You remember the famous line from Pretty Woman right? Well Julia Roberts certainly got her “fairytale” ending….. and you know what? you gorgeous lot are too – marrying your Richard Gere, your Prince Charming, your whisk-you-off-your-feet-with-the-romance-of -it-all Mr Right.
And I figured that after the selection of slinky, sexy and sophisticated gowns we show cased on Rock My Wedding a few weeks back it was high time we kept the sexy and sophisticated part but exchanged the slinky for well….the bigger, pouffier and more princess-inspired type of dress.
Yup that’s right folks, we’re gonna have a good old go at showing you lovelies a whole bunch of our favourite Cinder-Freakin-Rella worthy frockage.
Hoorah!
Jenny Packham
Thought Madam Packham only designed glamorous evening gown type shapes ? Well think again folks, JP also has a talent for the more traditional silhouette combining clever layering, vintage style embellishment and a whole bunch of uber flattering and unique necklines, who said a bigger dress had to always be strapless anyway?
Clockwise from top left: Seraphina, Sophie, Tiara and Starstruck.
Ian Stuart
Perhaps the “King” of the fairytale frock, Ian Stuart knows a thing or two about creating a show-stopping bridal gown and we know a lot of you readers are big fans of his design skills already.
Biba is deliciously pouffy whilst allowing the opportunity for maximum pin-flashing where as Florentina and Premiere although perhaps a little less unique in shape are certainly no less worthy on the WOW front.
Pronovias
Are you after a more fitted bodice but a huge make-an-impact train? well then, look no further than Pronovias who have managed to combine contemporary design with bring-out-your-inner-storybook-goddess ruffles and frills.
I would have been as happy as Larry wafting down the ailse in either Formentina ( top) or Frenesi. Just beautiful.
Suzanne Neville
Infamous for creating the most amazing corsetry and fitting-you-like-a-glove gowns Suzanne Neville knows how to do big statement classic shapes that are timeless, elegant and stylish.
From top, Chabrais ( love the lace detail), Etienne and Fontaines.
Stephanie Allin
We met Stephanie Allin at the Designer Wedding Show and she was a lovely lady, her dresses are beautifully cut and the material quality is second-to-none. And if you fancy something more subtle than full on fairytale then either Fantasia, Kelly or Maria could fit the bill
Do tell us what out of the selection you have taken a shine to and what made you chose your happy-ever-after gown.
We adore a fashion love story so we do.
Big BIG DRESS Love
Charlotte xxx
LOVE Stephanie Allin dresses….swoon….x
Lordy how I heart Stephenie and Suzanne.
Does anyone know how much Fantasia is?
And is Kelly the one that Irish girl off four weddings wore?
P..S I wish I had arms like those.
rebecca, think hers was plain at the top, think it was a sassi holford one ( tried on one quite similar, so speculating here!!)
totally heart the kelly, please stop posting dresses its making me panic!! hee hee!!
xxxx
Pronovias – Formentina is just divine. Two beautiful dresses in one day…you girls are not helping the dress wobbles!!
Hi ladies, sorry for any random disappearing act there, Adam and I were logged in at the same time and it all went a bit wonky!!!
Charlotte xxx
Yay my dress – I’ve got the SN Etienne, I love the Kelly too thats gorgeous
If I was going to have a big dress it would without a doubt be Kelly by Stephanie Allin. Please can someone buy it and wear it and have a fantabulous wedding so that RMW show it off in all of its glamour glory?
PLEASE.
xx
JP’s Tiara in blush is just gorgeous too
x
I’m an SN girl! Her corsetry is am-a-zing! x
Can someone confirm the average price of an SN please? I rang the Knightsbridge store (am waiting until am svelter to try on dresses as I hear you can’t put on weight/lose weight after fitting – is this true?!).
Anyway, they said Manhattan was around 2.2k, Fontaines was about £2.4.
THEN I looked in one of the mags and the dresses were all 5k-7k and I had a massive panic I would have to sell a kidney.
Frenesi it beautiful. I wish I was brave enough to go for the single strap. That dress would be like nothing any of your guests had seen before, but still manages to tickle your traditional taste bus too. Total genius.
Oops, I meant taste buds.
So much of prettyness! definately freakin-Rella!
Hurrah, finally some Stephanie Allin frocks, they appear so rarely on blogs! I love, love, love mine and can’t wait for my toile fitting in December!
Rebecca – no idea on the SN frocks, I’m afraid. Perhaps the difference in price is to do with going off the peg v made to measure?
Rebecca – I tried on Fontaines up here in the North West and it was 2.2k. I was gutted it was out of my price range, it’s beautiful! Hope you can get one x
See it’s posts like this that I drool over (and I’m an old married!) and make me wish I was still dress shopping, does that make me officially mad?!
Oh to be able to do it all again, just for the sheer fun of it! To the same boy of course
xx
Pronovias all the way, breathtaking, with Jenny Packham a close second. And I love the long veils, they are magical in the photos.
Rebecca – I wore the Manhattan. I went MTM and it came in at about £2600 (I think)as I had some modifications to the design and they threw in a cathedral length veil for free.
It was worth every penny – it fitted like a glove and the experience of having it made and fitted was magical.
Rebecca I’ve ordered the SN Etienne and tried on a few of the other SN designs and I think on average they were 2k to 2.5k. re putting on weight / losing I ordered mine in Novemeber and am getting married in Dec this yr and have lost weight since, but they sent my most recent measurements to SN for the making of the dress, I bought it from Morgan Davis and they offer alterations too as I’m sure most shops do.
Man, I L.O.V.E those frenesi ruffles.
Ruffles are beginning to become a slightly worrying obsession so please RMW, stop posting ruffly things before I end up with a day made entirely of ruffles!!
r.now x x
I wonder if I could get my dog to wear a little ruffly collar?
I looovvvveee the JP gowns. I live very close to SA’s shop in Mumbles and it’s always exciting to see her designs in the window when I’m out shopping.
My SN was 2.3k Rebecca, The boutique are happy to do slight alterations around the bust etc but I wouldnt risk more than a dress size up or down from your measurements x
These are all so gorgeous and elegant – the Pronovias made me gasp! Vote Vote Vote. Oops sorry, that’s another post!
Frenesi for me please. It looks good enough to eat, ‘cept I would flounce around it for a good 3 days after the wedding…and maybe before.
Whilst I love love love my asian wedding outfit, I was very lucky to also try on some “english” wedding dress lovelies and they really are quite special.
Le sigh….xx
I wore the (slightly modified) Stephanie Allin Kelly dress – I loved it!! It was comfortable to wear and very easy to rock out on the dancefloor in
xx
Have a look at the undress section for a bargain Suzanne Neville number professionaly dry-cleaned and beautiful as new x
Ye gads…that Frenesi is totally frilltastic. Love it! Ah..the Suzanne Neville Fontaines is the first dress I saw in a wedding mag that I wasn’t scared of
and I had it in my scrapbook for sometime before falling in love with “the one” that I came across in a little boutique in Putney. MTM is the way to go and such fun watching the dress evolve at each fitting. I don’t think I will EVER wear a dress that fits me as well as this baby will! No dress wobbles here but the frills get me everytime.
I am maybe a little excited that my beautiful dress is up there!!! Can’t wait to wear it!!!
Haha @Fleur….loving the expression “frilltastic”, let’s reintroduce it in common parlance and get it in next year’s OED! Frilltastic.
Some gorgeous dresses!
Although you missed out Sassi Holford; she makes the most fabulous dresses, including the one I had called Hayley!
Oh the Hayley!!! That made my lip tremble when I tried it! Gorgeous dress, but according to my ‘entourage’ it wasn’t for me.
I wore Hayley and she really was my dream dress
) The whole experience of buying her was made even better by Sassi doing all of my fittings herself in the Taunton boutique!
Being a big’ish dress gal, I’m loving this post. Such beautiful dresses. I’m particularly loving the Suzanne Neville line. (I couldn’t possibly imagine why?!!) :0) Gorgeousness! xx
The last Ian Stuart dress is already on my shortlist – yey.
Yum yum yum!
Debs…
I tried on the Kelly dress and love it… now i have to approach the shop and find out how much it is etc..(scary though i have a rough idea i think)
I know different shops sell it at different prices but if you wouldn’t mind how much did yours cost (i would also like it modified slightly – a cap sleeve added)
bananaA,
sorry for the late reply.
I added a cap sleeve, had it made to my exact measurements and replaced the belt with a black sash. All in it came to around £3000. Not the cheapest I know, but totally worth it for me
Let me know if you’d like me to send you some photos.
D x
I wore Fantasia for my wedding
!! I got it directly from Stephanie and was £23oo including all fittings.
Hi I wore the Kelly dress for my wedding in feb 2010, I felt amazing and still have comments saying nicest dressses they’ve ever seen. Paid £2450 direct from shop in mumbles.
Hope this helps
Go for it