How I got my bridal look

I thought I would do a post about my experience wedding dress shopping, and how I got my bridal look on the big day.

We were on a strict time frame to find "the one", my mum lives in DC & was in England for a week, so we had two dress shop appointments in a day, I tried on 12 dresses in two different shops before getting in a stress and moaning that "my gut feeling is telling me it isn't happening today, let's just go home" thankfully, the lovely Andrea from Mae Bridal, Witney offered a wild card dress.

The dresses I had been trying on were ball gowns and really tight fitted mermaid style dresses. Every bride is told at some point "you'll pick something totally different to what you wanted". When Andrea pulled out a lace a-line plain dress with a great big bow on the front, I did feel deflated, but I tried it on and instantly teared up. I loved how it fitted and made me feel, it's important to bare in mind that the dresses won't always fit you and that can play a part in if you like it or not, luckily this one fit like a glove so I was more able to see an end result. I liked the way Andrea handled my appointment, it's quite an overwhelming experience looking at dresses she just let me loose in the shop and told me to add tags to the dresses that caught my eye, it was really relaxed and just what I needed with the temper I was in!

So this is what the dress looked like (I know that bow is not okay is it!)

So being typical picky me I said "Okay I love it, can I cut off this sash, ditch the bow, add a sparkly belt, lower the neckline, add some bardot sleeves & make it a little tighter? Can I also have a extremely long veil, and order some extra lace to add to the trim of the veil & then some more for my bouquet?" and to my surprise she simply turned around and said yes. You may be thinking why the F did you even buy it then, but the frame was there (mostly) the lace was exactly what I had envisioned (who knew there was so many different styles of lace?!) and I just thought with some added extras this dress could be amazing. Sonia, the seamstress Andrea uses at Mae Bridal, made it all happen, I had another two fittings and the dress was just everything I never knew I wanted, I loved it and didn't show anyone until the big day (this was DIFFICULT!)

Okay my face, you want to look good on your day right? I was quite worried about spending on hair and makeup, but I decided to just splash out because these photos have to stay with us for the rest of our lives.  Here's me posing in my trial pictures. It cost £90 and my lovely bridesmaids paid for me to have my makeup done!

  

I wanted to wear my hair down for the wedding, my hair is already quite long but I wanted it abit more full, so I had a LA weave fitted and I nearly had to sell a kidney to afford them, but oh my life they are incredible and such amazing condition, I still have them in now!

I had ombre french nails done at my local nail salon, PLEASE get your nails done how you're having them for your wedding the previous month also, just incase you don't like it. We all know the biggest regret in life is choosing the wrong nail colour right ladies?

I had to be extra careful when selecting my shoes, because we got married outside and had to walk across two huge lawns and a bridge over a lake I could not have stilettos, I needed a block heel. So I had two pairs of shoes. I bought Miss KG chunky heels, they aren't online anymore but the lower heel version is available here https://www.houseoffraser.co.uk/shoes-and-boots/miss-kg-pearl-mid-heel-sandals/d672599.pd#239197420 and then I couldn't afford Valentinos so I bought the Carvela mimic version, for the marquee/evening part of the wedding  https://www.houseoffraser.co.uk/shoes-and-boots/carvela-kankan-sandals/d787109.pd#260864458

  

Todd bought me my favourite Jo Malone perfume and a gorgeous bracelet from Swarovski which went well with the earrings  I had bought earlier on in the year, the earrings really complimented my engagement ring being pear shaped. The bracelet can be found here https://www.swarovski.com/Web_GB/en/5071173/product/Angelic_Bracelet.html and the earrings here https://www.swarovski.com/Web_GB/en/5197458/product/Attract_Light_Pear_Pierced_Earrings.html

Our wedding rings were from trusty H Samuel, £200 for the both of them - we were on a tight budget here okay, paying for your wedding yourself is difficile! We had them engraved which was an extra £16, mine said TW and Todd's had my new initials RW. You can barely see the engraving on mine because I went for a 2mm ring

See what I mean about nail colour regrets ^^^. So there we have it, lace everywhere, hair, makeup, scent, jewels, special touches and I was a bride! Enjoy the process, the small details matter, it's your day if you want to look like you could strut down a cat walk after your wedding you do what you need to, to feel absolutely beautiful! All eyes are on you at the end of the day...

 

Love, Rey x