Category Archives: Blog

Attire Bridal Up & Coming Designer

Attire Bridal recently got in touch with me to interview me about my first bridal collection

Q. How long have you been in the bridal business?

I studied fashion at University and spent my summers working for bespoke milliners like William Chambers, so my transition into the wedding industry was a gradual one. While we made a lot of our hats for horse racing fans, my favourite clients were always the mothers of the brides. My sister got married in 2014 and that was my first experience working with a bride, and from then I knew that I wanted to build my own business. As soon as I had this realisation, I wanted to learn as much as possible from as many industry professionals as I could, which led to working for Joyce Young in Glasgow, before setting up my own label in January 2016.

Q. What do you think defines your own collection?

I am inspired by the fine art wedding movement, and I try to embed nostalgic, romantic vibes into all of my work, using soft and beautiful high quality fabrics. The aim, within all of my designs, is to weave historical artistic references throughout the collection to create a timeless atmosphere while still feeling fresh and contemporary. Q. What makes your designs stand out from other bridal labels?

As a small, independent label, my brand has the agility to react quickly to changes in bridal trends - which often means I can get slightly ahead of the curve. Almost everything I produce is a bespoke, one-off piece for particular brides, which means I spend a lot of time with my clients and have a very unique relationship with them. My timeless style appeals to refined, sophisticated brides planning beautifully styled weddings.

Q. What influences have played a major part in your first bridal collection?

My first bridal collection was heavily influenced by a trip to Florence around the time that I started designing. The soft champagne tones, draped silks and delicate silhouettes all feel like they could be in a painting by my favourite renaissance artist, Botticelli. I tried to blend these pattern-like drapes into the collection in a pragmatic, contemporary manner.

Q. Tell us a bit about the construction techniques that you’ve used?

One of the things that is very important to me is that the dresses are comfortable to wear. I want brides to be able to dance, eat and enjoy the most special day of their lives, so much of my construction is centred around how to minimise bulky linings, tight corseting and heavy underskirts and still have the dress feel really special and bridal. I also use fake button-up backs and hidden zips so the dresses are as easy as possible to slip in and out of, 100% silk linings that feel great against your skin, and cuts and silhouettes that don't require heavy structure to look great on the day.

Q. Do you have a favourite gown, and why?

It's really difficult to pick just one out of the collection, and some of the big favourites have been unexpected like the Billie Separates, which were my best seller for 2016. I love the movement from the dove-grey chiffon skirt on the Elin, but my personal favourite is the Maymie regency-inspired lace dress, which reminds me of Jane Austen novels and my sisters.

Q. Have you won any awards for your designs?

At the end of last year, I won The Wedding Industry Awards "Best Newcomer" award for the South West, and I was on the shortlist for the national award, alongside finishing runner-up in the South West category for Best Dressmaker/Designer, only beaten by an industry veteran, which I feel vindicates the hard work I've put in over the last twelve months. I'm also going to the finals of the South West Wedding Awards, for their "Best Newcomer" category. Of course the best prize is when brides are really pleased with their finished dress, and bring me thank-you chocolates.

Q. Where can people get a glimpse of your gowns?

The best place to see galleries of my dresses is on my website. You can see all of the dresses expertly photographed by the super-talented Rachel Rose Photography on my "collection" pages, and I update new photo galleries in the blog every Wednesday. I'm also a big Instagram fan, so the a great way to see what I'm up to is to follow me at @ailsamunrodressmaker.

Q. Where do you see the business in five years?

I would love for my dresses and style to be more widely available, and to grow my business to have a ready-towear line available in bridal boutiques or online. The core of my business however will always be about providing my clients with the best possible personal service and making them feel incredibly special on their wedding day

Bespoke Choice

*This post first appeared on Pasties and Petticoats*

There is a test with jam samples in a supermarket. It says that when faced with too many choices, customers were ten times less likely to buy jam, because they were overwhelmed by their options. If you’re offered one of six, rather than one of twenty four, your much more likely to walk away with some jam.

This presents a bit of a problem when you’re planning  a wedding – you’re faced not just with the massive, overwhelming selection of suppliers, but what if each of them also offer a completely personalised service?

I make bespoke wedding dresses, and it’s a point of pride to me that I can make you exactly what you want for your wedding day. I know this provides a lot of choice in comparison to buying off the peg and this can appear overwhelming, but don’t let this put you off. The benefits of bespoke are plentiful, just use these simple tips to help focus on what you want…

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What do you really NOT want?

If you don’t know what you want, tell me what you would do anything to avoid.

Some brides can’t think of anything worse than not being able to wear one of their comfy bras on their wedding day. Others tell me stories about weddings they went to where the bride couldn’t move, or dance, or eat, and want more than anything to be able to move and dance and eat on their wedding day.  Sometimes what you don’t want is more abstract – perhaps you don’t want to blend in with all the brides you see on social media. This is a great starting point for your dress, and you can keep coming back to it if you get swept away in wedding madness.

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What do you want to be able to do in your dress?

It is so easy to have a clear idea of what you want and then be swept away by the fishtail or the massive train or the 7 tulle underskirts. But what looks amazing standing still in front of a fitting mirror might become a giant cramp in your wedding style when you’re trying to strip the willow (mostly Scottish brides), pick up your niece or do a wheelbarrow race (family traditions are weird). My advice is to think about the whole day, and what you’re really going to be comfortable, warm/cool and happy in. Most of us are not used to wearing big skirts and boned corsets for long periods of time, with the obvious exception of Shakespearean actresses, and would be much more comfortable in something less formal.

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How much do you really want to spend?

The wedding industry is a place where you really do get what you pay for. So one of the really crucial factors to decide before you start shopping for a dress is to decide how much you want to pay for your dress. If you don’t want to spend more than £1000, you probably won’t be able to afford to have a train. If you want to spend less on your dress than on your ring (like my sister), that will limit you again. It will be easy once you’re trying dresses on to try and eek up the budget- and maybe having the veil of your dreams IS more important than having a photo booth, but make sure you know where the contingency money is coming from before you commit to a dress.

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I hope that gives you a bit more direction, not just with your dress but will all the aspects of your wedding. It might seem like you don’t know what you want, and it may be difficult to articulate, but you will already have a fairly good idea of what it is that you want. If in doubt, a really good idea is to pick supplier who’s work you like and trust them to do their job. Getting your photographer or dressmaker to recommend other suppliers is a great way of making sure the styles work together cohesively.

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A Fairytale in France

There were two things that made this photo shoot as incredible and magical as it was, and that was the gorgeous location, and the incredible friendly people.

I found Cottonwood Studios on Instagram in the summer last year, when they posted a picture of Eguisheim, the cutest little town ever. I don't remember exactly what I commented, but it was something along the lines of "this town is adorable, can we do a shoot here?" and Kari, one half of Cottonwood Studios more or less said "okay". It sounds insane that I agreed to travel to France from that short of a conversation but it worked so well!

I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed being part of making them

Bridal Preparation Shoot

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"A styled shoot aiming to capture the feeling of bridal preparations – my favourite part of any wedding day. I just love to capture that electric atmosphere of excitement, anticipation, nerves and the moments of quiet contemplation. During this shoot I tried to draw on some of those emotions whilst showcasing the incredible work of some talented local suppliers, as well as the beauty of my absolute favourite wedding venue, Tresillian House."

Arianna Fenton

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