Bride Spends Months Secretly Making Her Own Wedding Dress, Surprises Groom and Bridesmaids with 'Dramatic Reveal' (Exclusive)
"I loved having the element of surprise," Jasmine Fernandez tells PEOPLE of her stealth fashion project
An Australian bride pulled off an epic fashion surprise on her wedding day!
Jasmine Fernandez, a Sydney-based designer who specializes in bespoke clothing, spent months secretly making her own wedding dress. She then surprised the groom, her bridesmaids and all of her guests with "a dramatic reveal" of her one-of-a-kind look at her ceremony.
"I loved having the element of surprise," she tells PEOPLE of her secret dress project. "I always wanted to keep it a secret and have a reveal to all my friends and family."
In a video she shared on TikTok, Fernandez captured her five bridesmaids' amazed reactions to seeing her dress for the first time at her October 2023 wedding in Sydney. The clip has since gone viral, garnering more than 640,000 likes.
"Their reactions were just incredible," she recalls. "It made me feel so happy and actually emotional!"
As for the groom, Fernandez says, he "completely bawled his eyes out" as he watched her walk down the aisle. "It was incredibly beautiful and leaves a massive smile on my face even now as I retell the moment," she tells PEOPLE.
Fernandez says the idea to create her own dress and do a surprise reveal was inspired by her Lebanese heritage.
"In my culture, I grew up with weddings being such a monumental time of your life, a union that is hugely celebrated in my family. As a young girl, I would always get so excited to first see the unveiling of a bride in her dress. To me this was the most wonderful anticipation, being that I love fashion," she explains.
While she says she initially considered buying a dress because she was worried that the process of making her own would be too stressful, she was put off by "a really horrible experience" at a bridal boutique she visited.
"The person fitting me did not make the experience feel special at all, and I actually walked out with tears in my eyes as I had never been made to feel so insecure," she recalls. "But it actually did me a favor and solidified my decision to make my own wedding dress."
She even upped the ante by deciding to also make a second, Great Gatsby-themed dress for her reception.
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The process took Fernandez six months, including "many late nights," as she started with sketches and then drafted the patterns for the two dresses. She made a series of "toiles" — test versions of the dresses in inexpensive fabrics — to get the fit and design just right.
"Everything was done entirely myself — designed, pattern made and sewed," she tells PEOPLE, while a behind-the-scenes of the process can be seen in another video she shared on TikTok.
Related: Great-Grandmother Hand-Knits Wedding Dress in Just 3 Weeks: 'It's Amazing What Two Needles Can Do'
Her ceremony dress featured a halter-neck, drop-waist silhouette and layers of champagne and ivory tulle ruffles, creating a dramatic, 16-foot train with 27 tiers.
"With every step, it almost looked like a floating cloud. It was extravagant and whimsical," Fernandez says of the design. "I always wanted a dress that pushed the boundaries a little, something unique and quirky that completely was a vision of me and my personality."
The dress was also detailed with a French lace corseted bodice embellished with beading and 3D flowers, a beaded belt, fully beaded lace sleeves and a heart-shaped lower back cutout. "I wanted that extra element of surprise for the guests as I walked down the aisle," she notes of the cutout.
While Fernandez says there were "many highs and lows" during her dress-making project, she feels incredibly proud of herself for pulling it off. "It made [my wedding experience] so personal," she adds of wearing her own original design.
Thanks to the project, she's also found a new niche as a designer.
"I had so much positive feedback and interest from others [about my wedding dress]. That's why I've decided to launch my brand, Jasmyn, to make custom wedding gowns for other women, and create an enjoyable and beautiful experience for them," she shares.
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