City Sleek Vintage Glamour

Claire came to see me in May last year. She had some great ideas for the style she wanted for her wedding, a very sophisticated city wedding. Her reception venue was The Scotsman Hotel, she wanted all the vintage glamour she could manage, but in a very sophisticated sleek way, no bohemiean feel to it.
Claire was in the process of loosing weight, she had done amazingly well even before i met her first time, so i knew, she knew what it took to meet her target. The funny thing was her body had changed shape so much that she really didnt know what suited her new shape, never mind the shape she would be at the wedding.
We made some plans for the dress and arranged to meet up in August to start her dress. When she arrived, she looked amazing, and she was all up for exploring what styles she could now wear, which wouldn't have suited her before.
She opted for a V-Neck bodice in pure silk Satin, and she had a slight fishtail skirt, in the duchesse satin as well, then she had a silk organza overlay with lots and lots of frills at the back.. they were such fun to make... was it about 60 meters of it?... something like that. Claire also had a little jacket in a fine Ottoman silk. (thats a weave which gives a ribbed texture like you get on a grossgrain tape.
We were thrilled to have some of our favorite wedding suppliers involved,  Joyce Paton made the amazing head dress, and some of our best wedding friends  Blue Sky Photography took the photographs.
Claire said me to after her wedding:
"You were great and I don't understand why everybody doesn't have their dress bespoke to them - much better than buying of the shelf!”

Debbie's Dress

Debbie's Dress

Debbie contacted us last winter and we had a wee chat about her dress. Debbie was great she had firm ideas about what she wanted. she wanted no train, and and easy to wear dress for her wedding day. Her and David, had decided they were going to get married on her Auntie and Uncles farm and wanted to keep the summery rustic feel to her day.

The result was beautifull, she had her dress made made in a matte pure silk duchesse satin, it has an overlay of a lovely really fine lace with a floral pattern. The dress was fully lined with the lining handstiched down to enclose all seams. The dress was constructed so it had boning and an internal lace up, and a concealed zip over.

The bolero was seperate, but completed the dress beautifully.

It was a joy to work with Debbie, and we think that the way that Mirrorbox Photographyhave captured their wedding is just stunning.

Love My Dress Soiree

In the summer we got an invitation to the LoveMyDress Soiree. Love My Dress Blog is a great inspiration for us wedding people and brides. It's a great source of ideas and great to keep up to date at all times. The Soiree was to be a big get-together of all wedding suppliers in the UK. We are a quite close knit group, we are all active users on Facebook and Twitter. I feel so very very lucky to have such supporting and talented colleagues.

The event was amazing. The amount of organisation which must have gone into every detail of the decoration of the place, the entertainment, burlesque dancers and the musicians, the costumes, everything was out of this world.

The dress code for the Soiree was "Very Vintage and Very Glam" none of us would be one to miss an opportunity like this. With lots of help from my fabulous staff, I made my own dress in silk chiffon, its a double circle skirt, and silk satin as the lining. The bodice is covered in Chantilly lace which i dyed, a mix of French Rose and Reindeer Beige (that doesn't really sound that glamorous, but it was.. see for yourselves!). It was laced up at the back and had a ruched halterneck. All us girls went for a "period" make-over, and it was much fun

Here are some of the photographs, kindly supplied by Elementalwedding Photography Blue Sky Photography Cherrytree Films Archibald Photography and my accessories came from Rene Walrus

Re: Make summer workshop in Cromrie Croft

My Friend Fiona McGarva is a very talented lady, she is a recognised glass artist, Fiona McGarva and like me she is very interested in issues relating to both education and the environment.

It seemed a brilliant idea, that she together with her husband Danny Gilbert was to set up her company called Re:make. re:makescotland Re:make is a social enterprise. The main aim to educate people to get new skills and to learn to make new beautiful things out of old stuff, scraps or unwanted things.

Remake's summer workshop programme was amazing lot of workshops to teach children and adults different skills and to experience the satisfaction of creating something from the idea to finish, from scraps or unwanted things.

My educational background is from the Danish Free school system. Schools, which are curriculum and exam free. My personal opinion is that only by moving away from curriculum and let children (and adults) have access to tools and materials, only then can they move on to develop creative skills and invent things. The way the world is today, this is the most important skill anyone could achieve.

Well with all this background i was very proud when Fiona asked me if I wanted to come and teach at a workshop at Comrie Croft in the summer workshop programme.

I chose the subject "Boutique Broaches" and i could not believe how talented my pupils were, they all made at least 2 broaches and they were all gorgeous and perfectly wearable.

I want to share a feel of the day with you with these photographs. For me, it was a very different day, and very rewarding to work with such lovely ladies.