Wedding Fayre

This Sunday Anna and I took part in our first wedding fayre at Charlton House hotel, Somerset. It started slowly and quietly, giving us a gentle start to whole experience of meeting the public. Once into the swing of meeting and greeting we just wanted to meet more brides to be and hear their ideas.

The house is just beautiful with huge antique crystal chandeliers, shabby textiles and polished wooden floors that make a stunning setting for any wedding.

We met a whole array of people and businesses from cake makers (ate way too many samples for my own good!) to suit hire men and just glorious florists with their subtle greens and blush pink roses. These ladies sure know how to make a display and are often featured in top wedding magazines The Gilded Lily.

We had a lovely day and it was good to take out my new dress for a test run.

Dresses:
Silk tulle ballerina length gown (working sample for new collection)
Antique brown tulle flower girl dress by Anna Vickery AVAILABLE NOW ON ETSY
Beaded Sequin tulle wedding gown in champagne (sample bespoke dress)

Red Dress

This little Red dress is off to New Orleans for a winter wedding. This warming red has come at the right time, just as the mornings have turned cold and crisp.

A Labour of Love

There hasn't been a 'dress a day' for a while as beading has taken over...........................

This dress has been what you will call a real labour of love. The lady had a previous dress that I made for an event a couple of years ago and she very kindly came back for her wedding dress.

This has been such a success due to fact that she had wonderful ideas to draw inspiration on and was very clear on what she did and didn't like at all points on the dress. This made the design a real collaboration and a joy to work on.
Inspirations came from Art Deco, Coppelia ballet costumes and Elizabethan royal costumes and a 1950's dress, a designers dream.

The dress involved some tricky pattern cutting including a fully boned and cupped bodice under a smooth un-darted outer bodice all in silk which didn't like any mistakes. I was so pleased with the final silhouette and having the length in the full skirt made a real swish to the movement.

The main labour came in the stars beaded on the cuffs. Stars were a  real favourite of the customers and added a hint of wit to her dress. I personally think all dresses should have an element of fun and intelligence to them, a dress should always be more than just a dress.

Beading is a real luxury, it's time intensive and hard work, this took endless hours and days to complete. There is no machine to bead and the only way to attach a bead and a sequin properly is by hand, one by one. Whether you buy a beaded garment on the high street for £10 or you pay £5000 at the top of the market each of those beads were sewn by a human hand, so please think twice about the person who sewed those beads for you in relation to the price you are paying. 

 

I adore beading, its a valued skill I learned at uni when heavily inspired by 1920's flapper dresses and the 'golden age of couture'. It shows a real labour of love of which this dress is. It has also reminded me that beautiful things take time and are always worth every penny and more!

19th May Wedding Dress

Just finished today, this has taken a long time to create and I must say that it is one of my very favourite dresses I have made so far.

The initial inspiration for the dress was a host of 50's cocktail and wedding dress chosen by the bride, all with different details that she wanted in her dress. It was a really great way to design the dress and a way for her to have everything she wanted in one perfect dress for her day. I'm especially pleased with the pleated sweetheart and the tiny line of piping at the waist that adds the all important finishing touches.

The dress will be worn with an underskirt edged in the shocking pink binding to match and maybe some little lace gloves.