Natalia
Tobianski Pylypczak Wedding
Detroit, MI USA
12
Netted ‘Gerdany’ = 8 Bridesmaids + 2 Flower
Girls + 1 Mother-of-the-Bride + 1 Godmother by Anne
Maddens
When
Natalia, a bride-to-be, began planning her wedding,
she wanted her bridal party to wear ‘gerdany’,
Ukrainian-style netted collars. The beadwoven necklaces
she used were adaptations of Rypan Designs’ ‘Textured
Net’ kit, where the colors were coordinated to
match with today’s bridal fashions.
All
12 necklaces were beaded by Anne Maddens, a 16-year
old NHS student and 3-sport athlete, within six weeks
during the school year. She was supported by her mother
Nadia, who helped with everything from consulting, to
bead shopping, finishing off clasps (with Caroline)
at the very last minute, and even photographing.
It’s
amazing how much can be beaded by a very determined
student! Each group in the bridal party had a unique
variation chosen from Anne’s many samplers.
Even
I was involved with the final determination of which
version would be most suitable for the bridesmaids!
It was a last minute decision that needed to be made
immediately if the necklaces were to be ready in time.
VISUALIZE: Sep. 10, Sun. 9pm – I had just arrived
in Detroit from Toronto en route to CO, the bride was
in Chicago and the maid-of-honor was auditioning/modeling
in Detroit … all communication was done over these
long distances with the help of a digital camera, internet
and phone. With the crucial decision made, Anne now
had six weeks to make it all happen.
Since
it was a fall wedding, it was decided that a rich bronze
‘gerdan’ would be most stunning for the
bridesmaids. The girls would then get most use from
this colorway after the wedding, rather than a lighter
or two-tone one. The two flower girls would get delicate
light-colored ones. The mother and godmother would get
ones richly-colored bugles instead of seed beads. Each
group also had distinctly different clasp closures.
These were presented to the bridal party in organza
bags as gifts from the bride.
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