Designer Wedding Dress Sale

Last month I went to London for to visit some Bridal shops and coincidently there was a Designer Wedding Dress Sale on. Though the concept sounded a bit scary I thought it was worth a try...just in case. It turned out the sale, held at the Thistle Hotel in Marble Arch, was actully quite civilised and not manic as imagined. Designers included Caroline Castigliano, Christiana Couture, Fabio Gritti, Galit Levi, Jenny Packham, Ronald Joyce, Sharon Hoey, Toi Sposa ...and more.

The next sale is on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th January 2010. Here's a few tips for if you're planning to go:

• Get in early! If you can't book an early slot, turn up anyway and you should be able to get in.
• There is a lot of waiting! So give yourself a few hours and take snacks.
• By sale, they don't mean really cheap, some dresses still cost £1000...but they are designer.
• Be open minded and try on dresses you wouldn't usually try on.
• Don't expect to find a specific dress - it's very pot luck.
• Take your Mum or your bridesmaids, not only is it good to have spare pairs of hands, they can protect you from pushy sales people!
• Wear nice underwear - you'll be stripping off in front of others.

I didn't find my perfect dress (though was very close to buying a half price Caroline Castigliano one, that was still way over my budget), but I'm glad I know I tried.

Real Brides Wedding Show 2009

Mum and I were on a mission to find Bridal hair and make-up services, when we went to the Real Brides Wedding Show at Westpoint, in Exeter last month. We were successful, plus we found inspiration for a few other wedding details such as, chair styles and vintage china for our reception.

The catwalk show of local bridal dress shops was the main event of the day, and I managed to capture some to show you. If you like any of the dresses, you can just about see the shop names on the screen behind the models.

Next Real Brides show: 20-21 February 2010

Real Brides Show Westpoint Part 1

Real Brides Show Westpoint Part 2