It’s still a good 14 months until I make an honest man of Pete, yet people keep asking me how the wedding planning’s coming along. My response tends to be “Calm down! It’s more than a year away!” while I add the 251st photograph to my Wedding Dress Pinterest board. Okay, so maybe I’ve given it a tiny bit of thought…
In fact, I’m lucky enough to have already found my dress designer so I have that part – literally – sewn up. Which means I can share some of the other incredible gowns I’ve been eyeing up (all of the non-traditional, non-meringue variety). Don’t get any ideas, Pete; mine really isn’t on here. And it’s definitely not that completely transparent one at the end.
The images above are from the 2014 & FOR LOVE Bohemian Love Collection, shot by Mckenzie James. I have no words for how awesome this shoot is. Need to brief our photographer to do our couples pics like this!
& FOR LOVE’s 2015 Wild Rose campaign is also insane, below.
Another bridal couture website where I can lose hours of my day is Halfpenny London, the brainchild of Kate Halfpenny. Kate is an award winning celebrity stylist and costume designer, so it’s no surprise that her collections are this beautiful…
You might sense a bit of a bohemian theme going on here. Pete and I are getting married at Langdon Court Hotel in South Devon, a country house surrounded by gardens, woodland and with a beach just a few minutes down the road. The pagoda where we plan to have the ceremony (weather permitting) even overlooks a vineyard, so the vibe is definitely going to be rustic, boho, floral crowns etc etc. Which means I’ve spent some time obsessing over the dresses below.
This long-sleeved beauty is from Minna Hepburn‘s dreamy 2016 bridal collection. I want it all.
Polka-dotted transparent layers became a bit of an obsession, from Barcelona designer Otaduy‘s dress above to the Katya Katya Shehurina ‘Emilia’ gown below.
A couple more Otaduy dresses…
And then this ethereal nightgown-dress from Lihi Hod’s 2014 collection – no words.
Continuing the boho vibe, these ALICE by Temperley dresses are wonderful. Love the back detail on the Long Hemingway Lace Back Dress, and the biker jacket with the Long Petal Dress.
A great Instagram to follow for long floaty dramatic gowns is The LANE (@the_lane). They post about other wedding things too and their table settings photographs are particularly wonderful. Not a sentence I ever thought I’d write. Anyway, this Jenny Packham Spring 2016 Bridal dress below appeared on their feed this morning.
Another designer sadly out of my budget is Samuelle. British designer Sam Walls Beasley mixes classical feminine styling with post-punk contemporary romanticism for her couture label, and the results are fabulous. I love the billowing, dramatic Althea gown in the Tatiana collection, below.
Finally, the sleeves on this Rue de Seine dress! The Vintage collection is everything wonderful about boho – lace, bell sleeves, off-shoulder necklines, floaty skirt layers… Love, love, love.
If we were getting married in London, we had our hearts set on Wilton’s Music Hall and a Gatsby style theme. My dress decision might have been a little different then, and this incredible Lanvin gown would have been top of my wish list (I’m assuming that if we’d been able to afford Wilton’s we’d be millionaires and would think nothing of spending £4000+ on a dress). Ugh, it’s amazing. The loose thirties shape reminds me of Keira Knightley’s to-die-for green dress in the famous library scene in Atonement.
For a more budget but happily eco-friendly option, I’d recommend checking out The Reformation. The LA brand is a blogger favourite, using only sustainable fabrics and vintage garments and incorporating sustainable practices throughout their supply chain. And did I mention that their dresses are absolutely gorgeous? One of my favourites from their Summer Wedding collection is this Sera dress…
And now something entirely different.
This is so simple but it’s one of my favourite looks of the lot: a luxurious cashmere jumper thrown over a long Richard Nicoll silk slip dress. I found this on one of my favourite wedding blogs (yes, I already have ‘favourite wedding blogs’ – not planning at all), Love My Dress. If anyone’s planning a wedding that’s slightly bohemian or alternative, you have to check it out. Anyway, I love how comfortable and happy the bride looks in this; as someone who’s ‘ruined’ countless black tie outfits with a giant sweater as soon as the temperature drops, I completely get it!
This post wouldn’t be complete without a selection of my favourite open-back style gowns… I love backless designs on everything from tops to dresses, and it’s the perfect way to sex up an otherwise demure bridal look (not all of these are particularly demure actually, but you get the idea).
Images above from The Wedding Diaries – follow their beautiful Insta account @the_weddingdiaries
Amanda Wakeley strapless silk mikado dress
Felicia dress by Dana Bolton
And finally, from a risqué back view to some more ‘out there’ dress ideas. I love these, but my grandparents would absolutely disown me. Damn!
Belle & Bunty Ready to Wear
Orchid maxi dress from For Love & Lemons
Kaviar Gauche Papillon D’Amour Dress
For Love & Lemons Luau maxi dress
Now to start planning JD’s outfit…
Wonderful….I want to say that these all dresses are superb and amazing.I like & loved all.My choice is also very special & always like special & pretty dresses.Thank you for sharing.
These are all the dream aren’t they? I could only imagine having a wedding dress as beautiful as any of these!
Tell me about it… I’m holding out for someone to magically gift me one of those Temperley ones 🙂
These are awesome non-traditional wedding dresses. Great ideas. Thanks for posting.
Fantastic non-traditional wedding dresses