For years the rule was one thing: the wedding dress is clean, smooth, minimalist. Nothing that draws attention. This season that rule collapsed, and not through lavish gowns but through a single part - the top.

This year brides are asking for texture and hand embroidery, and all the attention is carried by the bodice. The lower half stays simple - either a classic silhouette inspired by royal weddings, or a more fluid A-line that lets the skirt move.

Cristina and the play of contrast

Her dress was among the most praised this spring. It was made by the Seville atelier Antonio García, run by Antonio and Fernando García. A simple skirt, and a bodice with a peplum effect achieved through a subtle band, with delicate floral embroidery in a champagne tone with an aged shade. Semi-sheer long sleeves, a round neckline, a classic tulle veil and a bouquet of small daisies.

Sara and the floral fabric

She married at the beginning of May and chose Cherubina for the dress. A square neckline, French sleeves, shoulder detail. The floral fabric of the bodice descends asymmetrically all the way to the start of the skirt, made from a light, fluid material. A ballet bun, a crown of flowers, a tulle veil and a bouquet of English roses with asparagus fern.

Sandra, who embroidered her own profession

This is the story that explains the whole season. The dress, signed by Valenzuela, is convertible - a corseted top with bell-shaped sleeves and a fluid skirt. Of the design process she says: "I remember the expressions when I said I wanted something that identifies me and is connected to my everyday passion, pastry. Everyone reacted when I mentioned I wanted croissants and cakes embroidered on the dress."

A yellow bouquet of gerberas, a classic veil, earrings that come apart.

Alexandra and the pearls

Few dresses provoked so many reactions. A Navascués design, with a detachable character - a short jacket with sleeves and a train, beneath which a dress with a heart-shaped neckline and a draped bodice with crystal embroidery is revealed. A ballet bun, a short veil, a bouquet of white dahlias.

Blanca and embroidery from an old mantilla

Another Navascués, for a wedding in Madrid. The dress is made from the embroidery of an old mantilla - champagne-coloured silk, with detachable sleeves sewn onto a corseted top. Earrings with pearl buttons, a classic tulle veil, a polished bun and a wrist corsage.

Nuria and asymmetry

Here the bodice differs from the skirt not in colour but in construction. A Romancera design, with a great deal of lace and diagonal panels creating an asymmetric top with historical references, somewhere between tradition and boho-retro with a theatrical note. On top - a mantilla shaped into a Juliet-style cap.

The second Sara and the trusted seamstress

An October wedding, at the Hacienda San Juan del Hornillo. The strongest detail was neither the tiara nor the waterfall of wildflowers, but the embroidered bodice. Vintage inspiration, a balance between lace and embroidery, in an A-line with a fluid skirt, tied French sleeves and a square neckline. The dress was made by her trusted seamstress.

Why this is bigger news than it looks

Of the seven dresses, at least three were made by hand for a specific person, and one was made by a trusted seamstress - not a house with a name. That is the direct opposite of the decade in which the bride picked from a catalogue.

For a reader here that means something concrete. The expensive salon dress and the dress made at a seamstress are no longer two different leagues - this season the trend is precisely on the side of the second. What costs is the time and the skill, not the label.