A More Elegant Wedding For A More Civilized Age: Princess Leia, The Bride

Finally! The piece de resistance, the grand finale! The Wedding Dress From A Galaxy Far, Far Away! When Liza approached me, I was uncertain if I wanted to take on this project with my school and work schedule: I could not be more happy that I did! 

(Image Courtesy Google)

We made a dress inspired by Princess Leia's Throne Room Dress from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. This is the dress she gives Luke and Han Solo the Medals of Yavin.

The first step was to determine what pieces we wanted to include: a corset was decided to be a must, as well as the dress and the belt. However, we also wished to add some form of a train, something to look wonderfully regal as she went down the aisle.

The first option we considered was a belt that attached to a sheer train, so that she could keep her arms free and to make it easy to change out of (all she would have to do is swap belts). On the right is the only picture I could find of another idea we had: an exterior underbust corset. This was scrapped to preserve the line of the dress, and make it more similar to the movie version.

 

The next solution we came up with was a more traditional veil that would pin into her bun. We were worried that this would be hard to add/remove without messing up her hair, and that it wasn't "Star Wars" enough. 

The solution we chose  was a cape, sheer with Jedi symbols to decorate the hem. Initially, we wanted to put a larger symbol constructed of lace in the center of the cape, but we later scrapped this for a cleaner line and to make the dress more visible.

The dress itself was a wonder to work on; the fabric was gorgeous and light. 

The belt was a lot of fun to do too, and slightly outside of my usual works. Two belts were made, one that was plain, and then this one on the right, with a blinged out Millennium Falcon (decorated by the amazing Joanna, one of the bridesmaids from the Motee the Handmaiden post).

(Photos Courtesy Liza Rios)

The cape with the Jedi symbols looked absolutely fantastic on her, as did the dress! Even R2D2 agrees!

(Left Photo Courtesy Liza Rios)

On the left is Liza and her groom, Tom! Absolutely the best wedding I have helped on!

Special thanks goes out to Aubrey Holte of Hustle and Bustle Cosplay and Melissa Meza of The Penguin Knight for help on this project!

Other Star Wars Wedding Costumes:
Motee The Handmaiden
Mon Mothma

All photos are mine unless otherwise stated.

A More Elegant Wedding For A More Civilized Age: Motee the Handmaiden

Who is Motee, you ask? She is Padme's assistant and handmaiden from Star Wars Episode 

III: The Revenge of the Sith. She is present at the Imperial Senate meeting, and has an absolutely gorgeous outfit! I made two of these: One for the lovely Kristina, and another for the wonderful Joanna.

(Images above from Star Wars: Costumes From A Galaxy Far, Far Away)

To start with, I supplied the bride with a breakdown. We wanted to alter Motee's dress slightly; we added a waistline seam, and changed the length of Kristina's dress. Originally, we were going to give Joanna the option to bustle up her dress, but we ended up changing our minds.

The outfits consisted of three pieces each: A blouse, a velvet dress, and a neckpiece made of chiffon strips, neatly beaded, with a flower on the back. These were, by far, one of my favorite pieces to make. The strips are mounted on a wire half collar, and then hand beaded and flowered.

 

Here are Kristina and Joanna backstage before the wedding! Kristina is on the left, Joanna is on the right. 

 (Photos courtesy Liza Rios)

The dresses in action! I loved the way they looked in the lighting, especially up on stage during the ceremony. You can see a bit of the constructed flower in the rightmost picture, right at the point all the strips connect.

Special thanks goes out to Aubrey Holte of Hustle and Bustle Cosplay and Melissa Meza of The Penguin Knight for help on this project!

Other Star Wars Posts: 

Mon Mothma

All images are mine unless otherwise stated.

A More Elegant Wedding For A More Civilized Age: Mom Mothma

Though initially I had only intended to make the bridesmaids dresses (Motee The Handmaiden) and the wedding dress (Leia's Throne Room Dress), the bride approached me to also make an outfit for her mother, who had very little experience with the Star Wars franchise.

(Image from Star Wars: Costumes From a Galaxy Far Far Away)

 We settled on making her Mon Mothma's outfit from Return of the Jedi, also known as the lady who informs us that "Many Bothans died to bring us this information. Over time, I began to affectionately refer to the costume as Mom Mothma. 

I had never seen or met her mother, and I had very little information on her as far as her measurements. But in the end, we only needed to make two minor adjustments.

 

  

One of my favorite parts of this costume was pleating the outer sleeves. The costume consists of two pieces: the skirt and the tunic. The undersleeve is attached to the tunic, as well as the cords.

 My second favorite part of the project was draping the cord around the neckline. I had exactly the right amount of cord for it to hand neatly around the top.

 In the end, I really love how this costume turned out. Hopefully I will eventually be able to post an update with her in the costume; she looked absolutely fantastic!

Special thanks goes out to Aubrey Holte of Hustle and Bustle Cosplay and Melissa Meza of The Penguin Knight for help on this project!

All images are mine, unless otherwise noted.