When you have a wedding gown made especially for you we will spend quite a bit of time together and get to know each other quite well and dislikes and each bride has her own reason for having a unique dress made. Here are some of the stories of why my customers chose to have a unique gown made for them and what desires we set out to achieve.
Lucy: Had been to bridal shops but unfortunately had been turned away with a swift "They don't make dresses in your size love, you will have to have a dress made for you." She came to see me a year before her wedding and we discussed exactly her dream gown. Lucy was determined to lose weight and with this in mind, we planned and scheduled her dress to allow her to lose as much weight as possible - and she did, a massive 5 stones - a fantastic effort and I was very proud of her. So we planned to measure her at the last possible opportunity which was 1st February and she took delivery of her dress on 24th March, only 8 weeks later. Lucy was so excited that she couldn't wait to try her dress on and I had trouble getting her into the fitting room because she was stripping off already. And that was just the cotton version.
Lucy's ball-gown style dress was created in dark ivory silk dupion with a lace-up back and encrusted to the bodice with Swarovski Crystals. More crystals were used on the skirt to give the gathered effect. A full hooped petticoat was placed underneath to create the massive ball-gown effect. The train was bustled for evening wear. Have a look at the bridal gallery for more photos of Lucy's gown.
Hi Wendy, Its Lucy, Just wanted to write to you now back off my honeymoon, and let you know I had a fantastic day!
The sun shone all day and my dress looked beautiful, so many people said how gorgeous it was, and how nice I looked, and it was just perfect.
I've only just seen the official photos and I cried my heart out they were that beautiful, The dress truly looked amazing, the video of me walking down the aisle was fab, you could see all the crystals sparkling all day!
Re photos when I have had them printed I will send you a selection for you to use, they look great!
Just wanted to say thanks to you- you really are a star, and the dress improved my confidence, with the weight I've lost and I felt fabulous all day long, I never once had to pull it up/down etc it stayed in place all day.
Will let you know when I send the photos to you - hopefully it wont be long!
With Love
Sue:
Now Sue knew what she wanted. She came to see me with an old faded and crumpled picture of a gown that she had loved for years - well most of it. We designed her dress together getting ideas from the picture and adding many of Sue's own and came up with a real original in 5 pieces. Bodice, mini-skirt, detachable train, detachable godet for the evening and some detachable sleeves - to cover up some old tattoos while in church. The Vicar even commented that it was the shortest skirt he had ever seen anyone get married in. But that was Sue! The bodice and skirt were made in smooth thai silk, the train and godet in exquisite lace embellished in swarovski crystals. The bodice front panel featured lace edging and crossover lacing in silk. The sleeves, well they were a challenge but have a look and see what we created. This was then topped up with long silk sparkly boots - fantastic and totally original - visit the bridal gallery for more photos of Sue's gown, but here's just a taster.
To Wendy: THANK YOU!!!! What an awesome dress you made! Just what I wanted! Hope you will find others who will come to you with exciting ideas and keep it alive! God Bless, Sue & Jay x
Rachel: Rachel is an unfussy person in that she doesn't like a lot of fuss. She had visited a few bridal shops and found that she didn't feel comfortable with the fussy staff who were not sympathetic to her individual needs. Rachel also was not the "B" cup that most wedding gowns are made in as standard. Buying a standard gown means that the whole gown would be purchased on the bust size and then major alterations would be required. Rachel has a small waist. So she decided to find out about having a dress made especially to fit her. After consulatation we decided that gold and antique was her colour and thems. Her gown was made in gold silk dupion with an antique lace covering to the bodice and the train. A lace-up back and inner corset for support. A matching veil in antique lace was also made to complement the dress. A secret interlining was used so that the silk did not crease. Once Rachel returns from her honeymoon, she now wants me to detach the top of her dress to make a separate top that she can wear with trousers - now re-cycling your wedding gown - that's a good idea. Perhaps we might find another purpose for the train soon!?!?!
Hi Wendy
Just a note to say thank you so much for my beautiful dress it was a huge hit on the day and my niece managed to do it up!!!!
Here are a couple of shots for your scrapbook , once again a huge thanks and I will be in touch.
Sam: Being a little less than 5 feet tall, Sam was aware that standard dresses come ready made for people nearly a foot taller than her and that a lot of the design would be lost in alteration. She also felt that dresses she tried on "swamped" her. A major consideration also was that she was getting married in Cuba - so it was likely to be very hot - and that she was going to need to wear her gown again for a party when she returned home. In order to get over her first challenge, the dress was designed and made to the correct length with the decoration of the front swathe being absolutely perfect for her. The second consideration of "cool" was tackled by creating an inner corset in pure cotton. We also added boned and net petticoat in 100% cotton and net so that nothing that touched her skin was synthetic. The boning of the petticoat was removable so that the petticoat could be folded for travel. The gown itself was in ivory duchess satin with a lace-up back and decorated with swarovski crystals and pearls. On her return from Cuba, Sam rang me to tell me that her dress was dirty at the bottom and asked what she could do to clean it by the weekend. I recommended that she hang it over the side of the bath and wash the bottom only, starting with the worst of the dirt and working her way up. Here's what she said "Cleaned my dress, good as new! cleaned really well." More pics of Sam on the bridal gallery.
Heather - Now I do like a challenge. At Heather's first consultation, we discussed and embroidered silk for her gown. And then she discovered something totally different. Heather bought an Indian outfit - skirt, top and scarf. It was fantastic, gold, and covered in heavy embellishments in red, with lots of sparkle. So I transformed it for her. The skirt was very heavy and a little long, so I created a hooped petticoat to wear underneath to raise the height a little and to give it fullness. The top I took apart totally and used the fabric to create a couture boned bodice with lace-up back. One end of the scarf was used to create a detachable train that could be removed for dancing. The other end was used to decorate the boned bodice. More pics on the gown gallery.
Here's what she said: "Fabulous, thank you." I have had so many wonderful, heartfelt, compliments about my dress it is amazing. Thank you for making my dream a reality."
Angie - "Thank you very much for our wedding presents and for creating a truly beautiful dress, everyone has commented on how lovely it looked."
Val - "Just a few lines to say thank you for the beautiful outfit you created for me to wear at my wedding on August 5th.
"The whole process was a fantastic experience and your professional advice and assistance invaluable in creating something that was both unique, but also appropriate. Not easy to achieve when the bride is XX years old."
"I felt that you empathised without patronising and went out of your way to make suggestions and improvements to the original plan, even when at times tha must have been difficult (remember the saga of the handkerchief hem?!!)."
"In the event the day went perfectly and was one we will remember always. Thank you for your part in that."
"I would recommend your service to anyone considering having a custom made individual wedding dress created just for them. There is nothing like it for setting the scene for a day that is yours alone."
"I enclose a couple of photographs that hopefully illustrate just how happy and comfortable I was with the gown."
"Thanks once again and my very best wishes for the continued success of your business."
Lucy-Anne
Dear Wendy, here is a photo of my dress as promised - thank you, love from Lucy-Anne
Lucy: Had been to bridal shops but unfortunately had been turned away with a swift "They don't make dresses in your size love, you will have to have a dress made for you." She came to see me a year before her wedding and we discussed exactly her dream gown. Lucy was determined to lose weight and with this in mind, we planned and scheduled her dress to allow her to lose as much weight as possible - and she did, a massive 5 stones - a fantastic effort and I was very proud of her. So we planned to measure her at the last possible opportunity which was 1st February and she took delivery of her dress on 24th March, only 8 weeks later. Lucy was so excited that she couldn't wait to try her dress on and I had trouble getting her into the fitting room because she was stripping off already. And that was just the cotton version. 
Sue:
Rachel: Rachel is an unfussy person in that she doesn't like a lot of fuss. She had visited a few bridal shops and found that she didn't feel comfortable with the fussy staff who were not sympathetic to her individual needs. Rachel also was not the "B" cup that most wedding gowns are made in as standard. Buying a standard gown means that the whole gown would be purchased on the bust size and then major alterations would be required. Rachel has a small waist. So she decided to find out about having a dress made especially to fit her. After consulatation we decided that gold and antique was her colour and thems. Her gown was made in gold silk dupion with an antique lace covering to the bodice and the train. A lace-up back and inner corset for support. A matching veil in antique lace was also made to complement the dress. A secret interlining was used so that the silk did not crease. Once Rachel returns from her honeymoon, she now wants me to detach the top of her dress to make a separate top that she can wear with trousers - now re-cycling your wedding gown - that's a good idea. Perhaps we might find another purpose for the train soon!?!?!
taller than her and that a lot of the design would be lost in alteration. She also felt that dresses she tried on "swamped" her. A major consideration also was that she was getting married in Cuba - so it was likely to be very hot - and that she was going to need to wear her gown again for a party when she returned home. In order to get over her first challenge, the dress was designed and made to the correct length with the decoration of the front swathe being absolutely perfect for her. The second consideration of "cool" was tackled by creating an inner corset in pure cotton. We also added boned and net petticoat in 100% cotton and net so that nothing that touched her skin was synthetic. The boning of the petticoat was removable so that the petticoat could be folded for travel. The gown itself was in ivory duchess satin with a lace-up back and decorated with swarovski crystals and pearls. On her return from Cuba, Sam rang me to tell me that her dress was dirty at the bottom and asked what she could do to clean it by the weekend. I recommended that she hang it over the side of the bath and wash the bottom only, starting with the worst of the dirt and working her way up. Here's what she said "Cleaned my dress, good as new! cleaned really well." More pics of Sam on the bridal gallery.
Heather - Now I do like a challenge. At Heather's first consultation, we discussed and embroidered silk for 
her gown. And then she discovered something totally different. Heather bought an Indian outfit - skirt, top and scarf. It was fantastic, gold, and covered in heavy embellishments in red, with lots of sparkle. So I transformed it for her. The skirt was very heavy and a little long, so I created a hooped petticoat to wear underneath to raise the height a little and to give it fullness. The top I took apart totally and used the fabric to create a couture boned bodice with lace-up back. One end of the scarf was used to create a detachable train that could be removed for dancing. The other end was used to decorate the boned bodice. More pics on the gown gallery.
Angie - "Thank you very much for our wedding presents and for creating a truly beautiful dress, everyone has commented on how lovely it looked." 
Val - "Just a few lines to say thank you for the beautiful outfit you created for me to wear at my wedding on August 5th.
