Bespoke wedding dress Guildford

beaded ivory wedding dress for mature bride

I made this bespoke wedding dress Guildford for beautiful Nicola. I made a simple and elegant dress in pale gold and buttermilk coloured soft silk satin and ivory beaded lace. The dress has a fitted and softly boned bodice in layered silk and lace with the pretty scalloped edging used to soften the line of the waist. I finished the bodice with v-neckline and integral inch wide straps with a clean edge.

I created the skirt as a soft bias-cut fishtail, hanging in soft folds at the front hem and spreading into a small train at the back. It is pleated into the waist with a half star of ruching emanating from the centre. The back has a godet panel of lace to echo the bodice, the the scalloped edging used on the hem and fading out around to the sides. The dress closes with a concealed zip at centre back and is fully lined.

I also made Nicola’s bridesmaids’ dresses, more pictures can be seen here.

bride and her daughter bespoke dresses

Nicola with her daughter in the dresses I made for both of them.

bespoke wedding dress draped skirt and boned bodice
concealed zip back wedding dress with lace train

For sale

This dress was brought back to me after the wedding as Nicola hopes it might find a new home and another happy wedding to attend. You can visit my Etsy shop to see more details of the pre-loved dress for sale, or contact me directly and visit my studio to try it on.

freeman9 mature bride ceremony aisle chapel train
just married bespoke wedding dress
silk satin pale gold and ivory beaded lace bridal gown
hidden something blue wrist loop for train

Using the wrist loop to keep the train off the grass, practical and pretty!

 wedding dress vneck with straps and straight skirt
freeman4
mature bride with her son lace godet train
champagne bride pale gold satin vneck bodice

Making Nicola’s bespoke wedding dress Guildford

original design sketch bias cut wedding dress

Original design sketch for Nicola’s dress

 fitting picture finished dress dressmaker

Pictures from Nicola’s final fitting of the bespoke wedding dress Guildford

bridal detail of draped wedding skirt silk crepe satin

Detail of the beaded lace scalloped edging and the pleated skirt into the waist.

beaded ivory lace with scalloped edge godet insert train

Above and below: showing the train spread out and hooked up for dancing

bustle up for train fitting picture
fitting picture something blue tradition train wrist loop
beaded ivory lace bodice and ruched skirt wedding dress

I love making dresses for mature brides. So to see more examples of dresses for brides over 40 see this blog post.

Lace wedding dresses are another speciality of mine. I show lots of examples in this dedicated blog post about lace wedding dress styles.

If you are looking to find a venue near Guildford, the famous West Horsely Place (Button house) is a good place to start.

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Felicity Westmacott

I write about all aspects of weddings, dressmaking, fashion history, and the human relation to clothing. I welcome comments and debate.

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Even though Rebecca lives in Germany, she sought me out specifically to make her bespoke wedding dress. She had seen my colour work and fantasy-inspired designs, and decided I was the perfect fit for her (pun intended!). 

She wanted a wedding dress fit for an ethereal princess, complete with this stunning pastel rainbow gradient. This kind of effect can't be achieved with dip dye. I had to use a different technique; ombre-dying. 

If you feel like you should have been born as an elven queen in a romantasy novel, then I might just be the right person to bring that dream to life ✨
Destination Vegas. Rockabilly bride. Halloween vibes. 
Sounds like the perfect wedding.

Gorgeous goth Ellie got married in Las Vegas on Halloween. She wanted something alternative, retro and a little spooky. She realised she was never going to find that with an off-the-rack wedding dress. That's where I came in.

I designed and made her white and purple wedding dress with a wonderful blend of 1950’s and 90's shapes, modern styling and subtle Halloween Vixen detail. Harkening back to when Halloween was a little more stylish - perfect for this gothic bombshell. Below the boned bodice, I ruched and layered white satin over sumptuous shot black/purple taffeta and layers and layers of white net. The white satin was spangled all over with hand sewn crystals, ready to sparkle under the Vegas lights. 

My favourite detail? The hand beaded spider web made from Swarovski crystals. Spooky but subtle.
As a seamstress there are certain things that give me the ick. Usually they're pretty specific and unless you're also a dressmaker it might be something you're completely unaware of.

I've always had a ‘thing’ about language generally. I find it really interesting. I've noticed how strong a reaction I can have to people using language differently to what I’m used to. And when I notice that I often go on a bit of a deep dive to understand where that difference stems from. I think coming from a historical costuming background also means I love to know the history of things (and despite my instinctive language-conservative leanings, I do actively work on being accepting and open minded, trying celebrate the differences).

That said, please don’t say your dress has a trail!

Snails have trails - dresses have trains! 🐌
emailme@felicitywestmacott.co.ukTEL 07762 543230TOUCHGet in
from design to completionbespoke wedding dressesFelicity Westmacott
Dorking, RH4 1RT241 High Street• Visit the Studio •
Dorking, RH4 1RT241 High Street• Visit the Studio •
emailme@felicitywestmacott.co.ukTEL 07762 543230TOUCHGet in