Lauren’s dream wedding dress in ivory crepe

guest blog by Lauren about having her wedding dress made

INSPIRING INDIVIDUALITY

When I imagined my wedding day, I couldn’t see myself wearing a traditional wedding dress; it just wasn’t me. I visited at least a dozen bridal shops and spent hours looking online hoping “the one” would appear with no success. I learnt what I didn’t like but I still couldn’t visualise my wedding dress.

Then one evening I was changing television channels and Britain’s Got Talent had just started. Amanda Holden walked out onto the stage in a stunning white dress and I thought to myself that’s the one!

I quickly realised my only option was to have the dress made. I came across Caroline’s website and was impressed that I could use Caroline’s online app called CoutureKit to mock up a similar dress and I sent off an enquiry.

We set up a time to get together and I arrived at Caroline’s feeling nervous and wondering whether she’d be able to turn the very low cut evening gown I had seen on television into an elegant wedding dress. Having persuaded Caroline I didn’t want a copy of another dress (which she wouldn’t do), but to create something with just the influence of the dress I’d seen, she immediately saw my vision and to my relief was excited to create my dress.

Having a wedding dress made can be a leap of faith as you don’t see the completed dress until a few weeks before the wedding day but I had total confidence in Caroline. The whole process was extremely smooth – I only had a handful of appointments with Caroline and she firstly created the dress in a calico fabric to get it exactly right. At the end of each appointment I was so happy with the adjustments made that I found I didn’t need to contact Caroline between appointments.

My dress was made from a luxurious silk crepe fabric. The skirt was “Lucia” from Caroline’s design your own dress collection – I decided not to have a train as I didn’t think it added much to the dress. The bodice had cap sleeves and was cut into a low V at both the front and back. I wanted to wear a normal bra on my wedding day and hide a scar on my right shoulder, so Caroline factored this into the dress.

Combining the skirt from the design your own dress collection and a couture top helped kept the cost down. I tracked down the same gold belt Amanda wore with her dress – I found Amanda’s stylist’s email address on Twitter and sent off an email expecting to never receive a response. To my surprise Amanda’s stylist emailed me back 5 minutes later telling me the belt was from ASOS!

I felt absolutely amazing on my wedding day and so confident in my wedding dress. Caroline created the most stunning dress that was totally “me” and my dress was better than I could have ever imagined.

Planning a wedding can be overwhelming and there are so many decisions to make. Having Caroline create my dress was completely stress free. I actually felt sad when the process was over – Caroline is so lovely and I genuinely enjoyed each appointment I had with her. I highly recommend Caroline to create the perfect dress for you.

Our photographer was Barney James, http://www.timelesspictures.co.uk