Mumsnet Talk

Possibly getting a little ahead of myself as DP only proposed yesterday!

But hey, I enjoy thinking about frocks

I'd like to get married in something colourful, def not white or a traditional wedding dress style. Not sure what yet.

Can anyone tell me about nice alternative wedding dresses you've seen / worn?

Gah, that title doesn't make much sense! Blame my horrendous hangover as drank lots of chapagne last night, ouch!

Hi, I wore a blue/purple silk shift dress with beautiful embroidery. I loved and still love it.

Congratulations on your engagement!

Exciting! I never thought I would want a 'proper' wedding dress til I went looking for my dress, then all the other options weren't quite right and I ended up in a 'real' wedding dress that I just adored. Not a meringue, mind you, but a gorgeous, ivory, mermaid type fitted number. Don't rule anything out. Have fun trying things on!

Sounds lovely pullipapew

Personally I live a really nice skirt suit, possibly with a fifties style skirt in aqua marine raw silk. It's what i'm going to wear if we do a recommitment ceremony ever ! :-)

Congratulations!

Love, not live

Definitely planning on having fun trying things on, surrounded

What about these?
If you go to the clients album part you'll see lots of variations on both colours and styles. Plus, they suit almost anybody, as well as being an excuse for an AMAZING pair of shoes!

Congratulations!

Those dresses are absolutely gorgeous babysaurus ... but not me at all sorry!

They're too weddingy!

Sorry I should have been more specific.

I want to get married in a beautiful dress, but not something that when you saw it you would instantly know it's a wedding dress. I'm not into "wedding" dresses at all.

THanks MakesCakesWhenStressed

I very, VERY nearly bought and wore a white 'evening suit' style ladies trouser suit for my wedding.....I still regret not doing so and going for a slightly less dramatic knee length dress with frock coat and hat. The suit was utterly gorgeous and I'd still be wearing it now.

Ooh that's a cunning idea, I'll have a think about that one.

I do really like wearing frocks though (usually live in jeans, I love dressing up when the occasion arises).

I could maybe change into a frock for the reception.

I wore an Amanda Wakeley dress which was fabulous. Harvey Nicks.

These were the days when I had a good salary.

Don't think I've ever been in Harvey Nicks. Good excuse now!

I adore this pink one.

Not wedding collection though. Just google.

MrsLettuce that's absolutely lovely, and it's a beautiful dress but not weddingy - however I have enormous boobs and unfortunately it would look obscene on me!

V shaped necks are great for me, but that V's sadly a bit too low!
Going to have a look at the other dresses on the site, thanks for the link.

LunaticFringe I am doing exactly that right now!

this is nice but not sure I love it enough to spend that amount of money though!

I like this too but a bit eveningy I guess

Prefer the first one. I am hopeless at shopping so some friends took me to London and made me try things on to decide what I liked and suited. Was good.

MrsLettuce great link, there's some more alternative stuff there.

I like the colours on this but not quite the right shape I think.

love this but not to get married it - a red herring!

I like the idea of lots of colour sort of like this although not that particular dress

Love this maybe I could change into it for the evening

[[http://www.my-wardrobe.com/halston-heritage/coral-halter-gown-835606
Love this too but again my big boobs would look obscene!

Fussy aren't I

I'll try that again ...

Love this too but again my big boobs would look obscene!

That's a good idea LunaticFringe I think I'll do that nearer the time.

Can anyone point me in the direction of other posh frock designers?

The poshest I've ever gone is Monsoon (I love Monsoon!) but I'm clueless beyond that!

I had a very femme fatale-esque 1950s dress from a company called stop staring in LA. not to everyone's taste but I loved it!

www.stopstaringclothing.com/sunshop/red-dresses-18-1.html

Some of them are lovely RachelWalsh, I bet you looked stunning!

Not quite what I'm looking for though, I'm a bit more hippyish I guess!

How about Vivienne Westwood or Alice Temperley.
Sorry about the link to Vivienne Westwood - I am trying to find one which has a dress which is perfect for the bigger busomed! These might give you an idea.

I was about to say Temperley - also check out the non-wedding styles from Jenny Packham.

Hmmm, hippyish...
How about (if we're going high end) Jenny Packham and, although these are bridal you can steal ideas, Claire Pettibone.

Ooooh, emsyj, great minds must think alike!

Thanks babysaurus and emsyj

I absolutely love the dress that Vivienne Westwood is wearing herself in the Mirror article!

I'd get married in that in a flash if it looked good on me.

I'll have a look at the others now.

The Westwood dresses are amazing on too! Pull you in in and push you up in all the right places! They have corkers in Selfridges (think emerald green or deep scarlet) but I can't find them on the websites, which is odd. You can also, if you got the urge, wedding it up if you wanted!

erm, sorry for the overuse of exclamation marks...

!

OOh yes Claire Pettibone, good suggestion!!! She does one (or used to, might be discontinued now) called 'Lalique' that has coloured flowers on it. Beautiful, and very unusual.

lalique

The Claire Pettibone ones are stunning, would suit my plans if they could be adapted to be a bit less weddingy maybe.

I like the gold one in the video best.

The Lalique one is pretty - but it looks like a wedding dress fo me. I'm keen to have something which doesn't look at all like a wedding dress.

(Difficult aren't I?!)

"erm, sorry for the overuse of exclamation marks... "

No worries, I share this affliction!

I loved my wedding dress

...... sorry - just reminiscing.

So that dress that Westwood is wearing herself, would that be one of hers? I assumed it'd be something unique that us mere mortals wouldn't be able to buy?!

I'm enjoying this btw

rubyrubyruby

I had my wedding dress made by Joanne Fleming in Brighton - she will design and make anything and also does evening wear and uses lots of colours. Worth a look. www.joanneflemingdesign.com

They are utterly amazing in the flesh too. They cost an arm and a leg, but (ssh!) you can always adapt and design your own (if you get my drift) if you need to. Also, simple shapes but with amazing fabrics can be just as stunning.

Whereabouts are you? Blackburn Bridal stock some of her designs so you could go for a try on / mess about. Also, I suggest trying all manner of styles and designs as a lot of people find that they go for something they would never have initially considered. Even though it's a wedding dress shop, they can work around making the dresses less weddingy if needs be.

Ooooh, emsyj, those dresses are lovely! Especially the longer one's. Swoon

threeleftfeet yes, the dress Vivienne Westwood is wearing is a one off. Sorry!

I had this in red

www.newyorkdress.com/Tony_Bowls/TBE11051.html

I used to live about 200 yards from Blackburn Bridal!!! They have some very high end stuff in there, worth a visit just to be 101% sure that you don't want a 'wedding' dress...?

Does anyone know where I would find more unusual stuff like that I wonder? Probably smaller independent designers I imagine? (But where are they?!)

like what , for example? like the Joanne Fleming dresses?

ps I agree, do go and try wedding styles on just to make sure.The amount of people who hate wedding dresses with a passion and then decide the opposite is staggering! After all, you don't have to buy one and it makes sense to make sure you really really REALLY don't want one!

Unusual enough for you?

Alexander McQueen - too dark?

Lanvin

Temperley

TheOutnet is a good site to have a look around

Congratulations btw!

Congratulations! Looking at what you've liked, maybe have a skim through the collections from the below for starters?

Roksanda Ilincic
Erdem
Tibi
Lanvin

Useful sites are:

www.net-a-porter.com
www.selfridges.com
www.liberty.co.uk
www.theoutnet.com

If I walk down the aisle in a wedding dress, my future DH will think I've had a personality transplant!

I am 100% convinced I don't want a weddingy dress.

People wear white at weddings because it was popularised by Queen Victoria. I really think it's time for a change now! Also I'm anti-monarchy and DP is Scottish so honouring Queen Victoria is not really appropriate!

Both DP and I are difficult thoughtful lefty types and I'm just really not into a lot of the mainstream stuff. You couldn't pay me to wear a diamond engagement ring for example!

and for jewellery / accessories have a mooch in Butler and Wilson

babysaurus great link to the unusual stuff, really enjoyed looking at them

Slightly over the top for me taste but great fun!

Is that a real woman on top of red one btw?! Certainly not for those scared of heights!!

*my taste not me!

Oh, have a look at Marchesa as well - quite 'gowny' but stunning.

Alternatively, design what you want and get it made by a good dressmaker.

babysaurus, sorry, I did mean unusual like the Vivienne Westwood one.

emsyj getting one made is an interesting idea. Not sure if I'd know where to start though!

Damn, real life is dragging me away from this most important job!

Thanks everyone for the help, I really appreciate it, back in a bit

BillyBollyBandy, MoonlightandRoses thanks for those links, I'll have a good look in a bit ...

Ah, okay, threeleftfeet, fair enough on the 100% thing. Its always worth pointing it out though as lots say they don't want a weddingy ensemble and then, bizarrely, walk down the aisle in an ivory and strapless number (yawn! my pet hate.)

Ok, last one before bed this DK burgundy dress looks as though it's high necked enough to allow norkage support, but still has a decent v.

For a good dressmaker if you don't think you'll be able to get a personal recommendation, find your nearest top-end fabric shop - they may well have a list of people you can talk to.

Oh! Found out that the dress Dita Von Teese wore when she married Marilyn Manson was a Vivienne Westwood dress. I can understand if you don't want something as ott, but it gives a good idea of the shape of the corset and what it can do for you, ahem, busoms.

wish want wear have some great dresses for rent which might be suitable.

Have you had a look in a sari shop? Not just at saris but at the suits too?
www.cbazaarsarees.co.uk/readymade-salwar/pakistani_suit-specialty/c-sb.html

www.cbazaarsarees.co.uk/salwar-kameez/anarkali/embroidered-golden-beige-anarkali-suit-p-slsruh2010a.html

The 'Pippa' in hot pink? Probably too monarchical for you

For boho, have a look at Belle and Bunty. And I second Claire Pettibone and Temperley.

In terms of custom designs, I LOVE this London designer. She does predominantly wedding dresses but they aren't necessarily 'weddingy'. She uses a lot of colour, etc. and is incredibly creative.

sashh, wow! those salwar suits are absolutely stunning! So pretty. What a great idea, definitely up my street. And what amazing value!

Could you recommend anywhere (perhaps in London or the SE but happy to travel!) where I could go to to try them on?

I particularly love this one
and this one although that would be definitely pinning my hippy credentials to my sleeve!
And this is lovely too

I'm sorely tempted to get something like this, also this, this and definitely this to swan about in this summer anyway.

This and this would be great for work.

Brilliant idea, thanks!

I'd have to get one made to fit me, as sadly I am slightly more <ahem> fat curvy than their sizings allow for.

Am meant to be studying, I'm not here really, honest

Ooh, pretty dresses!

I'm not sure if this would be too bridal, but it's a bit of a glamorous hippy look.

70's hippy?

LOVE this Vivienne Westwood dress.

This might be a bit more of a sophisticated Westwood dress, depending on when the wedding might be.

It might also be worth having a look at her Gold label if you like her designs.

www.notonthehighstreet.com/slcslc/product/blue-sky-gownThis???? also in pink

too far down the hippy route for me, but maybe not for you...

sorry, the blue version

I don't know if you read the small print on the wedsite - the salwar kemeez is only partially stiched - so you can adjust for size or send them measurements and they will finish it for you.

I'm in Wolverhampton so a few of those shops here but you will find them in London easily. Southall definitely.

You can ask in the shop if they do made to measure of if they can recomend a tailor and you just buy the material and the tailor makes it for you.

1
2 Chanel, but I had to post, it is so pretty.

Check out the Offbeat Bride website: it has loads of alternative dresses and weddings.

I am really sad to see this post with derogatory personal remarks about me still up here. I have asked for this to be removed. Sadly this person seems to take pleasure in having a go at me on public forums. Personal issues should remain private right ? by the way this person was not a customer of mine. I was actually a customer of hers while she was running a well known wedding blog.

Wedd

I thought you were comming back to tell us what dress you picked.

Sorry but I cn't see any derogatry remarks, but one post has been deleted.

Sorry someone said something nasty, what a horrible thing to do on a thread about choosing a dress.

I hope you find something perfect and the person insulting you ffalls down a hole.

I like all the dresses are you having a big church wedding? And do you personally know all the guests? I only knew a handful of the guests at my massive wedding as dh has such a huge family and I am glad I wore a wedding dress as people knew I was the bride! Even though originally I wanted a non wedding dress.

What's your colouring, would you look good in bright red, or pale blue?