Rowanjoy Bride - Lindsay

Lindsay was the bride I made cry.

 I first met Lindsay at the Glasgow Wedding Collective fair, she had spotted the Ava dress, took it away to try on and came back crying, EEk! But phew, thankfully they were happy tears as she actually loved the dress.

After coming into the studio and trying it on again Lindsay was sure that this was to be her dress. We decided on some changes to the design - a change to the neckline, raising the back up and adding a bit more lace to the back. The finished dress has a lovely organic feel to it with all the hand sewn lace pieces creating a soft edge around the back and neckline.

I absolutely love the photos of Lindsay's day which took place at the beautiful Crear. I knew when she told me that Kitchener Photography were her photographers that they would be nothing short of beautiful. And well I wasnt wrong, that last photo, stunning.

Rowan x

All photos Kitchener Photography 

www.kitchenerphotography.co.uk

Rowanjoy Bride - Amandine

I first met Amandine over a year before her wedding after she had seen the Chloe dress on her friend Trish who modelled for our Desire, Decadence and Decay shoot and she was pretty certain that it was the dress for her.  Her Fiance had also seen the photos of the dress though, so even though he didn't know it was the dress she was going for Amandine wanted to make it more her own. We changed the lace to one with a more defined Scalloped edge and a bit less beading and also added a wider piece of lace around the waist. A lighter ivory was used for the main dress fabric and the dress was finished off with my favourite a row of buttons as the fastening down the back. And what a gorgeous bride she was, the hair, flowers and beaming smile complement the dress perfectly.

Rowan x

All photos Ryan White Wedding Photography 

http://www.ryanwhite-weddingphotography.co.uk/ 

Rowanjoy Bride and Bridesmaids - Karen

I had such fun working with Karen and her bridesmaids making all their dresses for her wedding in September. Karen loved the style and details of the Ava dress and with a couple of slight design changes it was the perfect dress for her. Her 3 bridesmaids chose bespoke designs and were unanimous in choosing a beautiful gold silk which tied in with the gold and champagne details in Karens dress perfectly. Don't they all look gorgeous.

Rowan x

All Photos Philip Stanley Dickson - www.psdphotography.co.uk

www.psdphotography.co.ukwww.psdphotography.co.uk

The story of a dress. Rowanjoy bride - Rowan (yeah, its me)

There is a strange kind of pressure when you are doing something you do as a living for yourself, as peoples expectations are always going to be that little bit higher. I found that making my dress, but hey I like a bit of pressure and only starting making it 3 and a half weeks before the wedding seemed like a sensible way to add to the pressure! Despite everyone thinking I would be finishing it the day before the wedding, I knew it would be fine and finished it with a week to go. Then there's the added pressure you put on yourself. For all my brides I'm always confident in the design that they will love the dress, but for some reason making my own I seemed to question myself more than usual.

I always knew I didnt want a traditional looking wedding dress and there was always going to be some colour involved. Originally I wanted a patterned fabric but being a complete fusspot I couldnt find anything I liked at all. So one colour with some coloured lace to create detail and pattern was the solution. I think I got about 30 samples of fabric before I found the right one, nothing was quite the right shade of green or the right type of fabric - told you I was a fussy bugger. Eventually I found one I loved and then sent a sample to my lace supplier who kindly had offered to dye lace to match it for me. They were unable to match it perfectly instead it was a couple of shades darker which actually worked so much better as the lace stood out against the paler green. 

A selection of my samples (sorry for the crap photo)

I knew what the design of the dress would be when I first decided to make my own dress. It was a style I knew would suit me, I would feel comfortable in and that was very me - these are things I always tell my brides they have to think about when choosing a dress so I thought I better listen to my own advice.  

Original Dress sketch

So that was the dress all designed and ready to go and despite a slight panic when ordering the fabric that it might not get here in time to get the dress made, it all turned out fine! So here it it is and a few more photos from our wedding day.

Rowan x

All photos(except my terrible iphone photos) 
Caro Weiss Photography

Back to Blog - Real Bride, Suzanne.

So I have been, done and got myself all married just a couple of short weeks ago, hence the radio silence the last few months. I had a busy few months before the wedding filled with gorgeous brides, all of which I will be getting up on the blog in the next couple of weeks, I may even include myself in there somewhere!

Suzanne got married way back in May, yup I have been that slack at blogging, she chose the Clara dress and teamed it with a custom made gold lace bolero. I absolutely love how she styled the dress with the across the forehead headband and gorgeous up do. Also how, awesome do her new in-laws and family look in their Kimonos.

Rowan x 

Rowanjoy Bride - Sarah Jane

Sarah Jane was one of my first brides of 2013 and I loved making her dress which was a new take on one of my designs from the collection - the Chloe dress.

 From the start Sarah Jane knew she wanted a full fifties style skirt and after trying on the toile dress and having a practice spin she was certain it was right for her. The bodice was kept the same as on the original dress and the sleeve was changed to a fitted full length lace style. The dress was finished off with a row of pearl buttons down the back. To finish off the look Sarah Jane asked me to make her a fifties style short veil, doesn't it look perfect with her dress.

I love the photos of Sarah Jane's wedding, the one of her twirling in the dress shows it off to perfection.

Rowan x

All images copyright Jen Owens Images

Rowanjoy Bride - Claire

What can I say about Claire, her wedding and her dress - all are pretty darn awesome!

I first met Claire through the Glasgow Wedding Collective who along with her sister Nikki run the wedding and event planning business Be Eventful. When I found out she was engaged I knew she had to be a Rowanjoy bride and lucky for me I got my girl!

Claire and I had much fun pinning to a secret board on pinterest with ideas for her dress and soon enough a common theme was obvious - Peter Pan collars, keyhole cut-outs and a relaxed seventies vibe to the style. I found the most fabulous crochet lace which we decided the whole dress should be made from and combined with Claire's styling for her big day (leather belt, amazing floral crown and lace up ankle boots - Yess) The perfect, relaxed bridal look was created.

Claire and John's wedding looks like such a fun day, seriously look at the full day here, flipping fabulous and brilliantly captured by Caro Weiss who I am lucky enough to have photographing my own wedding ( eek nearly only 4 months left)

Good times indeed.

Rowan x

All Photos copyright Caro Weiss Photography

Rowanjoy Bride - Fi

Fi and David's wedding was one I had the great pleasure of attending myself and what a wonderful day it was. What rain?

Fi is a friend and fellow designer and has her own label Fiona Heather so I knew she would have lots of ideas of what she was looking for. The design was a mixture of elements of some of my designs with a few details that Fi specifically wanted. A gorgeous flowing skirt with a gathered back detail, delicate chantilly lace highlighted with some beaded lace motifs and that lovely low back all combined perfectly to make THE dress. 

It was so lovely to see Fi looking so fricking fabulous on the day and I was very flattered to even get a mention in the father of the bride's speech ( I went suitably beetroot )

Happy wedding times indeed.

Rowan x

All photos Copyright Helen Abraham Photography