Love My Dress Wedding Blog - A UK Wedding Blog

Being Married to a Fashion Designer...

** Due to hard-drive failure, I am resurrecting an old blog post today, following a conversation I have had with my Husband. Fear not regular readers! Mr Apple Store has it all in hand and this be a minor glitch. I'll be back soon :) *

I am very pleased to report that the my darling boy is turning his hand back to his one true passion ~ creating beautiful dresses.

My Husband graduated in fashion design from Northumbria University in 1999, and had his own Prince's Trust and Arts Council funded business for 2 years, designing and producing high-fashion and bespoke ladies wear, for private clients and exclusive boutiques.  The images below are from his last collection...

His dresses were always so feminine and elegant and timeless in design.  He attended a 6-month long placement/internship with bespoke shoe-maker (then located in Scotland) Paul Harnden, and was hugely inspired by Charles James when it came to designing his graduate collection.

He had orders as far and wide as Italy and Hong Kong. Prior to this, he was the right-hand to Scott Henshall (I was at that London Fashion Week catwalk show that's in that video and went back stage with Hubby to see Scott, it was all rather busy!). The lovely boy later designed for Mulberry (which was rather fabulous, as I got free Mulberry cashmere on a regular basis!).  Unfortunately however, for a number of reasons largely related to getting involved with a bad business partner and a lack of inexpensive opportunities available to help promote the business, my talented Husband had to depart from his dream and move on to different things.  It was a different time, when Etsy and all the other wonderful online social networking fantasticness that make it easy to connect with potential buyers and network with like minded creative folk, like Facebook and Twitter didn't exist.

A 30th Birthday Party Come Surprise Wedding Celebration!

Hi Everyone,  Hoping this post finds you well this Tuesday morning :) 

I received an email from Charlie Kirk-Elmy a couple of weeks ago, telling me about her surprise, Hollywood glamour inspired wedding to Husband Paul...

"Paul asked me to marry him at my Dads 70th Birthday party infront of our friends and my family.   Our wedding was a complete surprise to our guests, they were invited to my 30th Birthday party, then when they had all arrived Paul announced that we were actually to be married in 20 minutes, so to drink up their champagne!  They all cheered so loud we thought the roof would come off! I was hiding behind a door listening with my bridesmaids, they didn’t see us until we walked down the aisle..."

And so on 15 January, Charlie made her way down the aisle with her Bridesmaids at Goodwood House in Goodwood, Chichester, West Sussex - the perfect location, Charlie told me, for her glamorous secret wedding.  What a wonderful surprise for their guests :)

I love Charlie's dress, I recognised it in an instant as a Jenny Packham design, and that sparkly headpiece too.  Jenny Packham has such a distinctive signature style, which I can't help but adore...

"I loved how comfortable it was and as I work in fashion so a traditional dress wasn’t my style.  I love to dress up, I would wear couture all day everyday if I could. My bible is Vogue so I wanted pure glamour and Hollywood style, once I had my dress I knew that I was on the right track and everything fell into place."

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2011, Barrie Downie Photography

 

High Society ~ The New Bridal Wear Collection From Stewart Parvin...

I received an email earlier this week advising me that UK Bridal Wear designer, Stewart Parvin, has launched a brand new collection entitled 'High Society' -

Inspired by the timeless glamour of Grace Kelly, the collection shows a diverse range of dresses ranging from Stewart's traditional structured A-line gowns of delicately embroidered laces, dupions accented with duchess satin bows, and delicate crystal trim.  Swirling tulle gowns pay homage to Grace Kelly's most glamorous film – “To Catch a Thief”. Elegant slim silhouettes in silk jerseys and the finest georgettes take inspiration from her glamorous lifestyle on the Cote D’Azur.

The whole collection is brought to life with a stunning selection of swarovski embroideries and statement jewellery.

I simply adore the neck bow and chiffon sleeve detail on the dress below left- demure with a capital D! This particular design is called 'So In Love'.  The equally glamorous dress to the right is called 'Easy To Love'...

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography supplied by kind courtesy of Stewart Parvin

Joanne Fleming Design ~ Bespoke Evening & Bridal Wear...

I've been really super-excited about introducing you to this latest designer.  Some of you may already be familiar with Joanne Fleming of Joanne Fleming Design - but if not, let me tell you, that Joanne Fleming Design does bespoke gorgeousness at it's very best.

Specialising in the creation of evening and bridal wear, Joanne Fleming Design offers both a made-to-order and fully bespoke service. Clients can choose an existing design from the current collection or back catalogue, and have it made to their measurements and in their choice of colour, with the option of individualising details, or they can have a design created specifically for them.

I caught up with Joanne to chat about her beautiful creations, and to learn a little about the designer...

"I've always loved dressing up, and so was drawn to the more fantastical and extravagant shores of fashion design from the start.  Specialising in bridal and evening wear has allowed me to indulge this predilection to the full, and I love enabling clients to realise their own fantasy dresses, be that an art-deco slither of silk satin, or a full on baroque Liaison Dangereuse of a gown!

There's a quote from Oscar Wilde that I always keep in mind when designing.....''She looked like the edition de luxe of a wicked French novel''. It's this mixture of luxurious sophistication cut with a little Fin de siècle naughtiness that I try to capture..."

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography kindly provided courtesy of Joanne Fleming Design

Kate Edmondson Bridal Couture...

One of the best thing about being a 'Wedding Blogger', is finding myself in a position to help promote exciting new brands.  I am also passionate about supporting women in business and so it's such a pleasure this morning to bring you details of a new bridal wear designer, Kate Edmondson, who is launching an exclusive company, Kate Edmondson Bridal Couture - offering bespoke Bridal design services. 

Kate has been creating wedding dresses and millinery for private clients for over 10 years now, but decided to take the plunge recently in establishing her own couture label. 

Operating from her West London studio, Kate liaises directly with all her Brides, and personally directs a fitting service, before sample designs are produced, then refined before the finished product is created.

Kate tells me, "every bridal hat or headpiece is carefully considered to compliment the Bridal dress, and luxury silk is used to create dramatic shapes or simple flowers and feathers, if a softer silhouette is desired."

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Imagery Copyright (c) 2010, Kate Edmondson Bridal Couture

Caroline Castigliano ~ An Interview With The Top International, and British Bridal Wear Designer...

I've long been a fan of top International, and British Bridal Wear Designer, Caroline Castigliano.  To me, Caroline's designs epitomise understated chic and refined glamour at it's very best.

I remember first learning about this talented designer when my friend, Cat Hepple, announced she was to marry in one of Caroline's wedding gowns.  The name of the gown was 'Beauty'.  And without wanting to sound to cliched here, it really was an utter beauty! 

Caroline Castigliano has very kindly agreed to talk to Love My Dress and today, I'm really delighted to be able to share my interview with you.  Read on to learn more about the driving force and design talent behind this internationally renowned brand... 

 "I always loved making clothes as a child, and my mother influenced and encouraged me from a very early age.  Professionally, I have been designing for almost 20 years - in fact next year will be our 20th birthday!  I opened my first boutique in 1991 and launched my first bridal collection shortly after, and the rest is history! 

Bridal wear appealed to me because the bridal gown is the single most important gown a woman will invest in. I love the ability to transform a woman so that she looks and feels more confident than she ever has before.  The bridal gown also says everything about a woman’s style and personality – so I get incredible fulfilment from by being involved in such an important part of their day."

Some of Caroline Castigliano's original design sketches and lace samples...

All Photography on this page Copyright (c) 2010, Caroline Castigliano

Jenny Packham ~ An Interview with the British Bridal Wear Designer...

Anyone who knows me, or who has gotten to know a little about me throught this blog, probably knows that I'm a huge Jenny Packham fan.

It was when I was on the hunt for my perfect wedding dress that I discovered Jenny.  I recall turning the page of one of my many wedding magazines and being greeted by  one of the Jenny Packham full page spread adverts.  And as soon as I saw it, I was smitten.  

Everyone has their preferred style of wedding dress; sleeveless, backless, concealed corset, floaty chiffon, long short etc, etc.  For me, all the aspects of Jenny's designs were exactly what I was looking for in my wedding dress; something fairly unstructured, something floaty, something with a touch of the most exquisite embellishment, but not too much ~ something light and beautiful to wear all day that would make me feel comfortable and look the part.  When I found Jenny's 'Selene' design (you can see me wearing it below on my wedding day), I felt I'd found a dress that had been made especially for me.  Perhaps that was my 'I've found THE one!' moment :)

So it was with great excitement recently when I got to meet Jenny's Head of Accessories at the Absolutely Beautiful Weddings Event. We talked about Jenny's new website development (did you know you can now purchase Jenny's beautiful accessories online?) and the plans to launch the new wedding collection in Milan (a hugely successful runway show took place last week).  We also had a really interesting chat  about the increasing influence of the 'Wedding Blog' - a subject that my talking partner took great interest in. 

Sheena Holland ~ Vintage Style Bridal Headbands

I've been wanting to write about this fabulous designer for a very long while now, but sometimes, my folder of 'things to blog about' becomes totally overflowing and some of the real gem's that sit inside that folder waiting for an outing become a little neglected!

As I recall, I learnt about Sheena Holland and her 'uniquely beautiful, hand-crafted and designed headbands' way back when I first started Love My Dress. 

Sheena started making one off Vintage feather and leather headbands in 2003 and was the first designer to create the feather on headbands in a pad format. She now creates headdresses and jewellery made from vintage materials using re-worked leather, antique, vintage jewellery and feathers combining fashion, shapes and colours from floristry.

"I work mainly with feathers, vintage if possible ~ 99% of my work is with Antique or Vintage pieces of jewellery, so I remain stuck in that era, which is lovely. So I use Jet, Celluloid, Lucite, Arora Borealis, Diamante, White Iron Pyrite and pearls..."

Love My Dress Wedding Blog ~ Photography Copyright (c) 2010, Sheena Holland