Guest Blog: Wedding Dress Designer Christine Kendall

It's only my humble opinion, but I think I found the best wedding dress designer in London. 

I'll blog fully soon on why I chose Christine Kendall, who is based in London, to make my gown. But in short she was head and graceful shoulders above the rest.

As important as her beautiful creations, is her approach to you. There's no sending the order to Hong Kong, sticking rigidly to a pre-made pattern or eye-watering hidden costs.

The concept - that a top designer makes the dress for you - might sound simple enough but as I found, is all too rare.

Over to you Christine.

Christine Kendall

Finding your dream dress is going to reflect your personal style and is one of the reasons why the choice is so important.

Not only do you have to choose the right silhouette and style for your figure type, fabric and detail too.  

This is the time when you will look at yourself in a mirror and analyse every inch of your body, every seam, neckline, hemline and detail on a dress as you have never done before.  

A Christine Kendall creation

Be discerning

There is so much choice that you may feel overwhelmed. Be discerning and only go to five bridal designers. 

Choose them according to your budget, your styling and the location.

Have a red herring too perhaps a designer out of your location or styling that is not so generic, keeping an open mind.  

By choosing just five designers it will help you to focus on the styles that each designer creates, the quality of make, the quality of the fabrics used, the general feel of the establishment and if you would receive value for money.

The personal touch

Know your body shape

When it comes to your first bridal gown selection it can be difficult to know what to choose and knowing your body shape and areas you want to disguise or accentuate will help you.

To give you an example, if you are well proportioned and petite a column dress will  give the appearance of lengthening you. 

If you have a waist that you would like to disguise and have slim hips and thighs then this silhouette of dress should be in your selection. 

A column dress drops straight to the floor in a narrow skirt often falling from a line under the bust. 

A fuller curvy figure often looks fantastic in fitted boned bodices with an A line skirt as this shows off an hour glass figure really well, hiding larger thighs under the skirt and controlling the upper body shape.

The Kendall touch

Spoil yourself

Wear nice underwear that makes you feel good as most wedding dresses need assistance with the buttons or nets and you will may be embarrassed in greying knickers or an old ill fitting bra.  

You will want to feel as groomed as you can in the wedding dresses so it is a good idea to prep up with bikini wax and remove underarm hair as it will help you to feel confident and relaxed.  Wearing the perfume you plan to on the day will make you feel special too and the scent will linger on the dress.

If you think your hair will be worn off your face try to arrive at the shop/salon with your hair emulating how you plan to wear it on the day.  

It doesn't have to be special but the hair, up or down can completely change the look of the dress and help to reflect your style of wedding.

Ooooh, fancy pants

Know the right question

You may be surprised/confused by the language of fabrics and different terminology for silhouettes and face a fast learning curve.  

The main question to ask about the fabric used to create the dress is if it is 100% silk.

This will help you to gauge the value of the dress as some dresses  that are made in polyester are exuberant in price.  

You need to hear the words 100% silk as some fabrics are identified by weave only such as Duchess, because it is a weave only term it can be made in either polyester or silk.  

Many sales assistants will tell you that the fabric is Duchess and those not aware assume it is silk. Don't assume and ask if the Duchess is silk and don't let them tell you that the Duchess is the fabric name - you now know better.

Most importantly..enjoy!

It truly is a wonderful time in your life, I wish you joy in your search for your dream dress and remember that the dress is not just for one day.  You will see the dress in photographs. And remember how you loved wearing it and you will treasure those memories for a lifetime.

Thank you Christine. When I see you next week, I'll be sure to have defuzzed and will be wearing my finest French knickers!

For more information, do have a look at a selection of Christine's dresses at www.christinekendall.com or say hello on Facebook.

Would You Pay To Try On Dresses?

The woman on the other end of the phone is checking her diary to see when she can fit me in to try on bride dresses.

“Would midday suit?”

“Perfect.”

“And we will require a payment of £25. I can take it now if you have a credit card at hand.”

“Sorry?”

“A payment of £25.”

“What for?”

The staff member at Browns Bride put it a certain way.

I asked if, put simply, she meant the charge was to enter the shop and try on frocks.

She concurred.

She pointed out they would refund the money should I buy one of their dresses.

Browns in London now also run the exclusive Vera Wang bridal outlet. Women who want to visit both boutiques are charged twice, even though they will – unless loaded or insane – will probably only buy one dress.

That aside, surely it’s just offensive to ask for payment to enter a shop?

I asked to speak to the manager.

“Hello Miss Maxwell. I believe you are wondering why we charge customers when they make a booking?”

She explained I would be paying for a service refundable against purchase.

I asked why no other top end bridal designer shop charged – Sassi Holford, Suzanne Neville, Pronovias at Harrods or Temperley to name but a few.

And why no other service I can think of charges you to consider purchasing their products.

It doesn’t sound the sharpest thing to do while the world is in economic dire straights.

B&Q doesn’t charge you to look at their kitchens, or indeed for an hour-long appointment with a designer to show you how it would look in your home.

A car salesman invests hours every day showing customers his motors. It’s his job.

The annoying bit was, I ventured to the manageress, that friends who have been to Browns say it’s lovely.

A number of designers are showcased under one floor, which is time-effective for a bride like me who is behind schedule.

Oddly though, no one I’ve spoken to remembers paying to look at gowns.

Perhaps it’s a new thing? Would you pay? Or perhaps you have?

I sighed. “I disagree fundamentally with your policy but I tell you what, I’ll pay £25 to come to both stores.”

“Rules,” she said, “Cannot be broken.”

I countered that rules are there to be changed slightly to take into account the individual needs of the customer.

My mother was flying down, the expense of a Big Day was making my head spin – come on, let’s be reasonable, was my friendly gambit.

“Ladies fly from all over the world to come to Browns Bride and we cannot change the rules for any one person.”

I’m sure she meant it to sound exclusive but I thought it insufferably crass.

I thanked her and bid farewell.