Rachel Lamb Bridal Design

Hello! This is me popping by to say hello and I hope you're all well and healthy. Due to the Covid-19 lockdown the studio is currently closed for appointments, but I am very much 'business as usual' behind the scenes, making as much as I can for my current 2020 brides until we can next meet up. I'm now taking bookings for 2021 weddings so if you are a bride-to-be, or a mother of the bride or groom, interested in my bespoke design service for your wedding day or event, please do get in touch, I'd love to hear from you and to discuss your ideas. We can book appointments for later on in the year, or we can connect initially by Skype. While I realise this is not the same as meeting in person, it can help to get the ball rolling in terms of pure discussion and inspiration. In all cases, please email me for an appointment, or if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch. I look forward to hearing from you all. Until then, stay safe. X...

Here's the 2nd of the outfits from my photoshoot back in the summer. This is a selection of bridal separates: The top - Dilys - is made from an embroidered tulle lace and is ideal for wearing over a more revealing garment such as a strapless dress or you could also wear it with nothing underneath if you're brave. Worn with Dilys is Dinky - a simple strapless bodice with random pleats, and Fritzi nude colour tulle bridal skirt. Fritzi bridal skirt can be made in many different tulle colours, as can Dinky bodice. All garments are available to order now as made to measure bridal separates by appointment at my studio. To enquire or to make an appointment, please email . Credits: Photography: Sarah Brookes MakeUp: FlashkateMua Flowers: FloraeForae Model: Ingrid Carolini Hair: Becci Jones Hairdressing

    Time has flown this year, and back in July the fantastic wedding photographer Sarah Brookes took some photos of some of my Collection dresses. The day was sweltering hot but we managed to find some shade somewhere! This first dress I'm showing you is modelled by Steph Swan and is called Kallista. It's a statement of a dress with a full ballgown shaped skirt with a strapless feathered bodice. The feathers are optional of course which completely changes the look from something quite humourous to a more traditional feel. The dress is made in a fabric called Zibeline and is available to view and order in my studio right now. This is a dress that your friends won't forget! Steph's makeup is by Flashkate MUA , her hair is by Becci Jones Hairdressing and her flowers are by the wonderful Florae Foray .

Here are some beautiful shots of one of my brides and her husband on their wedding day this summer. The bride wore a bespoke design: ivory lace A-line shaped dress with lace capped sleeves. On the back we used a bolder lace applique, and the waistline was hand beaded with crystals. The photos above are by Andrea Cantova for N Drew. The above 2 images are from fittings and work in progress :)

Well...what a year. Quite a lot has happened this year, not only lots of weddings, but alongside these, the main thing that happened is I moved out of my unit and back to my home studio here in my garden, which is where I was working before I took on the unit. The unit was a short and sweet experiment, but sadly it just wasn't working for me or my business - far too much noise and very high heating bills were stressing me out, so I decided to cut my losses and come back to my original purpose built studio. It all happened unexpectedly fast in fact, back in March with 2 weeks notice, and as with all things wedding, the show must go on! So, I'm much happier now. My work space is peaceful again. I feel joy again! :-) My garden studio is smaller, but prettier, and I can concentrate! Bliss! I'm still doing what I do - designing and making wedding dresses of all shapes, sizes and designs for my lovely brides, so if you're looking for a designer - dressmaker to hel...

It is my pleasure to show you images of this 70's style wedding dress worn by bride Lois last summer at her marriage to Ash. Lois arrived at her initial appointment with a few ideas that had a definite flowing 70's vibe, and after chatting through ideas and drawing some sketches, we looked at various suitable fabrics and came up with her gorgeous, relaxed design. The dress was made in an ivory silk Georgette fabric over a lightweight satin under-layer. The sleeves were left sheer using the Georgette only. The dress was left unstructured for a relaxed and easy boho wedding style. Lois and Ash had their wedding photos taken by photographer Matt Brown  and Lois carried flowers by Chloe at Bare Blooms . I loved making this wedding dress for Lois, she was a pleasure to work with and the dress was so 'her'. :) I have some further images of the making of this wedding dress to show in the next post. All for now. xx

It's been a very busy year indeed, what with moving to the new showroom and workshop back in the spring, all the wedding dresses designed and made in the meantime and culminating in winning the Designer category at the Four Counties Wedding Awards 2017 held at the end of November! A huge thanks to all my 2017 brides - you were a pleasure to work with - and thank you so much for your vote - it means so much to me, and I can't wait to see all your photos! To the 2018 brides - I look forward to working with you on your wedding dress or outfit in the coming months - it's going to be fun! I have almost finished for the year and will be back taking appointments from 4th January. If you have an appointment booked in over Christmas - don't worry - I will be there, I just won't be adding any further appointments until the new year. As always, email is the best and most reliable way to contact me.  Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Here's to ...

I have new premises!!! Believe it or not this happened back in April this year and it's been such a busy year work-wise that this is the first opportunity I've had to talk about them. There's been no great launch or anything of that sort (not that I won't plan something), just a lot of weddings happening, arrangements made and signed with the new premises, and then a quick move in over the Easter weekend and straight back to work on the Monday.  I've been on the casual look for a new work-space for a while, when it began to become apparent that I'd very quickly outgrown my home studio. I pondered getting a shop, but that didn't feel right - I needed an actual working space as well as a place to show my work. So eventually I found a unit - a cosy one - not too industrial, and the rest is history! It's great! So now I can show my wedding dresses, make, sell and see my clients in comfort and space!  I'll put some more shots up soon - it...

Eeep!!! I've been nominated for the Guides for Brides Customer Service Awards 2017! Thank you whoever did this for me! I feel honoured because it's more often than not only little old me with my nose to the grindstone (sewing machine/laptop/pattern table) most of the time and I try so hard to do my best for all my brides. It really is personal and I care very much about you and the work I do for you, I'm always genuinely pleased and flattered that you have chosen me to make your dress, or have taken the trouble to enquire. Anyhoo. I will put this badge on the sidebar if you want to vote for me, but in the meantime, past, present and future brides, please vote for me by clicking on the badge above. Voting closes Jan 31st 2017. Thank you in anticipation. xxx

This is the first of my new wedding dress designs to show you. It's called Margot. You can also see it in my banner above. I hope you like it? Margot wedding dress is made from silk Dupion, this version is an Oyster colour, but it can be made in many, many different colours, including the traditional ivory. When I was making the sample, I was originally intending to use a lace waistband, but when it came down to it, I preferred the simple double bow effect. Margot is a made to measure design, so you can come and try it on and order it as it is, but made to fit you perfectly. Or you can alter aspects of it if you prefer. I'm open to suggestion. It would be gorgeous made as a full length gown too I think... *Margot's current made to measure order price is £1650.00 made as the sample, at today's date. (Aug 2016.) This price can change depending on alterations to the design or changes to pricing of labour and fabrics* Due to the way my se...

Eleanor Eleanor Eleanor Eleanor Here's another of my new designs from my Collection. I love this dress, it's called Eleanor and is simple and classic with just a little bit of lace on the bust section. The waist section is ruched silk Taffeta and the skirt is hitched and bunched-up (technical terms there) silk Organza over more silk. As with almost all of my dresses, the design can be changed to suit you. For example, it could be made without the cap sleeves, with longer sleeves or as a strapless dress. Or perhaps in a different colour? You could also choose not to bunch up the Organza overlay and to have it smooth instead. The best thing is to just chat with me about what you are thinking of, and we can go from there. However, I do love it as it is!

What has happened to February?? (See last paragraph below.) Here are some lovely images of one of my brides, Emily, who got married in the New Year. I think she looks great! So happy, and her dress fits her so well! :-) Emily's photos were taken by Ben Bull . Emily is wearing Gaia dress which is a design from my collection. It's the last one I shall make in this particular lace as sadly it's no longer easily available. However, plans are afoot for a new version of this dress using a different lace. I've been working on the dress from the sketch in my last post (see above). It's almost complete now. As usually happens, I've changed some of the features a bit as the work progresses. I'm in love with the colour - very cool-sky-ish. What do you think? I'm into designing some dresses that aren't ivory at the moment. I was listening to All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West while working on this dress, so perhaps the story...

Alongside customer toiles for summer weddings, I have started another dress for my collection. This is a very rough sketch of it; more the 'feel' of the dress than what it will end up exactly looking like, as is usually the case with most designs. I can't wait to show you when its complete. I can't remember if I posted about this, but I have started a Pinterest board for ideas for early spring wedding flowers. You can see it here . I am becoming a teensy bit addicted to Pinterest - there's such a lot of lovely and inspiring images on there. Not the best thing for overcoming time management issues! Have a good weekend.

This is 'Fallon', a new wedding dress to go in my current gown Collection. I finished it just before the Christmas break.   I'm often asked how I name my dresses, and I'm sure I was listening to The Archers at the time, which is why I named the dress Fallon. (Fallon is/was a character in The Archers.) Mainly because at the time I was wondering what had happened to Fallon? Does anyone know where she's gone? I'm not so much of a regular listener these past years, so perhaps she's no longer in it...anyway, she was conspicuous by her absence while her namesake was under construction. Back to Fallon - the wedding dress. It's made from ivory Dupion silk, overlaid with gold and ivory lace on the bodice, and has a silk skirt overlaid with draped silk Organza. There is a concealed zip underneath those covered buttons, and the bodice is fully boned inside. The Organza overlay on the skirt is designed to be slightly asymetric and to swirl...