Morning everyone! Wedding dresses and some behind-the-scenes pictures today… I wanted to tell you a little more about couture dress designer Erica Stacey. Erica has made a real splash in the Manchester and Cheshire wedding scene (if that’s the right word: is there a ‘scene’? Answers on a postcard please…) with the launch of her couture bridal wear brand at the luxurious Tatton Wedding Show in January. I’ve come across her name on Brides Up North wedding blog and seen her dresses featured in fabulous creative shoots by some of my favourite wedding photographers. This lady is making waves — with gorgeous designs and a fantastic commercial launch, allow me to introduce Erica Stacey Bridal Wear.

Erica Stacey Bridal Wear — Promotional Video Shoot with Love Gets Sweeter Films

Erica Stacey Bridalwear from Love Gets Sweeter on Vimeo.

Erica Stacey is a new bridal wear label which launched at the Tatton Wedding Show in January. All our dresses are unique and individual for the bride who wants something different for her big day. Our dresses are handmade in Manchester, England.

We originally met Charlene and Lee from Love Gets Sweeter films at The Tatton Wedding Show. We fell in love with their work and commissioned them to prepare a creative promotional video for us.

Behind the scenes at Erica Stacey bridal wear

We met with Charlene and worked together on the brief for a storyboard. Charlene was full of brilliant ideas and she immediately understood the look we wanted to achieve. Our idea was to create something which showed the uniqueness of our dresses, our design process and our attention to detail. Finally we wanted to showcase how our brides feel in one of our dresses on their special day.

We contacted the team at The Alexandra Court Hotel in Congleton and they kindly agreed to let us use their hotel as our location. The Alexandra Court is a beautiful boutique hotel full of character and charm. The management and staff were fantastic and couldn’t do enough for us. They ensured we had everything we needed and were on hand with much needed tea and biscuits throughout the day!

Finally, Laura Simpson from Laurel Weddings created some beautifully, elegant arrangements and bouquets to dress the ‘set’ and the whole day was captured by Hannah Dornford-May.



Initially Erica and our model Cath were a little nervous but Charlene made them feel at ease and the day went really smoothly. Everyone involved really enjoyed the day and towards the end the sun even shone which enabled us to make use of the beautiful gardens at The Alexandra Court.

Wedding suppliers involved

Erica Stacey Bridal Wear – www.ericastacey.co.uk

Love gets Sweeter films – www.lovegetssweeter.co.uk

Laurel Weddings — www.laurelweddings.com

Hair & Makeup by the wonderful Jeni Morris

Hannah Dornford May www.hdmphotography.co.uk

Model Cath Eccleston

Erica Stacey is making a bit of a splash… her bridal designs are exquisite; her launch campaign an inspiration to wedding businesses everywhere. See more:

• Erica Stacey bridal wear in a lavish Cherish The Dress™ shoot by Chris Hanley Photography on English Wedding Blog
• Art deco bridal inspiration shoot on Brides Up North wedding blog with Erica Stacey wedding dresses and photography by McAvoy Photography
• Erica Stacey bridal wear on facebook

Stumbling across exciting new designers and breathtaking photography is one of the best bits of being a wedding blogger. Erica Stacey is a bridal designer in Manchester whose first bridalwear collection was launched earlier this year. Erica’s inspiration comes from Art Deco, and her gowns are all made in the UK. Her wedding dresses are simply out of this world.

This is a collection I know you’ll adore. Beautiful bridalwear, beautifully photographed by Chris Hanley Photography. Chris is the creator of Cherish the Dress™, the exclu­sive fash­ion shoot where you are the model and your wed­ding dress is the star.

What better way to showcase such a fabulous bridalwear collection than a Cherish the Dress™ shoot at the Manchester Hilton. Chris Hanley is a master craftsman with lighting, a photographer with an eye for true beauty in photography and design.

Erica Stacey sources the most beautiful fabrics from around the world to create her distinctive and timelessly elegant bridal gowns. Delicate lace, floral patterns, soft silks — these gowns are bound to make any bride feel on top of her world — they’re wedding dresses you’ll truly cherish and enjoy.

About Cherish the Dress™

Cherish the Dress™ is an exclusive fashion shoot where you are the model and your dress is the star. Your whole photoshoot will be a delight and you will shine wearing your beautiful dress. There is, if you wish, room for passion too; the perfect opportunity to have pictures of tenderness with your man.

The post-wedding experience of a lifetime, with the originator and creator of this exclusive genre of photography

With absolutely no weather worries, you will begin your creative journey sipping champagne, whilst being pampered with professional make up and hair styling. Your pro photoshoot takes place in the award winning contemporary interior design of the Manchester Hilton and starts with an elevator ride to the bar in the sky “Cloud 23”. Overlooking the breath taking city skyline, you will feel beautiful, sophisticated and elegant as we create masterpiece fine art pictures. Your Cherish the Dress experience will be a memorable one giving you the opportunity to own an outstanding picture collection that will be enjoyed by you, your children and future generations of your family.

Find out more and get in touch with Erica Stacey www.ericastacey.co.uk

Erica Stacey wedding dresses are designed and handmade in England. Erica’s first collection was launched at The Wedding Show, Tatton Park in Cheshire, in January 2012. Her designs are truly beautiful and I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of Erica Stacey on wedding blogs over the months and years to come.

Credits:

• Photography by Chris Hanley Photography
• Dresses by Erica Stacey and Terry Keane
• Models: Jenny Brook,  Sarah Stone and Chris Moore
• Make up Jeni Morris

Cherish the Dress further information

Cherish the Dress is by Chris Hanley, the originator and creator of this genre of photography. www.cherishthedress.com

A little bit of a news flash for you this morning — for anyone looking for a designer wedding dress from one of the UK’s best: internationally renowned bridal designer Caroline Castigliano is holding a spectacular, not-to-be missed sample sale.

Caroline Castigliano wedding dress (Heaven)

Your opportunity to save 70% on a designer wedding dress!

Caroline Castigliano sample sale information:

• 1 week only
• 13 — 17 March 2012
• Berners Street boutique, London
• Up to 70% off stunning bridal gowns

This is your exclusive opportunity to take home something truly exceptional from the UK’s premier bridal designer, who has dressed some of the world’s most stylish women for their weddings and red carpet events.

Places are limited. To book your personal consultation and avoid disappointment, please call: 020 7636 8212

www.carolinecastigliano.co.uk

Love my job! OK this post goes… one for you, one for you, one for you, one for ME! I start out with the best of intentions to investigate the new bridal collections from Coast.

There are some beautiful wedding dresses there — prices average £600 and the designs are glamorous and elegant. They also go up to a size 18. Yay for Coast!

I urge you to have a peek at the new lines in Coast bridal collections for 2012. Here are my highlights, for you and your girls…

Coast highlights: for the bride

The Cora Lace Maxi Dress is totally Kate Middleton. I really do love lace… and if you want Kate’s look this is the one for you! Oh so elegant, and it won’t break the bank either with a nice £695 price tag.

Coast’s Miasara Duchess Satin Maxi Dress has all the Hollywood glamour you could wish for. I adore the neckline — Marilyn Monroe would have looked incredible in this one… and it’s just £395.

This is another favourite of mine: the Aston Duchess Satin Maxi Dress. With a little hint of Greek goddess, a sparkle around the waistline and a beautiful simplicity to suit everyone — this is a really pretty wedding dress for just £495.

 Coast highlights: bridesmaids

Coast bridesmaid dresses are perfect for the wedding day and your girls will wear them again and again. These are my favourites: above is the Symphony Maxi Dress in violet. It’s the most beautiful shape with an asymmetric drape at the front. There are also detachable straps so your bridesmaids can choose how to wear theirs. It comes in 10 colours and in sizes from 6 up to 18. Below: Symphony in pink (I love it, truly.) These are just £170.

If you’re looking for something different for your bridesmaids for your summer wedding, then this next dress is gorgeous: the Allure Maxi Dress comes in this deliciously light turquoise (the waist band ribbon tie and corsage make all the difference for a bridesmaid style, don’t you think?) — in a total of 9 colours and up to a size 18, this dress is just £180. It also has detachable shoulder straps, and the waist band ribbon and corsage are removable.

Coast highlights: flower girls

All together now: “awwwww!” Isn’t she cute! This flowergirl dress from Coast is in ages 2–3 up to 7–8 — pretty enough to make her feel like a princess as she walks down the aisle, and comfortable enough for tearing around the gardens during the afternoon! The dress is called Lara, and it has a ruched waistband, while the skirt is layered with a tulle petticoat. It’s just £75 from Coast online.

(and one for me!)

Ladies — this one’s mine. You can’t have it.

You’re allowed to look: The Kelly Maxi Dress — “a striking floor-sweeping gown that epitomizes glamour and sophistication”. Only in red. To wear for special occasions and while blogging, if you like. It says.

Have a great day ladies! I will!

Claire xx

This is a spon­sored Eng­lish Wed­ding blog post. (Click the link to see what this means.)

This morning as we all shiver our way through the day I have some more winter bridal inspiration to share with you. I loved this shoot, with beautiful images by wedding photographer Brett Symes –with help from make-up artist Tora Young and stylist Natalie Dale. Brett has photographed numerous bridal fashion shoots, many of which have ended up in the national wedding magazines. He told me, “it’s incredible how these shoots start in influence and spill over into the way in which I photograph a wedding”.

Winter wedding look one: ethereal lace

Lace is a huge trend in 2012 weddings. Kate Middleton made a big statement with her beautiful lace sleeves (the story of which still brings shivers up my spine: lacemakers having to wash their hands every 20 minutes, the lace so very delicate and fine) — but there’s none of the formality of Kate’s dress here. Lace is beautiful and ethereal, a fabric so intricate spiders could have made it for the queen of the fairies in a forest…

I used to make lace, by the way! Nothing like this…

Winter wedding look two: effortless elegance

My mum’s wedding dress was a little like this — my parents were married in December 1971 and she made her own wedding dress. The dress is beautiful with almost seamless white fabric, beautifully tailored and exquisitely elegant — for any bride proud of her figure, be she curvy or willowy — I adore this dress… there’s something comforting about the ruffles at the end of the sleeves here too!

Summer wedding — simply pretty cotton look

I adore the simple cotton dress this model wears — it’s lovely: proof that you don’t need a big designer wedding dress (if anyone needed proof!) to look beautiful for a summer wedding. This for me is the ‘girl next door’ look: pretty, sweet and innocent… yet there’s something alternative about this look and I’d say this particular girl next door is a free spirit: she doesn’t follow the crowd. She wears what she chooses, she knows she’s beautiful inside and out.

About wedding photographer Brett Symes

I asked Brett a little about his photography. He said, “I don’t think my style fits neatly into any of the boxes such as reportage or vintage. Perhaps I aim for a bit of a modern twist on classical but without the formality. I like to capture the proceedings of the day as they naturally unfold but I also love to add some input on the couple’s portraits to infuse them with style and glamour.”

Brett’s own story is a fascinating one. Although I’m based in Bristol, I pretty much work throughout the country, I frequently find myself in London or the Cotswolds.

I love the depth and breadth of photography that a wedding offers, from the grand ceremonial proceedings to the tiny delicate details. I also love the different photographic disciplines that come into play: portraiture, architecture, children, fashion, interiors.

I also think that wedding photography has dramatically changed over the last few years, or at least the perception of it has. There are some wonderfully talented photographers working in the wedding industry who are now proud to stick their hands up and say ‘YES, I’m a wedding photographer’. I think that wedding photography is now as creative, innovative and interesting as an other form of photography out there.

Prior to being a photographer I spent many years working in the film industry and had the luck & joy of working with visionaries such as Terry Gilliam and Sam Rami amongst others. So film is most certainly a key influence. Music is another major influence but it’s the magic that happens when you put music against film that is my driving force, the emotions that can be triggered, the places we can be transported to — that’s powerful stuff indeed — one of the great masters of this is Michael Nyman.

I also always love magazines, even from a very young age, I’ve always just grazed through them, taking in the images and the colour palettes more by osmosis than any conscious undertaking. It kind of saddens me the whole movement towards e-magazines, I like to be able to physically interact with what I’m looking at and reading, to turn a page over or rip a page out.

Interior design has also been a big influence or rather the photography of interior design has. I spent far too much of my childhood being dragged around numerous haberdashery shops by my Mum, I guess some of it had to rub off!

What does 2012 hold in store for Brett Symes Photography?

It’s a really exciting year ahead with some fabulous weddings to look forward to. I can’t quite believe that I’m shooting a wedding a St Paul’s Cathedral in February, I’ve got butterflies in my stomach already for that one, I can’t wait.

I’m also exhibiting at my First National Wedding show in March at the NEC, it will be great fun getting to meet with loads of brides-to-be. Do come along and say hello.

Links:

Website: www.brettsymesphotography.co.uk

Blog: www.brettsymesphotography.co.uk/my-blog

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Brett-Symes-Photography/154539654590328

Twitter: @BrettSymesPhoto

Caroline Castigliano is one of the UK’s favourite wedding dress designers and I’m delighted to say she’s joined The Elite on English Wedding with an interview for you today.

With a history of impressively elegant, gracious and luxurious wedding dress collections, the Caroline Castigliano brand is soon to celebrate 21 years in the wedding industry. It’s a fabulous achievement and an inspiration to see such quality and style from a bridal designer at the very top of her game.

 The Elite: Caroline Castigliano: an interview

Caroline, your gowns are so exquisitely made and with so much thought for movement and grace in the designs – to what extent are your dresses inspired by their wearers? When you design a new collection are you imagining the girls who’ll wear your gowns?

“Yes, I always consider the girl that will wear my gowns, I often pop into my Knightsbridge boutique so I am fortunate to be able to meet and see brides and really visualise exactly how I want them to look when I am designing a new collection.

“A Castigliano bride has a true sense of self – she knows who she is and wants her gown to express her personality and her style. Castigliano brides love the understated simplicity that we create but the beauty of the cut and luxury fabrics that we use create an incredible sense of power.”

Castigliano wedding dresses have that timeless elegance to them. Has the royal wedding influenced your styles for the coming season?

“Kate Middleton’s dress was beautiful and very much had the feel of a Castigliano gown – I haven’t designed anything differently in the sense of reflecting her dress, but a gown in the collection, ‘Mademoiselle’, has the slightly more contemporary feel of the Kate Middleton dress.”

Tell me about your typical bride – does she have a strong idea of what she wants from her wedding dress?

“Our typical bride knows she wants contemporary yet classic, understated style. She may already have a silhouette in mind but quite often that won’t be right for her and we will work with her on the overall impact and vision she wants to create so we know it will be perfection when she looks in the mirror. The balance and proportions of the gown with the structure and movement of the fabric will create her perfect dress.”

Who do you admire in the wedding industry? Do you work alongside other wedding suppliers: photographers, planners perhaps?

“From time to time we work with other wedding suppliers and of course wedding planners, and there are a lot of people in the industry I admire. Love & Lord have established a well-deserved reputation for planning divine weddings in Europe. We recently shot a new advertising campaign at The Dorchester on Park Lane and I think that the opulence of the hotel makes it an amazing venue for a London wedding. Jane Packer creates extremely beautiful floral displays and it was very sad to hear of her passing earlier this year.”

How do you see the Castigliano brand developing in the next 5 years?

“The next 5 years will be the most exciting and we will be 21 on the 10th January 2012! We have been developing the brand and selling around the world to independent retailers – we will continue this over the next few years and we also plan to branch off into a few other fields that are relevant to girls when they get married! I am afraid this is all a bit hush-hush so I can’t tell you exactly the plan but you’ll be seeing a lot of the Castigliano brand.”

Oooooh! I do love a cliffhanger! I’ll be watching Caroline Castigliano on facebook to uncover more of this intrigue!

You can meet Caroline Castigliano

Caroline will be travelling to her boutiques in Bath, Leeds and Edinburgh in January and February to meet brides and offer them her personal advice. This is a unique chance to meet Caroline and discuss your wedding gown and styling for your big day with the designer herself.

Caroline Castigliano Designer Days 2012:

• Saturday 14th January — CC Bath (01225 789 900)
• Saturday 28th January — CC Edinburgh (0131 558 3355)
• Sunday 5th February — CC Leeds (0113 234 0990)

Please note that Caroline anticipates high demand for appointments on Designer Days, so do book early with the appropriate boutique to avoid disappointment. More information

Caroline looks forward to meeting you in 2012!

(Watch this great interview with Caroline from Brides magazine — what a lovely lady she is! — and hear Caroline’s thoughts on 2012 wedding dress trends, Kate Middleton’s dress and more!)

‘Tis the season… for lots of lovely discounts off wedding dresses, it seems! Here’s another — save 30% off the Coast bridal collection from today until the 23rd of December.

The Bridal Collection from Coast

The Coast bridal collection embraces sensational and breathtaking designs that have been expertly crafted to make you take centre stage on your wedding day. Sophisticated and glamorous, the bridal styles combine soft feathers, feminine frills and dramatic draping for a truly romantic appeal. A style for every bride, choose from our deliciously opulent selection of gowns and make an unforgettable entrance on your wedding day…

To claim your discount simply quote ‘BRIDAL30’ at the checkout.

This is a spon­sored Eng­lish Wed­ding blog post. (Click the link to see what this means.)

David Fielden is a leading UK bridalwear designer, an inspiration to many, a creative force at the cutting edge of bridal fashion.

David’s catwalk shows never fail to create a buzz in the wedding industry, and his 2012 catwalk with its theme of urban decay — with the delicate subtext of love overcoming hardship — was no exception.

David Fielden: The Elite: an interview

I asked David to share a little insight into his collection, his inspiration and his designs.

David, your bridal catwalks always cause a stir: this year’s Urban Destruction theme was especially thought-provoking. Is there a philosophy behind the styling of your events?

“We live in an intransient time, with world affairs effecting our everyday decisions. So I wanted to capture that feeling and show that love will always win out.”

Your gowns have a very unique style. How is a David Fielden gown born… do you schedule time to sketch ideas, or does inspiration come when you least expect it to?

“My inspiration comes from everything around me. I have a great interest in all the arts. My background was in dance and theater. This is what affects my thoughts and ideas.”

What does it take to be a top UK bridal designer? Would you ever consider a different career?

“Total commitment to one’s vision. I studied dance and I choreographed and designed own ballets so if I was not a fashion designer that is what I would like to return to.”

Talk me through your latest collection / designs. Which is your favourite and why?

“My favorite part of the collection was the opening section of my Milan 2012 show where traditional fabrics were used to reinterpret silhouette and shape giving an edge to the collection.”

What should we expect from David Fielden for the rest of this decade… or do you aim to delight and surprise the wedding industry no matter what our expectations?

“I work in the business to create new and exciting ideas, both in the design of dresses and in the way I get my vision into the public domain. I certainly hope that this will always excite and create a buzz around my brand.”

David Fielden 2012 Sposa collection

I have one last David Fielden treat for you today. Your chance to get a designer wedding dress for less than £250 — with an exclusive discount code for English Wedding blog readers.

Find out more at www.DavidFielden.co.uk or on facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Fielden/131634133546093?ref=ts