was never reason for true sadness. To Whitney, however, the case was a bit different… She fell in love with the Daphne model, from J.Crew, only her perfect dress was not in production anymore and she indeed had her wedding closing in.

But everything was not lost, for Whitney has a super mother who knows how to handle the sewing machine like no other and literally recreated (and, in my opinion, improved) the Daphne for her daughter! I got super touched when I read Whitney’s story in her blog, Darling Dexter. I cannot begin to imagine how wonderful it must have been for her mother to help her in an enterprise so full of meaning.

The result is one of the most beautiful dresses I’ve ever seen, with a more than perfect fit. A labor of love with a stupendous result.

I chatted with Whitney through e-mail and she told me that it was necessary two or three mock-ups in cheap cotton, important so that mother and daughter could make decisions about tail length, slip volume and other details.

The translucent fabric of the dress, with a floral print much more beautiful than the original Daphne’s, was purchased at the drapery session of a big fabric store in North Carolina. A layer of taffeta was added in order to give body to the piece, and on the sleeves and neckline, a second layer of the fabric of the dress, so as to not compromise transparency. Pearl buttons were applied to the satin belt, and to the slip, a cute hem that can be seen in one of the photos below.

{detail of the belt buttons} {original daphne} {so cute!}

I must highlight the wonderful job that photographer Martha Manning did in the photo shoot presented throughout the post. Another person responsible for the bride’s beautiful memories. I thank her for her kindness in allowing me to publish her images and Whitney for sharing this beautiful story with us.”

Thank you so much, Bertie, for sharing this story!