** Official imagery from the Ophelia collection by Temperley is available at the end of this feature**
Morning All! And how are youuuu? I'd usually kick off a Monday with a beautiful real wedding but I fancy a bit of a shake-up today, and besides, I'm dead keen to share my experience of last Friday, when I was lucky enough to be invited to preview 'Ophelia', the beautiful new collection of wedding dresses form Temperley London.
After taking a late train journey to the Big Smoke the evening prior, I found myself sitting in a taxi at 8.45am last Friday morning on the way to my appointment, where I was due to meet with my lovely friend and wedding photographer, Kirsten Mavric, who I have to thank for the beautiful photographs on this page.
Nestled on a quiet cobbled mews in Nottinghill {a nice location for those Brides looking for a hassle free wedding dress shopping experience}, the Temperley boutique store front is painted head to foot in the style of a union jack flag – a fitting tribute to this quintessentially British designer, who splits her time between her Somerset home and living on the floor above her Notinghill store {random fact, did you know that Alice Temperley's parents supply a cider bus for revellers at the Glastonbury festival each year?}…
Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Kirsten Mavric
Alice Temperley, the designer at the helm of the brand, is someone I've been in awe of for years. I love her eco-chic, bohemian style. I admire the way she doesn't court the press the way most of your typical celebrity designers do – it's refreshing. And I love her hair 😉
Temperley is known for it's frequent appearances on the catwalk and The Duchess of Cornwall is a regular customer – choosing to wear Temperley to her 30th birthday party celebrations a couple of weeks ago.
Temperley celebrated their tenth year last year and is now sold in 37 countries across the world, with boutiques in London, New York, LA and Dubai. But the really GOOD news for all you brides, is that Temperley is going wholesale. This means that for the first time ever, Temperley will be stocked in an exclusive choice of bridal boutiques up and down the UK. There will, however be a small number of dresses that will remain exclusive to the Temperley boutique.
But we'll forgive them for that. I mean, there has to be at least one excuse for visiting this wonderful London boutique after all!
The shop, located at Colville Mews, off Lonsdale Road, is wonderful. Kirsten and I were a little early, and a series of rather good looking staff members made their way into the reception before one of them stopped to ask if we'd like to come in – it didn't matter, we were quite fine admiring the exterior paint work.
Five minutes later, we were ushered back out of the little reception area and through a set of double doors – the main entrance – to meet Petrina, the account executive who had emailed me before Christmas asking if I'd like to visit to look through Ophelia on an exclusive 1:1 basis. Petrina told me she had also invited a small number of other wedding bloggers at different times that morning – and we had been lucky enough to just catch Alexis from the OMG I'm Getting Married blog on her way out, as we had arrived {seeing Alexis is always such a pleasure}.
The rooms are spacious and beautifully lit. Dresses hang suspended on models by fishwire from the ceiling and the beautiful old floor board beneath creak slightly as we make our way through to the bridal studio; where an array of beautiful wedding dresses line the room hanging on rails.
The first dress that greeted us was the Kelly dress and Kelly coat {above and below}, the latter being a long sleeved, floor length kind of cape, crafted out of the lightest of silk chiffon and embellished with a dazzling neckline of jewels…
Bridal wear is the fasting growing area of the Temperley business, and through her Ophelia collection, Alice has taken great care to cater for a wider variety of client. Whilst the staple bohemian Temperley silhoutters are still present, there are new, fuller skirt, more contemporary style designs on offer. And I kid you not, the attention to detail and luxurious feel to the fabric is just phenomenal. If there is one designer who knows how to embelish a dress, it most certainly is Alice Temperley…
"I really enjoyed creating this collection; there is something for every Temperley woman – from the original bare footed bohemian, to our New York City Hall contemporary bride, to our full skirted princess and art-deco vintage nostalgic.
Our brides wear the dress, rather than being worn by it, and they can dance all night, look beautiful and also feel themselves, which is something that shoudl never be forgoten on their wedding day…"
The Chloe Dress…
The collection features intricately detailed and structured gowns, elongated body skimming silhouettes in exquisitely draped silks and fine French laces and voluminous tulle applique skirts and bodices – all with the same, timeless, feminine and ethereal nature that has become the Temperley signature style.
The Ophelia collection also includes, for the first time, a selection of exquisite accessories, jewelled belts {that can double up as headpieces} and crystal headpieces etc.
Each dress in the Ophelia collection has had elements personally selected by Alice sewn in to the seam. For the bride's 'something old', this is a vintage 1920's button. For the 'something new', a sequin from the new collection, and for the 'something blue', a small piece of hand embroidery. How charming?
I love that the Temperley team are connecting with bloggers to extend their reach and raise their profile with a new type of bride – and as a side note, all my communications with Temperley have been bob-on; I have a named contact who is reliable and exceptionally polite. She made sure I was equipped with a helpful press-pack and was keen to seek my opinion on bridal wear, and which shows she felt were a better target for the Temperley brand.
Regrettably, I didn't get to meet Alice Temperley herself – she was sadly a littel unwell following a recent trip to India, but I didn't mind. Discovering on Friday that Alice is responsible for designing no less than twelve collections a year really shocked me! I think she definitely needs more bed time!
This was the most beatiful luxury wrap I have frankly ever, ever rie on
Alice's book 'True British' sits on a large coffee table in the middle of the store. You can get a peek inside the book here…
The beautiful wedding dresses hanging in all their resplendence and waiting for you to go touch, feel, and possibly {gasp!} even try on…
An original vintage frock from the 1950's that Alice Temperley herself had sourced…
A goreous leather jacket in the softest kid leather you could ever imagine…
Dresses suspended like works of art…
The photographs below illustrate all the dresses available in the Ophelia collection, and have been supplied by Temperley London.
If your budget for your dress is anywhere near around £3k, you simply have to look into the new Ophelia range by Temperley. Prices range from £2,160 {for the Chloe, Scarlett and Penelope dresses – see images below} to around £6,840 {for the Crystal Amara dress}, positioning the brand competetively alongside Packham and the like. A bespoke service is available from £10,000.
The Emmeline dress, with long lace veil…
The Kelly dress and kelly coat…
The crystal Imara dress, with Joie Wrap… {see, beautiful princess tulle style – a step away from the usual Temperley silhouette, but it works so well}…
The Amoret dress…
The Estella Dress, with separate bridal belt here used to accessorise the bride's hair. Check out that gorgeous, gorgeous lace back. Just divine…
The Grace dress with heart shaped veil and bridal headband from the new accessories collection. This dress, with it's high collar and long sleeves, is reminiscent of the dress worn by the Duchess of Cornwall. Infact the design is a copy of a dress Alice Temperley made for a close friend a couple of years ago…
The Emmeline dress in full view,with long lace veil. I love the dropped waist effect of this 1920's inspired design…
The Penelope dress, with Greta Kimono Shrug and bridal belt…
The Dragon dress…
The Jean Dress II – A slight reworking on the popular 'Long Jean' original dress design…
The Camille dress, with Camille coat and lace veil…
The Mirage dress with Joie wrap and bridal headband…
The Goddess dress with beaded shoulder veil. I just adore the Egyptian influence on this design. Up close, it was STUNNING!
The Elisha dress with beaded shoulder veil…
The Vida dress…
The Dove dress with Arabella shrug…
The Augustina dress with lace veil…
The Aurelea dress…
The Draped Scarlett dress with bridal segment belt used here to accessorise the bride's hair…
The Chloe dress with heart shaped veil…
The Arianna dress…
I really enjoyed my time at Temperley, I loved that Petrina, the account executive who met with Kirsten and I, was interested in my opinion about bridal and which shows I thought they should exhibit at. And, of course, I simply adored the collection of dresses that is Ophelia. I'm so delighted that this prestigious brand in bridal wear is wholesaling their collection. Clever boutiques will get in there fast. The brightest ones will already be in there.
Thank you so much Kirsten for joining me on this assignement to ensure my readres had some lovely photographs to look at, and thank you Petrina at Temperley for so warmly welcoming us.
Which design is your favourite? I'm really keen to know?
By the way ladies, there are a couple of wedding dresses going in a sale here at Temperley – get in!
To find out more information, please visit the Temperley London website, or telephone 0207 – 2297957. You can see more from Temperley London Brida on Love My Dress here.
Much love all,
Annabel
♥
ps – Fancy winning some Not On The High Street goodies? Check back at 2pm! 😉
Annabel View all Annabel's articles
Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.
