Rachel Lamb Bridal Design

To keep things tidy, this is the 2nd and final part of the post I started back in March following bride Lois's fittings for her bespoke 70's style wedding dress.   I love this image above of Lois & Ash on their wedding day! The photo is by Matt Brown . Back in the early spring when I started this post , (pre-peak wedding season & moving location distraction!) I thought it would be useful to show some of the process involved when having a wedding dress made. We left bride Lois at her 2nd fitting, where it was decided that the toile (calico prototype dress) was looking good and that it was time to cut out the real thing... 3rd Fitting: The above images are the dress on a stand, and then Lois in the dress at her 3rd fitting. At this stage the dress is put together but with raw edges in most places - the hem hasn't been levelled and finished and there are no fastenings at the back, or buttons on the front and sleeves, and everyth...

If you're thinking of commissioning a bespoke wedding dress, I thought it would be useful to return to bride Lois from my previous post , and to show some images from her fittings so the progress of having a dress made can be seen. I've divided this process into two posts. This is part 1. First fitting: For at least the first 2 fittings, the toiles (prototypes of the design to check the fit) are made in calico, or something similar. It's not the loveliest of fabrics but it works well for toiles because it's cheap, easy to make marks on and to unpick and tear up! It's fairly standard to use calico for toiles in the fashion industry. Sometimes it's called a 'muslin', which I think might be more of an American term. (NB: It's important to have the underwear you're going to be wearing on your wedding day for the first fitting and every fitting thereafter, otherwise it's not possible to fit very accurately.) ...

Continuing my mini series on my Bespoke wedding dress design service, I thought it would be useful to take a look at the most common FAQs that I get asked by brides-to-be. These questions come up over and over again, so here goes: How long does it take to make a wedding dress?  I get asked this all the time and there isn't one answer! It depends entirely on the design of the dress. If we put the hours end to end it can be anywhere from approximately 40 hours to approximately 160...ish. It could be more or less than this, but this is average for me and my work. However the way I work means the hours are spread out over months, rather than worked from start to finish in one go. I time every dress I make so I have a good idea of how long a particular design might take to make. Working on a toile. What lead time do you need?  Usually 6 months or more, but often it's less than this. A year is ideal. 18 months is wonderful. If it's a complicated design or requires much ...

Something I often notice when chatting with some brides-to-be is that sometimes there are a few misconceptions about what it means to have a bespoke wedding dress designed and made, so I thought it would be useful to create a little mini series of posts about the Bespoke side of my business. I'll be covering the benefits, fears and FAQs that often occur, and we'll be looking in on a fitting to give an idea of what happens and the progress made. This post will discuss the benefits of my bespoke service. I often ask my bespoke brides what they were looking for in the service, and why they decided to go for a bespoke design with me, and they often tell me without being asked! So the following are some of the general benefits of a Bespoke bridal design service, combined with comments from my own Bespoke brides from the past few years: 1. "I want a unique wedding dress - I don't want to look like everyone else." You know that feeling - you're engaged, you...