Roseanna Talks Bespoke Bridal

Did you find it easy, or difficult to decide what to wear for your wedding?

Semi-difficult – I think I always knew what I wanted but I had to believe in it and trust that it was right. This took a while for me to do but I got there in the end!

Was shopping for your wedding dress an enjoyable experience?

In all honesty, I didn’t love wedding-dress shopping. I went to about 10-12 bridal shops! From the ultra-expensive to the lesser expensive, to the bigger chains to the independents – I went everywhere! I’m indecisive so I had to see as much as I could to be sure of what I wanted and this turned out to be a pretty tiring task. However, if I didn’t do my copious amounts of research, I wouldn’t have discovered the wedding dress designer that I did.

Did your wedding location influence what you wanted to wear?

Not hugely, this wasn’t something particularly on my mind. I felt like anything could work if it feels right and if you love it enough!

Tell us about how you found your bridal designer…

So, after lots of trying on and some top contenders, I thought I would give it one last shot to see if I could find something or someone that could show me dresses that just gave me that extra something. That’s when I went with my gut and seeked out the style that I was initially apprehensive to have. I ended up typing a really basic word search of all my favourite things about a dress into Google! I typed in something along the lines of: ‘Old Hollywood Glam Tailored Timeless Structured Chic Wedding Dress Designer London’ and the divine Angelina Colarusso in Richmond popped up! Jackpot!

Talk us through the process of having your dress made bespoke…

I first had a chat with Angelina on the phone; she wanted to be sure that she was the right designer for me. I explained the look I wanted and from that moment I felt like we really understood each other! The wedding was in about 7 months when I had my first visit to her store. I had my Mother, my Mother-In-Law to be and a family friend with me (just to back track slightly, at this point we already thought we may have found ‘the one’). When we stepped into Angelina’s store it was like a treasure trove filled with beautiful jewellery, shoes and stunning dresses and fabrics. I did feel slightly apprehensive that I wasn’t going to find the dress here but after a brief discussion about how I wanted to look and what I wanted to show off, she put me in an incredible corset (something that I really thought I didn’t want initially!), a column skirt and draped a piece of fabric round me in the most perfect way and at that moment I thought ‘this is it!’. She had totally got my vision, a shape and style that I had always wanted to exude and it just happened to be as a wedding dress which made it even more perfect. Of course, I went back and forth to confirm a decision, but in the end, it had to be Angelina. I knew that working with her for the next 6 months is something that would be really exciting because it gave me the chance to design something with her and bring a dream dress to life. Getting a bespoke wedding dress was not at the top of my list but after visiting so many stores and all trying on so many dresses, I soon realised that for me, it just couldn’t be beaten. Angelina’s amazingly talented friend Tash Whiting was an absolute dream and made me feel so special every step of the way too!

Describe your dress for us!

The dress itself was made from ivory duchess satin, a corset top with a Bardot neckline, a column floor-length skirt with a small train and a peplum to it that came together like a rose at the side and a detachable silk organza long train skirt – it was dreamy!

How did you accessorise your dress?

My dress was Old Hollywood inspired so for my jewellery, veil and shoes I wanted to go very minimalist and modern.

What jewellery did you wear on your wedding day?

I wore a delicate diamond bracelet that was given to me by my Mother, I also borrowed a pair of simple oval shaped drop earrings and a necklace with a very small crystal and delicate chain that sat quite high on my neck. I wanted very minimalist jewellery.

Tell us about your veil…

It was very long and had simple embroidered gold leaves to the comb at the top which was from Angelina too. My dress was Old Hollywood inspired so for my jewellery, veil and shoes I wanted to go very minimalist and modern.

Where did you get your shoes? Did they stay on all night?

Jimmy Choo on New Bond Street, London – Lancer 85 in Ballet Pink Suede. Yup, they stayed on all night pretty much! There was about an hour at the end where the last few people still around stayed in the lounge of the hotel and we all started singing songs together – at this point I said to myself ‘Okay, I can take them off now!’…

Talk us through your bridal bouquet…

I wanted blushes, botanicals and simplicity with mainly roses and eucalyptus with a semi-wild finish. I mean, I know nothing about flowers so I put all my trust into my florist Esther from Rebel and the Rose and she absolutely smashed it! I sent across so many photos and colour palettes which in the end I think got totally overwhelming but she dealt with it amazingly and combined everything I had into a perfect bouquet. Not to mention the bridesmaids’ flowers, the cake flowers and the stunning garlands and drapes in the marquee. She also had so many votives and vases for candles so these were everywhere which was the exact atmosphere I wanted to achieve. I wanted that botanical conservatory feel, with garlands draping from the top of the marquee to the edges and garlands for the rectangular tables too. Esther did just that – it was sensational and she helped make it all come to life!  Another special element of my flowers is that my mum and I made the confetti thrown when we walked down the aisle with some garden roses from a plant we have in memory of my Auntie and that’s now also in memory of my Grandma. 

What did your bridesmaids wear?

I had 7 bridesmaids and my aim was to make them feel as comfortable, womanly and sexy as possible. I wanted to find a dress that they would all want to wear again too! I searched and searched, spent loads on bulk orders but I knew there was always one that I really wanted but I was keen to wait for it to go into sale. Eventually it did and when I ordered it and saw it on the girls I knew I had hit the jackpot. It honestly flattered all figures and all heights – they all looked sensational. It was also the perfect colour, a sort of damask rose colour that suited all the girls and the wedding colours perfectly. The dresses were from Little Mistress with a ruffle high neck, maxi in length and lace at the hem.

Did you help your husband decide on what he would wear? What was he suited and booted in?

Not too much, I mentioned the colours that the wedding was going to be designed around and I may have said that I love a three piece but otherwise it was all him. He wore a beautifully tailored dark navy Paul Smith suit, a deliciously crisp white Eton shirt, smart black shoes from Church’s, blush silk bow tie from no other than Etsy and a bespoke Favourbrooks double-breasted shawl lapel waistcoat – he looked so incredibly handsome!

Describe your wedding make-up and hair to us? Who did these for you.

I did my own make up in the end. I had loads of trials but just found that it was never quite right so I just did it myself! My hair was done by a local hairdresser called Ben that my mother uses – he was great and gave that simple bouncy blow dry that I was looking for.

Did you do any skin prep/ hair prep in the lead up to your wedding?

I tried not to interfere with my skin too much and managed to get some Vitamin D which always helps! In terms of my hair, I just had a couple of cuts to keep the ends nice and trim!

How do you feel when you look at pictures of yourself in your dress?

I felt like a million bucks! I look back at the photos I feel sense of pride because I have always wanted to have my input into designing a dress and being able to do this brought such a sense of achievement; it really tapped into my creative side.

Did you feel pressure to look a certain way on your wedding day?

Honestly, yes, I did and I don’t know whether this is a good or a bad thing! There are pros and cons to it, but ultimately I achieved a result that I was happy with and so overall it was a pro!

Was what you ended up wearing similar to what you initially saw yourself in?

Not entirely. I wasn’t ever 100% sure on what look I wanted and my top contenders were all so wildly different. However, when I came to Angelina, she triggered that love of Old Hollywood in me; I then knew I wanted that ‘wasp waist’, simple straight skirt with a peplum and a Bardot neckline to achieve that timeless elegant and yet modern look – something that was ultra-special and unique.

With hindsight, if you were to give yourself a piece of advice when creating your wedding look, what would it be?

Go with your gut, don’t worry about what anyone else thinks and the grass isn’t always greener! At times it was because I can be SO indecisive and I like a lot of different looks but as time went on I put more and more trust into Angelina and of course it worked out perfectly! She was so good to me and totally understood my nerves to start with but she made it very easy to just trust the process.

Do you have a favourite bridal moment from a movie?

Seeing Carrie Bradshaw’s Vivienne Westwood dress for the first time in Sex and The City!

Where did you look for bridal style inspiration?

I just searched the internet and Pinterest boards. In the end, as my dress was bespoke, I ended up finding inspiration from Old Hollywood dress illustrations for designers like Dior, or old Vogue front covers and glamorous movie stars and models from the 50’s wearing all the dresses that I dream of.