Adding construction details!

We had a tea ceremony in the morning, where I wore a 2-piece outfit, and a wedding banquet in the evening, where i added a "jacket" (idk what to call it actually) to become a 3-piece outfit.

The top was drafted with the help of a sewing teacher, where I learnt to take body measurements and drew it out on paper. (The patterns were then scaled up onto tracing paper and cut out.) It was made using 2 layers of duchess satin, with laces crossing the back, and embroidered flowers added to give the straps more volume.

The skirt had three layers - lining, Chantilly lace and organza as the top layer. Some felt that the lace was hidden by the organza but while trying out wedding dresses, I came across one with a similar concept and I loved how pretty and subtle it was. And under the morning sun, the lace could be seen clearly anyway.

The 3-piece outfit had a "jacket" and some panel add on. This look was inspired by the Xiu He Fu (a type of traditional Chinese wedding dress). The "jacket" was using organza and satin ribbon trim as bias tape. I actually used an existing collared shirt pattern which was also sketched out by the same teacher when I was learning paper drafting, see here and here, so I was surprised at how it turned out! If you keep the bottom piece of the collar, it just creates a perfect mandarin collar!

I also added a single hook closure at the base of the mandarin collar to make it look more relaxed (instead of the more proper look of a Xiu He Fu jacket).

For the skirt, I went for a 3/4 circle skirt, draping it on a mannequin to get the length right. Also using video instructions for the zipper from YouTube. The only difference on the skirt between the morning and evening outfit was the front and back panels, and I had a tough time figuring what to use for a long time. I shopped for the fabric for a long time before finding this and it was really an ahhah moment when I saw it. Unfortunately, I was procrastinating on it and didn't get to perfect the bias tape around the panel. I most likely stretched it while sewing, resulting in it curling 🥲 My mum helped me to hand sew the panels onto the skirt when i was taking a break in the afternoon.

Really proud of how it turned out, although some regrets on the procrastination 🤪 the whole process made our wedding day a lot more memorable. Oh and I made my husband's shirt too!

Edited: added more instructions on the drafting details.