The Beauty of Couture
Put quite simply, a couture designer bridal gown experience is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that every woman should have at some point in her life. The chance to design a dress where nothing is off limits is life changing. So long as you have the ability to dream, the couture experience has the capacity to consider and redefine everything imaginable.
The process begins with exploration, testing, examining concepts and ideas until you find a thread of thought that mirrors the image that the client holds in her head. Whilst every bride just wants to look elegantly amazing, being happy in your own skin means total acceptance of who you are as a person along with the shape that you have. It is also helpful to remain open to the entire process of designing a couture gown as doing so often produces results that far exceed the original idea with great results and a contemporary twist.
Getting to know my latest bride Dominique was unforgettable. Her passion and ability to tell her story was captivating. Dominique had dreamt of being a princess her whole life andnow that she had the chance, she wanted it all! Just listening to her paint a picture in words of exactly what she wanted, is what makes this job so satisfying. I don’t expect brides to have all the answers right at the start of the process. I just expect total honesty and trust that we can deliver.
So, when Dominque and I met for the first time and I asked her to explain her goals in one short sentence, her response was quite extraordinary. “I simply want to have fun“.
Endless Style
There is a certain element of surprise when working with a new bride, and our bride was very clear about her style. Dominque was adamant that she had no interest in following protocol or rules and that their plans centered on having a huge celebration abroad to mark the event. She was very insistent on choosing a colour that could be reused for a separate function she had plan later in the year. Being of French heritage and always impeccably dressed, she wanted to remain classic and understated but, with a wow factor in her choice of design.
The Making of the Couture Bridal Gown
The gown is constructed using a combination of the finest mid grey tulle overlaid unto rose tulle and silver grey tulle for a tonal effect. There is a concealed internal corset and a inner slip that is crafted in rose shaded tulle. With the end goal of getting as much wear as possible after the wedding, we designed the slip so that it can be detached and worn by itself under a sheer black lace or tulle gown for a completely different look.
The bead work was deconstructed from a larger embellished tulle sample and reworked to create abstract ‘coins of varying sizes and splattered to fall diagonally across the the front and swirling around the body to the back hem.
In her own words below, my client describes the journey to finding a dream wedding dress.
My partner started to feel like “The Dress Widower”. For a couple of weeks, every night I would spend hours scrolling through the Internet in search of inspiration for my wedding dress. He told me I was obsessed with it and he couldn’t understand what it was all about.I had to explain to him that from an early age we (little girls) dream of being a princess – blame Disney for that! – but from Cinderella to Snow White, and many others since, the fairytale wedding has been instilled in our subconscious. Every little boy want to be the white knight in shiny armour and my beloved has certainly not grown out of that. But on my wedding day, I just want to make the dream come true with a little help from my dress maker ; )
Cynthia Grafton-Holt Couture is a highly respected British Couture wedding dress designer. Her bridal studio is located in North London Wembley,Park, close to the designer village. The wedding gowns in the atelier are all handmade and crafted in London with Cynthia personally overseeing every aspect of the appointment and the production from concept to completion.
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