Rachel Lamb Bridal Design

Well, we braved the arctic temperatures of the morning and happily the sun shone in the afternoon at the Bohemian Dreams Bo Show Wedding Festival  last Sunday! It turned out to be a great day of chatting with brides-to-be about their forthcoming wedding ideas, getting to know other wedding suppliers, and revisiting old friends. All of us had something in common, which is that we offer something a bit different, and that felt very good I must say! I was helped on the day by Lindsay and Michelle, and my ever faithful 'Logistics Manager' (Dan, my husband!) Thanks all for your help guys. Xxx Thanks too to the organisers whose idea it was to host this new style wedding festival. :-) L-R: Elsa wedding dress, Alexia wedding dress, (Lindsay setting up) & Beatrix wedding dress by Rachel Lamb Back view of Sylvie wedding dress by Rachel Lamb   Elsa wedding dress by Rachel Lamb Florence wedding dress back view by Rachel Lamb Tooley wedding dres...

At the end of last month I exhibited at Burwash Secret Garden Wedding Open Day, which is a lovely wedding venue on the edge of Cambridge.  We had a great day, chatting to brides to be, other suppliers and generally having fun! Above is lovely Florence wearing her namesake dress. Some gorgeous flowers by The Manor Florist who are based at Burwash .  Below the most amazing (I know because I tried some) meringue cake by biscotti di debora , also based at Burwash. And to finish, some spring blossom, which is always cheering and very 'frothily-weddingy', and a reminder of the Florence dress.

A few weeks of work in progress in the (work trashed, apologies - no styling or tidying at all) studio ;-) including new postcards! The upper dress is called 'Una' and the lower dress is 'Florence'. They're both now finished and available to order as made to measure or off the peg gowns from the RLBD Collection. Both dresses I umm-ed and aah-ed about certain aspects of, and if you follow me on Facebook you might remember that I asked for help with the bow (yes or no) on the front of Una, and the flowers (yes or no) on the tulle skirt of Florence. The feedback was really useful and in the end Una has no bow on the front, and a smaller bow on the back, and Florence has flowers on the tulle, but can easily be made without them. (Please forgive the picture quality, I took these on my phone for quickness.) I hope you like the dresses.

Continuing with a real wedding, here is Shelby in her stunning bespoke lace fishtail wedding gown, getting married in Italy. The wedding dress features hand appliquéd lace throughout (it took many, many days to sew the lace on in the summer heat last year - phew!) The dress also has an 'eyelash' lace trim around the neckline and shoulder detail, and a ribbon trim with beaded motif at the waist. It fits her like a glove and she looks gorgeous! :-) (Please forgive blurry picture.)

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?

Well it's February already, and feels a bit late to be saying Happy New Year! But there you go, better late than never! I hope you had a good festive season. January always feels like a strange month, quiet yet productive. I've been working on a wedding dress and coat combination that is now almost finished, but the wedding hasn't happened yet. Once it has, I can show you. I thought I'd show some pictures of my studio. This was prompted by some comments from a bride last year, who said that she felt slightly daunted by not knowing what to expect before she arrived! I have often had relieved comments from people once they've met me, having been braced to meet someone scary, and then they see me and that I'm normal! I'm not some stick thin fashionista who's going to call the fashion police! My studio reflects me, I hope. It's functional and is definitely a work space, rather than a show room. There's a bit of editor...

Well the sewing machines are cooling down as the last of the Christmas wedding dresses are finished and waved goodbye to! It's been such a busy year work-wise this year. The busiest since I left my King's Parade premises in 2008 to work at home, and then in my new garden studio in summer 2014. Thank you to everyone who wore one of my wedding dresses this year, and every previous year! I really appreciate your custom. It's more about just 'custom' though, which sounds very...impersonal. Having someone actually choose me to make their wedding dress is a huge honour and means such a lot to me. It's a responsibility I take very seriously and is difficult to explain how much it means to me, and how much care and energy, both physical and psychic I put into your dress! Also a big thank you to Lindsay and Chloe, both of whom have helped create this years dresses with me. You have both been an enormous help. :-) xx *THANK YOU EVERYONE!* If you're read...