Kate Beaumont is a Sheffield, UK based wedding dress designer specialising in ethical bridal fashion and handmade wedding gowns. From her working studio in Yorkshire, Kate works with a small, highly skilled team of seamstresses to create made to order wedding dresses and bridal separates, designed with real attention to fit and proportion so that each bride can move, stand and feel entirely herself in what she is wearing.

It means a great deal to be sharing Kate’s latest designs here. We have supported her work from the early days of her business and shared her own wedding on Love My Dress many years ago. Being able to follow her journey over time, and to see how her studio and collections have grown, feels genuinely special.

Every Kate Beaumont wedding dress is handmade in the UK using luxurious silks and carefully sourced French and English lace. Her collections include bias cut silk gowns, slip dresses, lace tops, skirts and jumpsuits, all designed to be worn comfortably and adapted to suit each bride’s needs. Brides can combine separates, adjust details and choose alternative colour palettes, creating a wedding outfit that reflects how they want to look and move on the day.

Working on a small scale allows Kate and her team to prioritise quality, reduce fabric waste and offer a personal, considered experience. Dresses are made to order in Sheffield, with fittings carried out in person where possible, or remotely for brides travelling from further afield.The result is ethical bridalwear that values craftsmanship, flexibility and long term wear over volume or spectacle.

This article features designs from Kate Beaumont’s beautiful new collection, alongside her popular ICONS designs.

I’m Kate Beaumont and I design and make understatedly beautiful wedding dresses from my working studio in Sheffield. My team and I create wedding gowns and bridal separates that appeal to modern brides seeking a relaxed, elegant look that doesn’t shout – something that they can feel like their best self in, but still fundamentally themself.

We work with the finest materials – luxurious silks and French and English laces. Dresses that feel as good as they look – comfortable, unrestrictive and easy to wear – that move beautifully and are quietly confident.

Every design is made-to-order to an individual bride’s requirements. We can make changes to designs and work in alternative colour palettes as desired, so every bride can find a dress that feels just right for them. 

The whole experience with us is a relaxed and personal one. Brides usually come along for three dress fittings if they are able (though we can work remotely too for those further afield) and in-person connection is at the heart of the process.

Brides always comment on how much they’ve enjoyed the experience.

I’d studied fashion at university but had fallen out of love with the idea of working in the industry. The idea of specialising in one aspect of fashion design or manufacture didn’t really appeal to me. Although I didn’t quite realise it at the time, with hindsight I think this was a wider reaction to the whole fast-fashion ethos. 

A couple of years after uni, my best friend asked me to make her wedding dress, and I realised bridal didn’t have to be what I’d always thought it was, and got hugely inspired.

I love that my designs have more longevity than they would in a more fashion-focused setting, and have tried to build that more timeless aesthetic into the dresses I create.

For me, designing and making wedding dresses became a way to put together all the bits I did (and didn’t) like about the more defined roles in fashion, and to add in the connectivity side that I love so much.

As always with my designs, this new collection is a continuation of what has come before. I always want the new pieces to sit effortlessly alongside the older ones, and that sense of continuity is a huge part of the design process. We continue to focus on utilising the best materials so the dress feel comfortable on, and on producing the same easy to wear, non-constricting shapes.

I’ve tried to add in more of what’s worked well in previous collections – for example this time we’ve added in the Viburnum jumpsuit with a built-in lace top, as many brides had opted to add in a separate lace top to our existing silk jumpsuit Forget Me Not.

There are a couple of new bias-cut silk gowns – Salvia and Tulip – as these styles are always so popular with our brides, and I’ve added in a few more slip dresses – Ixia, Muscari and Thistle – slips can work as standalone dresses too.

And finally, more tops and skirts have been added to our bridal separates pieces, options that can be mix and matched to create a range of new looks.

From a sustainability aspect, we’ve been cleverer in our use of fabric this time around, repeating our favourite silk and lace choices on new designs to be able to hold less fabric in stock.

This approach also helps us to use up much of our leftover laces and sequinned fabrics from earlier designs, meaning our already minimal fabric wastage can be reduced even further.

Although we’ve limited the introduction of new fabric, we have added in an embroidered organic peace-silk organza for the top of Viburnum, which enhances the collection beautifully.

It was such a treat to re-photograph some of our favourite designs on two different sized models, and I’m in love with the updated imagery India Hobson has created for me. The new Icons collection showcases our most popular styles over the years, the classics that brides keep coming back to.

The Icons are a good mix of silhouettes and styles, featuring gowns, slips, lace and silk tops and skirts and a jumpsuit.

Lots of separates that work well together – options that connect different pieces to create multiple looks.

We’ve included shapes that suit different figures, sometimes demonstrating subtle design variations between the sizes to show off different options and possibilities.

Our made-to-order dresses, combined with the personal service we offer, means that its always possible to make changes and combine aspects of other designs. 

I think our smaller scale way of working means that we’re able to be much more adaptable in everything we do. For brides, this means it’s easier to make changes to a dress’s design to get it just right for them, and we’ll be on hand to guide them through the options and possibilities. 

The personal nature of the experience with us means extra time, care and consideration goes into every single dress.

I also think our small-ness means we can prioritise using the highest quality materials as our making model keeps waste to an absolute minimum – making everything to order for each bride rather than producing dresses in the expectation that they’ll sell.

It means we can make our dresses with no size restrictions too, which is so important.

This is such a lovely thought to consider! I hope she feels like she chose a dress that she felt truly herself in – comfortable and happy in.

That looking back at her dress transports her to a day filled with happiness – not just of the commitment itself but about all the love of friends and family that surrounded them on the day.