Steve and Abi's gorgeous September Wedding

Abi and her mum came to us in the beginning of the year and asked about bridesmaids dresses, we knew straight away this would be an amazing wedding with such contemporary and sophisticated style.
They decided for 2 styles of dresses in the same theme, so skirt and belt detail was the same on all 4 dresses, and then 2 different necklines, 2 v-neck dresses and 2 strapless. The dresses have light boning and zip at the back and are fully lined. The fabric was a soft drapey satin in coffee colour and it had an ivory sash to match Abi's dress.
We had a lot of arranging appointments to do as Abi's 4 bridesmaids stayed as far away as, London, Dubai, China and Australia... never one to miss a wee challenge we said, "no problem, let us know when the bridesmaids are about, and we will get the dresses done in time" and so we did.
Apart from the fact that everybody was so lovely to work with it was so nice that all our "wedding friends" were also involved, Planet Flowers, on their website you can see all the flower designs on the blog. Heather's Cakes, CherryTree Films and Heritage Portfolio And Gorgeous photographs from Lindsay Watson.

Victorian lilac satin chiffon and lace

Susie's brief to me about her wedding dress, was that she wanted a dress which was easy to wear, and one that was not the traditional wedding dress, and one that was in a lovely colour. She had looked in a lot of different places before coming to us, and failed in her attempt to get a special dress for her Wedding Day.

She went for this Victorian lilac pure silk satin with ruched satin chiffon on the bodice part. she had V-neck and covered buttons and a godet at the back.
Her bolero was made in matching lace.
We were so pleased with the final result, and excited when it was Cate Gillon, at Weddings By Cate who was doing the photography, as i have met her a few times, and never actually done a wedding with her, so that i was so pleased about.
Susie told me how the day was made so special by the Ceremony at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Murrayfield Avenue, (Episcopal Church ) with the Reverend Dean Fostekew and the reception at The Caledonian Hotel where the staff surpassed expectations at the Wedding Breakfast.

Bridesmaids!, have your say

We make a lot of bridesmaids dresses, and this year we have been working on a few weddings with very pale colours, neutrals, nudes and pale pinks.
Gone are the day days where the bridesmaids are just told to have to turn up wearing a specific colour and style. Usually we have an initial meeting with the bride, and if the bridesmaids can come that is great, i try to take ideas from everyone involved on board, as it is important everyone feels happy with the result.
I create several designs and fabric combinations, and it then gets approved before we start making the dresses.
We have so much choice, in fabrics and colours and style, that you can have exactly what you like.
We often have groups of bridesmaids with specific requirements, such as pregnent bridesmaids, younger teenagers to match the adult bridesmaids, but with a style which is appropriate for their age, and also flowergirls.. We also sometimes make a dress for doll or teddy to match for the younger ones. Often we make the bridesmaids dresses in very short time, if the bridesmaids lives abroad, and only arrive days before the wedding.
Here are a couple of examples from this season.

Photograph by: Kieran Dodds

Photograph by: Kieran Dodds

Scalloped laced edged dress over pure silk

When Kirsten first came to visit us about her wedding dress, she had experimented a lot with the silhouette of the dress, and by then knew exactly what she wanted. She had not made a decision on the lace or if she wanted a ruched silk dress. She decided in the end for the lace. I am glad she did, it worked perfectly with the romantic setting of Edinburgh Botanics. They were so lucky, the weather was great enough for the ceremony to take place outside.
The flowers were really lovely and supplied by Planet Flowers.
Kirsten's dress, had a sweet heart neckline, an internal lace up corset and buttons and loops at the back. The netting in the back of the dress was attached to a bustle, which could come up and the dress could then loop up for the dancing.
The whole feel of the wedding was that of a romantic summer party. Very pleased with the result, and it was lovely working with you, we wish Kirsten and Jamie all the best for their new life in South Africa.

Gorgeous Butter-fly girl with matching doll

We don't make very many dresses for little girls, but we did have the very great pleasure this year to make this dress for Karen's gorgeous bridesmaid.
The dress was made in duchess satin, and then we had lots and lots of netting of different weights on top of the satin. on the top layer of netting we fixed little butterflies, made in silk organza, some of them had hand beading of swarovsky crystals on the "body" of the butterflies.
The velvet ribbon on the waist had a fixed bow at the back. in this way she could swirl and swirl without the bow coming undone.
Karen's niece just couldn't stand still while we fitted her dress, she was the cutest thing. There was an extra surprise for her... a little dress for her doll was made as a mini me of the dress.
I feel a bit sorry for Karen, it was her wedding but i think her gorgeous butterfly girl stole a bit of her attention.

Robyn in Chantilly lace at Ospisdale House

When Robyn first enquired about having her wedding dress made by us, she knew about our shop from having been an apprentice Gardener at Edinburgh Botanics, and walked passed our shop everyday.
Robyn knew she wanted a soft light dress, which was like a wedding dress, but easy for her to wear and move around in and feel comfortable in on her Wedding day.Ospisdale House with the use of the gorgeous grounds and the marquee in the garden.
She decided for a soft satin dress, with minimum boning and internal lace up, it had a very fine Chantilly lace overlay. The dress had satin covered buttons and loops and a keyhole neckline at the back. The colour is called Porcelain and is just one shade lighter than Ivory.
The look of the whole wedding is soft and romantic and really matched the setting perfectly.
Andy Allan kindly supplied the photographs of the wedding, Andy has taken lots of different types of photographs as you can see on his website, but he has recently stated doing weddings, and i think he captured this wedding very well and in a really relaxed manner.