I always thought it was a common thing for women to have body issues, but since making bespoke dresses, and working closely with women and their bodies, it’s made me realise that it’s more common than I thought.

The list is endless, from bingo wings to fat calves, small boobs to big bums, and endless other issues we have.

It’s almost like a guessing game, what body part will they not like? I see countless women, who to me look totally normal, they then tell me what they don’t like about themselves, and I have to say, most of the time I wonder what they are even looking at.

We’ve all seen Bridget Jones in her big ‘hold me in’ knickers, and maybe like me, you looked at her in the film and thought how she had a great figure, and what was all the fuss about. Well, I see many women, much smaller than her, wearing this same uncomfortable underwear, to stop that wobble.

I don’t have a perfect body, and like other women, I have my own issues. Bingo wings, a belly that sticks out, and what has been described as a bottom you could rest your pint on. However, since doing this job, my confidence with my body has changed, as I now realise that nobody else seems to be happy, so maybe I’m exaggerating how I look, just as I think many other women are!

I just think, we look in the mirror and analyse our bodies far too much. If you saw a friend in a bikini, and she had your body, would you be anywhere near as critical. But most of all, do you choose your friends by how wobbly or big or small they are. Of course you don’t, so treat the way you look as you would a friend, look in the mirror and tell yourself you look great today.

Just make the most of what you have, wear clothes that flatter your natural shape, and just stop worrying about what people will think when they look at you.

What do you do when you’re planning your wedding, and you want a fabulous dress, but your budget means you can’t spend a fortune.

A traditional dress in a bridal shop is generally at least £1000, and often quite a bit more than this, depending on which designer label you opt for. But what if your budget is more like half this amount!

There are a few options if you want to get a less expensive dress, and a few things to avoid, my advise is:

Do:

Have a look on Ebay and specialist second hand bridal websites, quite often brides decide to sell their dress after their wedding, and you can find yourself a real bargain! I have altered quite a few second hand dresses, and they generally look as good as new. You can sometimes pay around 1/3 of the retail price, and often get dresses that are still selling full price in the shops.

Go to sample sales. The sample dresses cost a fraction of the cost of a new dress. If you’re near enough the right size, with a good clean, and maybe a few alterations the dress will look as good as any brand new one. Nobody would ever know the difference, and you’ve saved yourself a fortune!

Buy a basic wedding dress from somewhere cheaper like BHS who offer a nice, and very affordable bridal collection, and then embellish your dress yourself. If you’re quite creative, or with the help from a friend who is, a bit of lace, or a bit of sparkle added to a really plain dress can look fantastic, and that way you have your very own unique design too.

Keep it simple. There’s no need to have a highly embellished dress with yards of fabric, just go for something simple and elegant, which will come with a lower price tag, then accessorise it with fab jewellery and shoes that you can wear again, that way it won’t seem such an extravagance.

Don’t:

There are lots of websites offering very cheap dresses, which are made in China and look great on the photo’s on their websites. Be very careful, some of them are OK, but I’ve seen a few that people have asked me to rescue, which have been terrible. Wonky stitching and static fabric are quite normal with these budget dresses!!

Don’t buy a size 12 sample if you’re a size 16, the shop assistant might convince you it looks OK and you can let the seams out, but it’s not always the case. Some designs do mean it’s possible to make them bigger, but I’ve had some very disappointed customers who have been sold dresses that are just not able to be altered this much without looking strange!

Don’t buy a dress that’s the best of a bad bunch, just because it’s cheap and you haven’t found anything better yet. Every woman should feel really happy on their wedding day, and you won’t if you’re wearing something you don’t like. You will find a way of getting your dream dress, just be patient and creative.

The pressure to get the perfect wedding dress can be immense.

Here’s my top 10 things to consider when choosing your wedding dress.

1. Cost – Dresses vary so much in cost, from as little as £150 up to thousands, the sky’s the limit. I would recommend deciding on your budget before looking, and sticking to it. It’s easy to go over your original plan. And just remember, it is just a dress after all, and you are only going to wear it once. So if you’d rather spend your budget on a honeymoon, or a deposit for a house, it might be worth keeping the dress budget down.

2. Traditional or Personal – When you think about your wedding day, do you picture yourself in a traditional ivory gown, with a big skirt and veil, or do you see yourself in something a bit more personal. I really think it’s important that you wear what you really love on your wedding day, not what you think people will expect to see. So if traditional is your thing, why not start by looking through some bridal magazines. If you’d prefer something more personal, think about your favourite films, or red carpet dresses you’ve loved, it’s a great place to start.

3. Wedding style – Is your wedding very formal or a bit more casual. The venue can change your idea’s of a dress. A big cathedral would suit a very classic dress, whereas if you’re getting married outside, abroad, or in a barn, you might want something more relaxed. Just have a think about what styles and fabrics would suit your venue, and the weather you are likely to have.

4. If you’re getting married a long way away, and have to transport the dress on a train, plane or automobile, it would be well worth seeing what facilities you will have to iron or steam your dress when you get there. If it’s going to be really tricky, I’d recommend making sure you choose a dress that doesn’t crease too much!

5. Think about how much time you are going to spend on the day sitting down. If you’re going to be sitting in a car or sitting through a 6 course meal and long speeches, it might not be a great idea to wear a heavily corsetted dress, as it could get very uncomfortable after a few hours and a lot of food, and you want to feel comfortable on your wedding day.

6. Hair and shoes – these could influence the style of your dress. If you adore shoes, you might want to look at shoes first, as they could influence the hemline of the dress, and you could match your dress to your accessories rather than the other way around. If you have long hair and want to wear it down on the day, think about what necklines would work with your length of hair.

7. Kids – If you have kids, and want to be able to pick them up or play with them on your wedding day, have a think about what style dress will allow you to bend over easily, give your arms plenty of movement, and doesn’t stain too easily if something gets spilled on your dress! You want your kids to be a part of your day, not feel like they’re in the way.

8. How much time and assistance will you have in the morning to get ready? If you have a team of bridesmaids and professionals to get you ready, you don’t have to worry. But if you’re getting ready on your own, or have little time, or have kids getting in the way, it might not be a great idea to choose a dress that’s difficult to get into!

9. Weight – Are you planning on losing weight or toning up before your wedding day? If you are, I would set a realistic goal, and find out how long you need to get your perfect dress. Don’t wait till you’ve lost weight and leave it too late for what you want, and don’t order a smaller size and then not get into it, or loose so much weight it’s loose. I find most women are less bothered about size, and more about wobble. So why not just enjoy your food and buy some sexy Bridget Jones knickers.

10. Party – Are you having dancing in the evening? Think about practicality, and what will look great on the dancefloor. You don’t want your dream dress to become a nightmare as soon as the formalities have finished and the dancing starts. Having a second dress for the evening is also an option – if you really want to throw some shapes!

I hope my tips help, and just make sure you don’t get too stressed about it, it should be fun….

At an affordable price!

I am very very excited to finally be able to offer these 1950′s inspired wedding dresses.

Better photo’s are to come soon, but I didn’t want to delay being able to offer them.

They are priced from £600, and all made from great silk fabrics.

The thing that I’m offering, which most people don’t, is that you can take bits from different designs and put them together, creating your very own Unique Dress.

We’re offering them in sizes 6-16, or made to measure. So we really are catering for everyone. You can even specify your required length, even when buying a standard size, saving on a potentially expensive alteration.

The samples are all Ivory, but we can do other colours too, for most of the designs.

I really hope you like what you see….

As the new year has just started, it brings a whole new season of weddings, and a lot of new dresses to make.

Which made me think about all the brides I worked with last year.

Each bride really was unique, with a great variety of dresses for me to make.

I just thought I’d put together a selection of my favourite photo’s of happy couples from 2011.

The best part of the whole process for me is when I get the photo’s back after the wedding and see how happy my customers have looked on the day, it’s very rewarding.

Now I’d better get on with making the dresses for this year….

I knew Vintage wedding dresses were popular, but the Vintage Wedding fair in Chiswick a couple of weeks ago really confirmed this for me.

I expected it to be busy, but the 700 visitors really showed that this is still a massive trend!

I’ve included a few photo’s, the first one is of Samantha, in her vintage inspired wedding dress I made her, after meeting her at the same show a few months ago.

Then below are a few photo’s taken by the wonderful photographer Annamarie Stepney, who I met at the fair, just take a look on her website if you fancy some vintage style wedding photo’s. www.annamariestepney.co.uk

And yes, that’s me at the bottom, looking like I really didn’t want my photo taken! Why can I never just relax when a camera is pointed at me!

I’m very excitedly beavering away at my fifties inspired wedding dresses, and should have a few samples ready for the Vintage Wedding Fair on Sunday, at Chiswick Town Hall.

www.vintageweddingfair.co.uk/London.html

So many brides like the fifties look at the moment, and I love making fifties style dresses, so what better an idea than to make a range, which will all be very affordable, starting at only £600 – not bad for a wedding dress (considering the average cost these days).

So the full range will be on our website very very soon, and a small preview at the Vintage Fair on Sunday, but just to give you a hint of the kind of thing to expect, here’s a photo of me at the wedding fair I exhibited at last week. You might recognise my new salesman…

I’ve spoken to quite a few brides now at the wedding fairs I’ve been taking part in, and the one thing in common for nearly every bride, is that they are feeling pretty stressed about it all!

Why not try to relieve yourself of the stress of planning a wedding so you can actually enjoy it, it is meant to be the happiest time of your life after all!

Here’s my top tips:

1. Write a list of all the important things you must do, and another of the things that are less important, then prioritise the things on the important list. Break it down, and give yourself realistic deadlines for each item, and just concentrate on one at a time. Once you have the main things taken care of, you can enjoy every minute of all those nice things.

2. Ask your suppliers for recommendations, they are bound to know plenty of reliable suppliers, which will instantly put you at ease – and of course save time!

3. Don’t take on all the stress yourself. There are two of you getting married, share the tasks and it’ll be much easier. (I know, men aren’t always the most reliable with things like this – but he wants you to have a perfect day, so I’m sure you can trust him!)

4. Don’t worry about what will be expected of you, do what you want, not what you think you should do. People will love going to a very personal wedding, rather than one just like the last.

5. Don’t forget this is about marrying the person you love, not just about the day, don’t lose perspective, and make it all just about that one BIG day, as there’s so many lovely days after that one too!

You’re getting married, and lots of pressure is on you – and ‘the dress’ you choose to wear.

But what if you don’t want to wear a traditional white wedding dress, you know the kind I mean, big skirt, strapless, layers of net. Satin and lace.

Many girls dream of wearing this kind of dress one day to marry their ‘Prince or Princess charming’, but there are plenty of women, like me, who wouldn’t choose to wear a dress like this.

So if you don’t want to wear a traditional white dress, what should you wear?

Well, my opinion is, there shouldn’t be any rules as to what to wear, it’s your wedding, you should wear whatever you want to wear, whatever makes you feel comfortable.

I’ve made plenty of traditional wedding dresses now, but I’ve also made a lot of non-traditional dresses. The one thing in common, with all these brides, is that they’ve worn the dress that they really want to, and if that means choosing to wear electric blue, then so be it.

After all, we think of a white wedding dress as being traditional, but this tradition has only been around since Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in 1840 and wanted to wear a simple colour. This is relatively recent really, considering marriages have been taking place since ancient times.

So, maybe we should just ignore this modern tradition, and wear what we really want to, just like Dianne did, in her electric blue chiffon dress.

It just dawned upon me, that in only 11 weeks time, it will be Christmas eve. It seems hard to believe, when I’m still dressed like it’s summer!

So with Christmas this close, it must mean that Christmas parties are going to start in about 7 weeks time…

I’m guessing with the economy the way it is, people are not going to want to spend all their hard earned cash on a new sparkly dress, but then do they want to wear the same dress they wore last year?

Which made me think, why not just update last years dress. There are so many ways to do it, and for very little money. I’m sure you’ve all seen Gok Wan do it on the TV.

My top 5 simple, cheap and effective ways to update your old party dresses:

1. Beads and Sequins – Adding embellishment is really easy, beads and sequins are really cheap, particularly if you look on Ebay. Sew them on while you’re watching tv, and it will completely transform your dress. Go for a matching colour, or be bold with contrast beads.

2. Length – Shorten last years long dress, it will be a completely different look, and then you can accessorise with some really funky tights or boots.

3. Bling it up – Get some really blingy trim, they sell it in John Lewis, or other haberdashery shops, it’s really easy to sew on, put it on a waist seam or neckline to look really glam.

4. Colour – If your dress isn’t too dark already, how about changing the colour. Dylon dyes are really cheap and easy to use, and your dress will be unrecognisable! Just check first that the fabric won’t be harmed if you dye it, and that it will actually take the colour.

5. Sleeves – If your dress has sleeves, why don’t you take them off, it’s quite easy to do with a bit of patience, and basic sewing skills, then with the fabric you’ve taken off, use it to make a bow, corsage, or if you’re feeling really creative, a simple handbag.

Good luck ladies, and enjoy the next few weeks of getting ready for those fun parties