Nancy's challenge was to make six dream dresses from
pictures she was sent by the aspiring brides. She explains that the production company
discovered her designs when they were
booking accommodation at Silky Oaks Lodge.
“The wedding coordinator there recommended
my designs to the Director, so I made a
toile (a mock sample) of the bodices and
sent them to Belgium, but I didn't receive
them back until two weeks before the
wedding.” Three couples had already been
eliminated, so Nancy had three dresses to
make up. On the Saturday before the wedding,
the brides-to-be came into Nancy's shop for
their only fitting. On Tuesday evening,
Nancy found out which bride won, so she had
one day to finish off the dress. To make
matters worse, that girl's dress was the
most difficult design of the lot.
On Thursday May 18, Nancy and Rosina met at
Palm Cove Wharf to be taken out to Double
Island. It wasn't all glamour though. "It
was windy and rainy and cold," said Nancy.
"We weren't allowed to look at the bride
coming, we had to face the front and turn
our heads, and we're getting a sore neck and
our hair's just blowing everywhere."
"I had my hair done before I went, but it
was a waste of time," said Rosina. “We
waited until low tide to paddle out to a
sandy cay for the wedding. I had to rip my
stockings and shoes off.”
The wedding was romantic though, despite
retakes. "I had tears rolling," said Nancy.
"There were four rainbows that day," said
Rosina. "The groom had never seen a rainbow
before so he was ecstatic." When the couple
return to Belgium, they have to pretend they
are not married, even to their family and
friends. Nancy and Rosina also can't divulge
their identity until the show is aired in
October.
Although getting reality right on camera was
a challenge, Nancy and Rosina said they
would love to do it again. And since this
interview, Nancy has been advised the
company loved the location so much that they
would return to shoot a Dutch-version of
this popular reality TV program, and she has
already been approached to design the
dresses. While Nancy sits behind her
overlocker in the shop space she shares with
Ashley J lingerie on Macrossan Street, she
explains that even though she is only being
paid for the price tag on the winner’s dress
(turns out the finalists ended up buying
their dresses anyway), she feels the
experience has been more valuable than
anything.
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Denise Carter
- CityLife Magazine - Cairns
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