An ode to my ASOS Bridal dress

As soon as I walked into an official "bridal" shop I knew I wasn't going to find a dress for me. The very lovely sales woman walked towards me with the biggest, voluptuous, netted dress I'd ever seen and I instantly shouted NO in my head. Whilst the dresses she showed me were beautiful and had sleeves (something I knew I wanted and needed for an October wedding), I knew these dresses were going to look ridiculous on me. 

In the shop I was advised that I may change my mind when I tried a few 'bridal' dresses on. I'm sure that can be true but to be very honest I didn't want that type of wedding dress. So I never tried any on, even after looking around a few dress shops. I don't regret it, I needed to feel like me. 

I've never been very Bridey and up until the point my boyfriend of 10 years proposed I'd never envisioned myself getting married, let alone in a huge white dress. 

At the beginning I thought about a coloured dress, I've always loved emerald green, that could

Work - but I knew I didn't want an extremely traditional wedding and a white/cream/ivory dress could add some tradition to the day. 

Many brides would not even think the highstreet/online highstreet was an option. Most brides want their dress to be original, a one of a kind and I get that but the latter comes at a price but the highstreet offers a whole array of gorgeous dresses at a fraction of the cost. 

I work in fashion and know what our Great British (online) high street has to offer. First I looked at designer white dresses that could pass for a wedding dress at Harvey Nichols then I searched John Lewis, Liberty, Monsoon and House of Fraser. Whilst theses outlets all had some beautiful dresses I didn't find that something unique that suited my style. 

ASOS BRIDAL 

ASOS is the brand I go too for my usual sartorial so why not for my wedding dress? I scrolled for many hours over many weeks before I found what those in the wedding business call 'the dress'. 

Yes searching for a dress online is time consuming. These dresses are not made to measure so you need to ensure it's a style that will suit your figure and in a fabric that looks expensive without actually being expensive. A plus side - around early spring new styles debut regularly giving lots of choice to choose from, finding the right dress was inevitable. It happened one Friday night, as soon as I saw it I loved it. But there was still the possibility that it wouldn't fit, we all know high-street fashion is not always true to size. When the DPD man knocked on my door some days later I was pleasantly surprised with how my purchase was packaged. No usual plastic ASOS packaging - instead a huge ASOS bridal box and garment bag containing my soon to be wedding dress.

I was very very lucky, the dress fit perfectly. I instantly knew I had picked the right dress. Yes, it's a high street dress so their are a few quality issues including some tucks around the bum area but overall this is a beautiful dress. The fabric quality and weight feel much more expensive than the £95 price tag.

On the day it received so many complements and I loved how unique this dress felt. I managed to portray my own personal style and most importantly without having to spend a fortune.  

Ph Credit - Eve Hopkinson Photography