Commemorate Your Wedding Gown With a Sweet Sketch Of It from Brushing Bride


Brushing Bride's graphite-sketch version of my dress.

Brushing Bride’s graphite-sketch version of my dress.

We have long been fans of the wedding dress sketch here at PW as a really sweet and personal way to give love and remembrance to the best dress you’ll ever wear. Since it might be just a bit much to shadow box your actual wedding dress on the wall, it’s really a most practical way, too, to let your favorite frock give you a smile every now and again when you catch a glimpse of it hanging on your wall or sitting on your vanity.

We’ve filled you in before on the wedding-day watercolors of local artist Lisa Howell-Baxter, the fashion-inspired renderings of Dallas Shaw, and several other talented bridal sketch artists in the area—and now, happily, we’re here to introduce you to one more: Meet Krystina Faillace of Brushing Bride!

I was introduced to Krystina’s work when she surprised me with a drawing of my very own wedding dress that I wore when I got hitched this past New Year’s Eve. She nailed my Inbal Dror—the intricate embroidery on the mesh, low-V bodice, the layers upon layers of frothy tulle, the solid line of beading just above where all the swaths of the skirt began—and I can’t wait to hang it in my dressing room (/the spare bedroom that I have wholly taken over with my stuff).

Growing up, Krystina would always draw her best friend little pictures for special occasions, so when she got married, Krystina knew she had to keep the tradition intact, and decided her gown would be the perfect subject. It was a big hit, other bridesmaids ended up commissioning custom sketches, and voila! Brushing Bride was born.

All she needs to whip up a girl’s gown are some good pictures; it doesn’t matter if the bride is even wearing the dress in them, and she says that actually, the designers’ website shots often work best. Krystina is most often commissioned, she says, by the groom giving this to his bride for their one-year anniversary, but she also frequently has mothers-of-the bride or bridesmaids gifting it at the bride’s shower—or the bride simply ordering one up for herself as a fun way to celebrate her dress. “My favorite part about Brushing Bride is hearing my customers’ stories and getting an insight into the relationship between a bride and her husband,” she says. “I am humbled to be asked to recreate one of the most significant days of people’s lives and beyond grateful to those who share their story with me.”

She’s got several options for her graphite-on-acid-free-paper illos, from the size and perspective on the gown (she can do front-and-back, too, or add the groom’s silhouette in there) to the frame she’ll present it in (check out my gold one below) and the personalization she offers. Standard turnaround time is four to six weeks, though expedited options for an additional cost could get it to you in two.

Illo and photo by Krystina Faillace

Illo and photo by Krystina Faillace

Head to her website for more info—and side-by-side comparisons of gown photos and Krystina’s sketches, or check out her Instagram for more inspiration.

RELATED: Meet the Local Artist Who Can Capture Your Wedding With a Live Watercolor Painting 

RELATED: We Currently Love: Bridal Sketches from Local Fashion Illustrator Dallas Shaw 

RELATED: Local Bridal Guide: 5 Philly-Area Illustrators Who Can Do a Sketch of You in Your Wedding Gown 

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