Off-Shoulder, Long-sleeved Lace wedding dress

Rebecca first came to see me on recommendation from a friend, well in advance of her wedding, and with a very firm idea of her design. But then, she had the wonderful surprise that she was expecting a baby, who was to arrive in the Summer before the Big Day.
After Rebecca had settled down with the new baby, I had just 2 months to create her design. She was so chilled and relaxed, which made it easy for me!

Rebecca had always wanted an off the shoulder dress, with long fitted lace sleeves being a feature. We originally played with the idea of a spotted tulle, but it just wasn’t working. Instead, we found a fine Chantilly lace, and embroidered the top of the sleeve and the neckline with a French lace. The cuff of the left sleeve was embroidered with the family’s initials.
A fitted and boned bodice was necessary to keep the dress up, and luckily that was part of Rebecca’s design wish list too! The bodice was embroidered with both the Chantilly lace as a base, and layered over with motifs cut from the French lace in a way that was sculpting and enhancing to the figure.
Rebecca was keen that the fabric of he skirt was quite ‘clean’ (well of course clean!!), what I mean is, that we eliminated seams, which usually sculpt the shape of the skirt, by cutting the skirt on the bias, adding as much flare as possible at the side seams. Cutting in this way leaves the front quite smooth, except for darts just below the waist, and these were covered with lace embroidered over the hips, leading from the sculptural pattern from the bodice.


Photography is by David Long who is based in Surrey