I had the honour of meeting Maryke Schroeder, a prestigious wedding dress designer based in the Midlands, KZN. Her story is deeply inspiring, and I truly hope young, aspiring designers come across this article — her insights are both educational and encouraging.
For me, success goes far beyond financial stability or a polished online presence. When I discovered Maryke’s work, it was immediately clear that her journey is extraordinary. She has been in business for over three decades, building her brand from scratch and sustaining it with unwavering dedication and resilience. She has created countless beautiful wedding dresses, nurtured a loyal client base, and maintained her creative integrity throughout the years.
This is why I’m sharing her story — to celebrate her success and, hopefully, inspire the next generation of fashion designers.
MEET A FASCINATING ARTIST
I started sewing my own clothes at the age of 9, which is also the same year I knew I wanted to make wedding dresses one day. It became an immovable belief until this day and has served as my true north throughout the course of my life.
From a business point of view was 10 when I started making pencil cases to sell to my class mates & as gifts to teachers. A defining moment however was in high school, when a fellow student asked me to make 2 summer dresses for her just like mine she admired. The significance was that her mom was an excellent seamstress, yet she chose to pay me to make these dresses for her.
I then went on to make our neighbour’s twin’s matric dance dresses along with my own and throughout my student years I had evening and wedding dress clients in addition to my studies.
Over the years, with the help of my industrial engineer husband, I’ve managed to grasp planning. Breaking a creative project (wedding dress) into actionable steps proved to be a challenge, because no dress is the same, the “recipe” for each dress is different & the delivery dates are immovable.
But eventually we came up with a strategy to break monthly KPI’s down into weekly & daily tasks, so that typical days consist of a flow (rhythm) of tasks rather than rigid time blocks.
I usually complete the tasks I least enjoy first (delaying gratification). I also make time to work on new projects/designs/other creative work weekly, ensuring that I take those small, actionable steps towards turning these personal dreams & goals into reality.
This all of course fits in around wife, mom & home life
Each time a bride lights up in her wedding dress fans my flame. It’s such a personal experience for a bride and each one is unique and individual in her own way.
It’s an overall celebration of my soul when I see the inner beauty ignite and light up when a bride feels her wedding dress.
CREATIVE JOURNEY
I love creating silhouettes that flatters the female form, using flowy fabrics & feminine elements such as lace and touches of sparkle. My design aesthetic is classic with soft edges, even on my strangest designs.
For me, the feel of the fabric, how it behaves when draped and lace designs serves as my biggest source of inspiration. Traditionally, sketches are supposed to be the starting point, but I have always approached the design process in reverse, so to speak. When I was a fashion design student, I struggled with the whole mood board thing, so I used to “cheat the system”. I don’t tell them this by choosing my fabrics first, which then determined my colour schemes, which then inspired my designs (sketches) and ultimately I then compiled a mood board & inspiration blurb based on that!
What an absolute revelation this is penning it down like this! Because as a creative, you should be free to approach your projects in whichever way feels inspiring and authentic to you. Not how anyone else or a textbook says it should come together. You determine your own process.
Granted, this was long before internet browsing was a thing, let alone the presence of Pinterest or social media at a time when “trends” were not so overpowering or controlling. Today, however, consider for a moment; algorithms feed more of what you search, view & consume, therefore, what might seem like a major trend to you, is often your own biases & desires being reflected back to you—en masse.
To follow my own truth and not to be swayed by others views, opinions and definitions of what a business and a fulfilling life should look like.
You need to be the sole steward of your garden, tending daily, planting & growing the seeds of your own hopes & dreams; continuously weeding out the restricting, suffocating seeds of fear, doubt & criticism so that they don’t have a chance to take root & guarding the entry points to your garden with wisdom.
CREATIVE FREEDOM
As I mainly design wedding dresses for individual brides, I have to remain mindful of their wedding dress goals & ideals. This means I seldomly, if ever, have total creative freedom.
It’s more an application of skill & experience, relying on my intuition when interpreting a bride’s vision. I place a high value on quality & fit and making the overall experience for a bride as seamless and stress-free as possible.
As touched on earlier, my dresses are greatly impacted by a bride’s vision for her wedding dress when it comes to my commercial collection designs. I’m quite restricted by producing it at a certain price point, which can be limiting at times. However, my love for creating wedding dresses exceeds these limitations and transcends the need for total creative freedom. The joy of the process and relationship built during a bride’s dress journey forms part of the joy of what I do.
I don’t believe a brand should be anything other than a reflection of your own unique voice/style (aesthetic). Because no one else can be you other than you. So if you want to be truly unique & authentic, being you is the only way to achieve this.
Aligned with your core beliefs, values and your own authentic self. You will stand out in a sea of others trying to portray themselves in a way the latest trends dictate. Allow yourself freedom in this, because this will grow and evolve with you as grow and expand on an individual level.
CREATIVE JOURNEY
Realistic time allocation & planning. We tend to think we have more time in a day than we actually do & that tasks will go faster than they do.
Measure how long it actually takes you to complete the main tasks & elements of your creative process in order to get a realistic picture for planning your projects and work flow.
It also helps breaking overwhelming tasks into smaller, bite-sized action steps.
Don’t try & do everything of everything, because consistent action will yield compounded results over time.
My dresses are for brides who value the time & skill invested into her gown. My work is a celebration of beauty & femininity and it is my hope that each bride who embarks with me on her dress journey walks away with hers ignited & enhanced in a way she never thought possible before.
To me, success is determining who you are, in relation to yourself, rather than the contrast of others. We are each created unique with our sets of talents to achieve our life purpose. Part of life’s journey is to to discover our life’s purpose and nurture & grow our gifts and talents. Aligning with and staying true to this in spite of the “what if’s”, fears, doubts, opinions & critics.
For me, it has nothing to do with a person’s bank balance or how glamorous their social media feed looks, because a content, stay-at-home mom, creating art because she loves it and enjoys being with and around her family is to me, more successful than the Forbes 50 list.
Peace & contentment, rooted in gratitude serves as great navigation tools in life, because these tend to show up in the moments and spaces of alignment with self and when you choose with what sets your soul on fire, even if it is only for small pockets of time initially.
CREATIVE EDUCATION
Realistic time allocation & planning. We tend to think we have more time in a day than we actually do & that tasks will go faster than they do.
Measure how long it actually takes you to complete the main tasks & elements of your creative process in order to get a realistic picture for planning your projects and work flow.
It also helps breaking overwhelming tasks into smaller, bite-sized action steps.
Don’t try & do everything of everything, because consistent action will yield compounded results over time.
My dresses are for brides who value the time & skill invested into her gown. My work is a celebration of beauty & femininity and it is my hope that each bride who embarks with me on her dress journey walks away with hers ignited & enhanced in a way she never thought possible before.
To me, success is determining who you are, in relation to yourself, rather than the contrast of others. We are each created unique with our sets of talents to achieve our life purpose. Part of life’s journey is to to discover our life’s purpose and nurture & grow our gifts and talents. Aligning with and staying true to this in spite of the “what if’s”, fears, doubts, opinions & critics.
For me, it has nothing to do with a person’s bank balance or how glamorous their social media feed looks, because a content, stay-at-home mom, creating art because she loves it and enjoys being with and around her family is to me, more successful than the Forbes 50 list.
Peace & contentment, rooted in gratitude serves as great navigation tools in life, because these tend to show up in the moments and spaces of alignment with self and when you choose with what sets your soul on fire, even if it is only for small pockets of time initially.
CREATIVE CHALLENGES
Personally, it has never been creative block I had to push through, but rather overcoming perfectionism & my inner critic. This creates enormous fear. Fear of failure, fear of success, fear of man (opinions & criticism) and is fueled heavily by the Comparison Game.
I’m no expert I have only started tackling this in recent years. Many hours spent on self-growth has brought me that there is no perfection, and to rather reframe “excellence” in the marketplace. In addition, that sometimes the best place to start is somewhere, and you don’t have to have it all figured out beforehand. The longer you wait, the more room fear of failure & self-doubt has to set in. As for comparison, I’m simply dappled looking at social media feeds that brought self doubt & feelings of not being good enough, focusing solely on my own work & creative journey instead and consuming content that adds value to my life.
Overcoming (or managing) perfectionism and comparison.
The most liberating moment was when I realised anyone can make anything look good on social media, and one will never know what I’m comparing myself with. I removed the screens and not the influence and control I have over my own accounts & authenticity. Also realising that everyone is at different stages & paces of their creative, life & business journeys. The individual I might be comparing myself to is not in the same season as me. In fact, realising that my journey is my own, and no one else will look the same, set me free in a big way.
The best measure for improvement is to measure yourself against your own life purpose. That, to me, is the true meaning of success defined.
Definitely reframing failure as learning curves rather than failed attempts. I have a very strong “never give up” will, which ironically sees me through when the going gets tough.
For me personally, the only way around fear (of failure) is to counter it with truth. To dwell on the results of my efforts (client reviews are great for this) and to focus on what I know about myself as a seasoned designer and individual. Drawing on the knowledge gained over decades of experience & self growth.
I believe we need to step outside of the boxes (screens) through which we live & view life more often and allow ourselves to "be" more. Just to be.
