Wedding Dress Designers

Jo wore this amaz­ing dress by Car­o­line Cas­tigliano for her wed­ding. She looks absolutely gor­geous. The pho­to­graph is by the very tal­ented Lee Allen of www.LeeAllenPhotography.com

Eng­lish brides have some of the best design­ers in the world on their doorstep. From Car­o­line Cas­tigliano to Kula Tsur­diu, Char­lotte Bal­bier to Ian Stu­art, every designer has a unique style.  

About the designers

Car­o­line Cas­tigliano is the con­nois­seur of lux­ury bridal and evening wear in the UK. Her name is syn­ony­mous with under­stated chic bridal gowns and con­tem­po­rary designer style. An inspi­ra­tional force, Cas­tigliano has dressed some of the world’s most styl­ish women for their wed­dings and red car­pet events. Among her many clients is an envi­able list of celebri­ties, film stars and dignitaries.  

Castigliano’s sig­na­ture is a sil­hou­ette, which is unques­tion­ably fem­i­nine and effort­lessly ele­gant. Her unique abil­ity to cut and con­struct gar­ments enables her to cre­ate a gown that is con­fi­dent and sexy, yet exudes a deep sense of style. Every­thing about a Cas­tigliano gown is unique; from the exquis­ite choice of fab­ric, to the foun­da­tion of the gown, which is cre­ated using unique corsetry and under­gar­ments techniques. 

Whether it’s the dream wed­ding gown of a life time or an evening dress for red car­pet glam­our, Car­o­line Cas­tigliano offers clients a sense of style and per­sonal ser­vice that exceeds expec­ta­tion. Each gown is metic­u­lously hand­crafted in the UK for a flaw­less result. The col­lec­tions are offered bespoke or made to mea­sure.  

Kula Tsur­diu

For a true vintage-inspired expe­ri­ence your first choice has to be Kula Tsur­diu. Her cou­ture wed­ding dresses are out of this world, inspired by dif­fer­ent eras in fash­ion and crafted to fit dif­fer­ent figures. 

Kula Tsurdiu’s web­site shows you what to expect when you visit her show­room or one of the exclu­sive bridal retail­ers who stock her won­der­ful gowns. Every­thing is per­fectly styled in a vin­tage set­ting, with dresses in Kula’s col­lec­tion framed in gold and sur­rounded with beau­ti­ful sketches and notes to draw you into Kula’s world.

I adore Kula’s Grace Kelly col­lec­tion, for its stun­ning sil­hou­ette and ver­sa­til­ity — feast your eyes on the Kula Tsur­diu web­site to see how amaz­ingly the Grace Kelly gown is trans­formed by gold organza fab­ric, or visit exclu­sive stock­ist The White Closet online to see more incar­na­tions of the Grace Kelly collection! 

The orig­i­nal Kula Tsur­diu show­room is at the cen­tre of Nottingham’s Lace Mar­ket, and a visit is an expe­ri­ence to remem­ber. Her show­room stocks wed­ding gowns, brides­maid dresses, wed­ding shoes and vin­tage accessories.   

Kula will be exhibit­ing at the NEC National Wed­ding Show on March 5th-7th 2010. I highly rec­om­mend a visit.

If you’re near Man­ches­ter, Kula Tsur­diu vis­its The White Closet from time to time, so it’s worth keep­ing an eye on their face­book page to see when you could meet the designer her­self in store.

Where to start? 

Start your wed­ding dress shop­ping online — don’t worry it’s not uncom­mon to start look­ing within 24 hours of get­ting engaged! The design­ers’ web­sites are all impec­ca­bly pre­sented, truly inspir­ing and will really help you decide on your own per­sonal bridal style.My favourites right now are Elec­tra by Car­o­line Cas­tigliano, and Babette by Ian Stu­art. They’re polar oppo­sites, almost! But each one is gor­geous, unique and makes its own very mem­o­rable statement!  

Elec­tra by Car­o­line Castigliano

Elec­tra by Car­o­line Castigliano

Car­o­line Castigliano’s Elec­tra gown is a stun­ning, smooth designer wed­ding dress in 100% pure silk.  

Its duchess col­lar is to die for, and such a won­der­fully dif­fer­ent design in today’s bridal market.  

The sophis­ti­cated fish­tail skirt fin­ishes the Elec­tra gown beautifully.  

It’s per­fect for any bride look­ing for a unique and orig­i­nal Eng­lish designer wed­ding dress.  

The smooth, seam­less fin­ish of this dress on Caroline’s web­site makes me think of calla lilies — the dress shape flows so beautifully!  

Ian Stuart’s Babette gown is opu­lent vin­tage with a twist! A strap­less style with a sweet­heart neck­line and an asym­met­ri­cal waist­line form the shape of the dress. It’s irre­sistible appeal is in the vin­tage metal­lic lace and ruched taffeta metal over­skirt, which are absolutely stunning.