Starcloth, drapes, miniature lights and LED specialist S+H Technical was asked to provide a special magic touch for the “Stargazing” episode of the BBC’s latest series of “Marrying Mum & Dad”, a popular programme on the CBBC channel where children take control of their parents’ and step-parents’ wedding days.
The requirement was for the stylish black wedding dress and matching waistcoat to twinkle joyously like constellations as bride Madeline and groom Shaugn took their wedding vows atop the world’s tallest sculpture, Anish Kapoor’s Orbit in London’s Olympic Park.
The idea was the brainchild of children Jade (13), Grace (9) and Seb (10) who took all the major decisions – theme, venue, outfits, entertainment, etc. – for their parents’ Big Day, with a little bit of assistance from series presenters, Ed Petrie and Naomi Wilkinson.
Ilfracombe, Devon based S+H’s Terry Murtha project managed the addition of the custom starcloth element to the bridal dress. “It was a fantastic job! Plenty of challenges as it needed a lot of diligent work and attention to detail, however it was also lots of fun and the results looked really cool,” he commented.
The delicate operation of sewing the 3mm Pea-lights and their requisite wiring into the intricately pleated back dress – already made by one of the BBC’s designers – took a few days and was undertaken by some of S+H’s most experienced technical staff, Nigel Smith and Paul Turner.
Nigel devised a battery back for control with basic on/off switch, and an optimised pre-programmed twinkling pattern. This also had to be discreetly secured into the dress in a place that was both comfortable and practical for Madeline to wear.
Two versions were made of the waistcoat, one with the matching Pea-lights and the other using single pixel RGB LEDs. When it came to the day, they chose the colour-changing LED option as the best match and contrast for the warm white Pea-lights of the dress.
One of S+H’s 5 mm starcloths was also provided to the BBC in Manchester via BC’s Promotions & DJ Hire for the Dr Who themed episode in the same – fourth – series of the popular show.
This wedding took place at the Magma Science and Adventure Centre in Rotherham, and they needed a starcloth backdrop for the famous Tardis which was being used for the wedding transportation!
S+H have made customised illuminated clothing before, and although it’s not an everyday request, they have the infrastructure and expertise in place to deal with these more off-beat and custom projects. Other notable idiosyncratic requests have included supplying individual starcloth LEDs that were attached and wired up to an inflatable whale that appeared during the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics.
Stargazing dress is being modelled by S+H’s Paul Turner
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