Bridal


Engaged and a bride to be?  You have most likely started looking at dresses and collecting images of things that you like.  But are they appropriate for the kind of wedding you have in mind? Do they reflect who you are? Do they flatter your physique?  And is any one of them exactly the dress that you need and dream of? The answer is most likely no.

This is what makes having a dress designed and created at Maison Madison so very special.  Mme Michaell will take the time to really listen and get to know you in order to fully understand your vision for your wedding day.  You’ll try a few things on. Then with everything taken into consideration, sketches will be done and you’ll be presented with ideas for your gown that are unique, personalized, and just right for you and your wedding!

There’s no need to subject yourself to the rigid, high-pressure sales-oriented commercial salon experience where your dress may get lost or mishandled among numerous other dresses, and with substantial alteration charges.

Here, there is no pressure to make a purchase as Mme Michaell wants this decision to be all yours and for you to feel confident in choosing this option.  Maison Madison is a small and intimate studio/atelier and Mme Michaell treats each bride a she would a personal friend who has many other details of the wedding to worry about.  Her desire and goal is to make you feel beautiful and happy, and that this process be as stress free as possible.

Bustier Petale Ivory/Gold with Fern tulle over White taffeta skirt

The story of 3 dresses:

Miss Valerie is a very petite, fine-boned brunette with blue eyes who wanted “to look like a fairy!”  We imagined Titania queen of the fairies from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and a bit of Tinkerbelle. Miss Valerie was to marry her prince charming, but with two children from a previous relationship white would have been inappropriate.  So we decided that her dress would be in the palest of blue and white chiffon with white lace accents and that the children accompanying her would be dressed in white with blue embroidered accents.  We went over photos of things she liked and her vision.  We discussed her physique and comfort, as well as her budget.  Knowing these things I created a dress that would make her look and feel exactly the way she wanted to feel on her wedding day.  Dressing Miss Valerie at her parents’ home the morning of the wedding, her mother remarked, ”You look like a fairy!”

Miss Karen, an American was engaged to a man of East Indian descent.  It was important to her to honor and embrace his family and his culture.  So we discussed the symbolism of the lotus in Indian culture and I researched traditional Indian wedding gowns.  However, we decided it more fitting for her to wear an ivory Western styled gown for which I created a gold embroidered belt incorporating the lotus motif.  Her fiancée’s family was quite moved by the recognition!

Miss Dianne and her fiancée had met as semi professional ballroom dancers.  There would be many dancers at her wedding and lots of dancing, so she wanted a dress that moved.  She also wanted a dress that she could wear again for dance performances.   So she sent me a video of Ginger Rodgers and Fred Astaire dancing and said that she wanted “old Hollywood glamour!” We spent a lot of time discussing Ginger Rodgers’ actual dress in the video and choose to layer pale pink on peach georgette to make the gown less bridal and I even made a matching silk panty so that spinning with her skirt flying high there’d be no immodesty!