- The Dress!

4-week deadline...

... to find the dress!

After a week or so telling our friends and family the good news, when I got back to London I bought a bridal magazine to commence the dress hunt.   I kept reading the same thing in the magazine: ''Your dress will take 4-6 months to make'' .....ermmmmm, what?!  I don't have this amount of time!  I have 4 weeks left in the UK and I'm going to the Middle-East, where my (Western)  style of dress will not be easily found, what if I never find one there? what if I can't afford it? Who will fit my dress? What if, what if, what if - yup, panic set in.

Working in Mayfair meant I saw lots of lovely designer dresses, reminding me daily that this is something I simply cannot ignore!  My dear friend N, who also works in Mayfair suggested a post-work catch up.  I told her my amazing news and then talked, and talked, and talked about my new stress: sourcing a wedding dress.  After, what seemed like a long time to be talking someone's head off, N nipped to the loo - probably desperate to run away from my verbal diarrhoea ha-ha, and she came back, sat down and just like an angel sent from the wedding dress gods said: 

''So!  When do you want to meet my mum?'' .... 

I said ''huh?''

''To help find you a wedding dress, she owns a wedding dress shop remember?!!!''

Of-course!!! How on earth could I forget? So consumed with worry, I forgot N's mummy has been in the wedding industry for years! My response was ''tomorrow!'' And with that we set up a date and time to go wedding dress shopping!! 

A few days later (yes, that quickly) I took my mum, sister to N's family wedding dress boutique in Edgware, where we met with N and her mum, Chris.

Chris asked: So, what dress do you want? ..... 16 dresses and 4.5 hours later , I found my perfect wedding dress.  It was not the same colour, style or design that I thought I wanted and that is where Chris's excellent skill lies.  You tell her what you want, she picks it out from the rack (of 100's of dresses) and you try it on.  Chris will then kindly offer her opinion and if you did pick the correct style for your body, colour for your skin tone and hair colour then you are a genius, but 99% of the time, unknowingly to us, we don't pick the right dress, but luckily for me, I had Chris's expertise on hand and I trust her 110% .

Along with a dress, we tried on different veils, again we found the perfect one to go with the dress.

Once dressed and ready to go, Chris turned around and said to me I’m not letting you buy this now, go home and think about it and phone me in a couple of days.... 12-hours later I woke up and text Chris and N, ''keep the dress, I still love it!''.  

I then went back with my dear friend V to collect the dress.  V sadly cannot come to my wedding, so I tried on the dress again and she kindly took photos of me.  

We left the shop and headed home with one, brand new Kate Sherford dress in tow.

Love,

International Bride 

xoxo

Notes:

Not only because Chris is the mother to a dear friend of mine, but also because of her experience and skills,  that I recommend you contact her.  Chris has three shops, the addresses you will find on her website below.  Chris sells beautiful dresses which you can buy and take away the same day - if you're allowed ! If you want a special dress, for less than £1,000- no that isn't a typo - and seek non-pushy, expert advice then visit Chris.  

Her website is: http://www.aisle-altar-hymn.co.uk/