someone, please?

Somebody please get married wearing this, yes? 

  And maybe you would like to do it here? 

 And have these guys cater it? 

And these guys play at it? 

And Sophie will do the flowers? Yes? That would be nice. 

And maybe we could photograph it? 

It would be lovely. 

Pinky swear.

* photo of the dress via ASOS. 

origami dress

It's been a long time since I got excited about a wedding dress. I mean, I've seen plenty that are pretty and plenty that are lovely but one that I couldn't stop thinking about? Not for ages. We still get sent a bunch of wedding magazines for the business and I spotted this insane Rosa Clara dress in an issue of Brides* an issue or so back.

I'm aware that there are like 10 people in the world who could get away with wearing an origami dress and I look at it, picture myself in it and I see a tomato sauce stain on the front. But I love it.

* (which, btw, we are featured in this month)

image courtesy of Rosa Clara

With this wedding she is killing me...

Of course we knew it would be gorgeous, but this gorgeous? Celia is surely trying to kill us dead with beauty and love and ostriches and stuff.

* Photos of Celia and Jo's wedding by Cathryn Farnsworth and via East Side Bride

Can I have an ohmygawd...

delicious confections from Marchesa's Spring 2010 Collection
via Coutorture

White owls and Le animal

I love this eco-friendly wedding dress by Leanimal on etsy. Draping and folding are my very favourite things in a garment, followed closely by super soft silky fabrics that are good for snuggling in.

I also like old lace and recycled bits of stuff and these necklaces by Whiteowl are tickling my fancy...




. images courtesy of the respective sellers on etsy

tutu tulle...

This picture delights me.


. image courtesy of The Image is Found

butter and cream....

Dresses....

they make me flutterly
they're so buttery
and creamy
and soft.

* I wanted to wear such a slinky soft dress to our wedding but I wasn't comfortable with our wedding guests becoming so intimately acquainted with my belly button and being able to count my ribs during the ceremony.


. images courtesy of Alix and Kelly

Buttery silk and peach ribbons....

I am completely in love with this John Galliano dress as worn by the bride of the wedding du jour. It might just be the prettiest dress I've ever seen.


. photos by Ashley Garmon

dresses, pretty dresses

In burnt orange, dove grey, storm blue or antique ivory any of the dresses from Catherine Deane's 2009 collection would make a gorgeous wedding dress. Or awards ceremony dress, charity ball dress, banquet dress....

It makes me sad that I live a life lacking in balls, banquets and awards ceremonies. I see extravagant dresses and I think 'Oooh, wedding dress. Crap, I'm already married.'


. images courtesy of Catherine Deane

Ruffles....

And just in case we forget that I'm a contrary sort of a girl, these ruffles make me ever so happy. I want to roll around in them and ruffle them up and perhaps pretend to be five years old and hide my head among the layers.



. pictures from Instyle, dresses by Vera Wang.

White Dresses and Small Regrets...

I don't really hold with regrets (I could pretend it's a philosophical approach to life but really I'm just too lazy and my attention span isn't long enough) but every time I see a short white dress I feel most uncomfortable that I succumbed to long, lacy, over-priced wedding dress. I like this one from French Connection. It makes me want to do the wedding again. (better)

I did like my dress, I loved it in fact. And our wedding was pretty good too. But I can't help but think that if we were planning it now it would be a very different and much more relaxed affair.

Is that bollocks though? Is it only looking back from the safe distance of eight months that makes wedding planning seem really not. that. difficult? That it really doesn't need to be that stressful, that organised, that efficient. That it could be pulled off in a matter of weeks with a matter of pennies and it would still be wonderful, better even?

Lovely dress, lovely lady, lovely morning....

Doesn't she look like a Greek goddess? Or perhaps a very stylish Oscar winner?

Kristina (of Lovely Morning) has picked what looks like the most simply stunning dress and I can't wait to see it from the front. Guessing from her stunning invitations and generally exquisite taste I am imagining it will be a very stylish affair.

Images courtesy of Lovely Morning.

Audrey, Elizabeth and Rose...

This is my wedding outfit of the day....

1920s inspired flapper chic, inspired by the too gorgeous for words headpiece by etsy seller Sweets n lo. Combined with the Marchesa dress, photographed by Karen Mordechai, that I will love forever and these Emmy shoes which I adore. I would dance all night in this outfit.

A bit of froth...

I love this dress, as worn by Marcia Cross who plays my favourite tv character ever, from Elie Saab's Fall 2008 Couture collection. If I was picking a wedding dress today it would be tea length with lots of tulle.


Today I love tulle.



Photo 1 from Style.com.

Jenny Packham....

Jenny Packham is one of my very favourite dress designers. Her dresses are truly beautiful and the antithesis of the strapless white meringue. They were the first wedding dresses that made me go 'ooh, pretty' and the first wedding dresses that made me think that a long white dress might just be for me.

They range from the epitome of pretty to the epitome of sexy, evoking woodland fairies or 1930s Hollywood sirens. I desperately wanted to look like a Hollywood siren, to ooze glamour and sexiness and with the trepidation of someone who has found something that they think might just be perfect but who knows that they can't afford it I made an appointment at a terribly gorgeous and expensive dress boutique to try them on.

Unfortunately, or fortunately perhaps, if we are going to take into account my bank balance, my figure is a little more Twiggy than Rita Hayworth and looking in the mirror I felt like a stick insect draped in satin, horribly self conscious of my pointy hip bones and lack of curves. No matter how beautiful the dresses were on the hanger or how much The Boy and the shop assistant disagreed with me, I did not feel pretty. Or sexy.

Secretly I breathed a small sigh of relief. I was spared from spending the next 18 months chained to preloved.co.uk, hoping and praying that someone just the right size would be willing to give up just the right dress at just the right price, all the while pulling my hair out as the weeks and months ticked away.


I still love her dresses though and I still believe that they are the most gorgeous in the world. Even if they didn't live up to my dreams.


Some more images which aren't as pretty but show just how beautiful the dresses are. Just in case you need further convincing. I will however forgive you if you are not convinced by the orange lipstick. Why, in the name of all that is pretty, would you top off a dress like that with orange lipstick?.....



Paris, Berlin and Keira.

Tahlia, Papillion and Crystal.

All dresses by Jenny Packham and images from Brides Magazine