Rachel Lamb Bridal Design

I'm all out of sync with the blog, but rather than trying to catch up with my Facebook page, I thought I'd just get on with showing you these gorgeous photos of one of my brides from earlier this year. This is Laura, who married Freddie, at a chateau in France in the late spring. I remember posting a photo of Laura in her final fitting (close up so no-one knew it was her of course) and now I'm so happy to see these pictures of what looks like a wonderful wedding day with a gorgeous bride and groom! The photos are by Warren James Palmer Laura's dress was a Bespoke gown, she came with an idea of what she liked and the ideas evolved  as we chatted during our first meeting. The body of Laura's dress is a heavy silk crepe with a silk chiffon over-layer. Laura was certain that she wanted an unusual lace with a vintage look. As there are so many laces available, I gave her some website addresses and she had a look herself. I often advise ...

Back in the early Autumn last year I had the pleasure of working with Matilda on her beautifully simple and elegant wedding dress. Matilda was inspired by her mother's wedding dress which she brought along to our first appointment together. The dress was very simple with seaming being the main detail. After a discussion, we decided to make a modern version of her mother's dress for Matilda. It's a beautiful A-line shaped, boned dress, with buttons all the way down the back to the bottom of the train. The main body  of the dress is made from ivory silk Dupion and the neckline and sleeves are a softer ivory silk crepe Georgette. Doesn't she look perfect?

With a yearning for warmer days, here are some pictures of a summer bride - Sarah, whose wedding dress I made last year. It was a beautiful, classic looking wedding dress, with a lace bodice and silk, tulle and organza skirts. It suited Sarah perfectly, being a mix of 2 tones of ivory - dark and light, which when combined went perfectly with her colouring. I especially love the last picture with the lichen covered silos in the farmyard. (I think that's what they're called anyway!) Thank you for sending me these lovely images Sarah. :-)

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...

I have been meaning to show this image for a few weeks now, but school holidays were in the way. Now they're over, here it is! This is Sophie whose dress I made last year and who I have shown pictures of before. However, she recently had the gown re-photographed and sent me this and I think it's splendid! I hope you do too. The gown is a two-piece, a detachable cape/train with a strapless dress lace dress underneath. I'm very excited about these images, it's always lovely to receive pictures of my work. I have used the top image in some of my new adverts.

This is the wedding of Carolyn and Tom, which took place in earlier this year in May. The blossom provides such a perfect backdrop for Carolyn in her dress. Carolyn's dress is made from a heavy silk crepe with a draped silk crepe Georgette overlay and sleeves. We incorporated some lace motifs around the middle of the gown which flow into a lace tie at the centre back. (A bit difficult to see the lace areas in these images.) All pictures are by photographer Jean-Luc Benazet . This image above shows how softly the neckline drapes around Carolyn's shoulders.

  Here's lovely Poppy wearing her wedding dress. Poppy really is a country girl at heart - wellies, dogs, mud (she won't mind me telling you that) and an easy and comfortable life. She wanted a dress that reflected that, and that she would feel easy and comfortable wearing. So soft, feminine, no boning and a small train that can easily be hitched up later on. Poppy's dress is a gentle A-line shape with a scoop neck and loose sleeves. It's made from a heavy silk crepe with a soft lace overlay and soft satin hand-tied sash. I added some small pearls around the neckline and on the sleeves to give a small and gentle gleam. No fuss.

This is Sophie, who wanted an old fashioned type of glamour on her wedding day. Late news item: the photos of Sophie's wedding were taken by Tapas Maiti and you can find more info about him and his service at www.tapasmaiti.com Isn't the picture above lovely? I think the tones of the stone and tiles complement her beautifully. Sophie had specific ideas about what she wanted - a dress that could be worn again, and a kind of detachable train, both of which should be in colours rather than the usual ivory. Marrying in the Cathedral, she wanted to make an impression and fill the space, yet not be encumbered with the train later on in the day. We looked at various images of glamorous women from the 1950s and Sophie even took a picture of a china ornament that she owned, to get the feel of the slightly 'bouffed' train look that was required. Sophie's dress is a dusty pink silk overlaid with an ivory and gold beaded lace. The challenge was findin...