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
Ph Credit - Eve Hopkinson Photography
