Sabina Motasem 2013 Collection

We were delighted recently to be asked by Sabina Motasem to supply some pieces to accessorise her new 2013 collection of vintage inspired dresses.

Here are some of the stunning pictures from the photoshoot:

{IMAGE 1} Sabina Motasem Josephine Dress with Kelly Spence Fern Band

{IMAGE 2} Sabina Motasem Emilienne Dress with Kelly Spence 90" Single Tier Soft Silk Veil

{IMAGE 3} Sabina Motasem Belle Dress with Kelly Spence Baroness Birdcage Veil and Pia Freshwater Pearl Hairpin

{IMAGE 4} Sabina Motasem Gabrielle Dress with Kelly Spence Thea Comb and Whisper Back Necklace

{IMAGE 5} Sabina Motasem Isadora Dress with Kelly Spence Vintage Side Tiara

{IMAGE 6} Sabina Motasem Elsa Dress with Kelly Spence Pia Freshwater Pearl Hairpin

{IMAGE 7} Sabina Motasem Yvette Dress with Kelly Spence Baroness Birdcage Veil, Octavia Swarovski Crystal Comb and Vintage Necklace.

Head on over to the Sabina Motasem website to see the rest of her fabulous vintage inspired collection!

{IMAGES} Oliver Prout Photography
Dresses - Sabina Motasem
Accessories - Kelly Spence

Happy Anniversary! Oxfam celebrates the Royal anniversary with an all star wedding auction!

This time last year……

…..for a start we had gloriously sunny weather! I can't help thinking that William and Kate must be thinking how glad they are that they chose 2011 for their wedding!

What were you doing this time last year? Were you celebrating with a street party or did you brave the crowds to see the happy couple in the flesh?

To celebrate the anniversary of the Royal Wedding and their own 70th Anniversary, Oxfam are launching a very special online wedding auction, in conjunction with the new Oxfam Weddings Ambassador Annabel Beeforth of Love My Dress and are offering future brides and grooms the chance to bid on some incredible items for a fraction of the normal retail price. The cream of the UK wedding industry have donated some amazing items including some very exclusive items that money normally cannot buy!

For example, how would you like to choose your own Charlotte Balbier dress after an in-depth one-to-one consultation with Charlotte Balbier herself where you'll get to work with Charlotte to decide which of her dresses is "the one"! You'll also be treated to cupcakes and tea all day, a make-up lesson from a celebrity make-up artist, accessories to match your gown, a luxury goody bag and a vintage-style afternoon tea to finish the day off in style!

or

What about a private consultation with leading designer, Ian Stuart, in his London showroom. He will help you choose the perfect style for your big day and you will then be able to pick from ANY dress from his Killer Queen collection!

There are also dresses from Jenny Packham, Claire Pettibone (via Blackburn Bridal), Sassi Holford & Sabina Motasem to name but a few.

Bridesmaids dresses from Maids to Measure, Two Birds and Royal flower girl dress designer herself Nicki MacFarlane. Shoes from Emmy, Aruna Seth, Rachel Simpson and Harriet Wilde….and the list goes on…and on….and on!In fact you could get pretty much everything you need for your big day from groom wear to honeymoon with everything in-between!There is even an engagement shoot with styling from KS favourite photographer the amazing Kat Hill who shot our Bright Young Things Collection photoshoot.

We were also delighted to be able to donate two pieces from the BYT collection to this amazing cause. You could be the lucky winner of our Darcy freshwater and Swarovski crystal comb or our Fifi silk face veil.

Head on over to the Oxfam Wedding Auction page or Love My Dress to see all of the amazing items on offer.

Happy bidding!..and don't forget all proceeds go to charity so please bid generously!

{IMAGES} 1. Oxfam Weddings
2. Charlotte Balbier - Ava 3. Ian Stuart - Basilica
4. (clockwise) Sassi Holford - Anya, Sabina Motasem - Alaya, Claire Pettibone - Sparrow, Jenny Packham - Carmen,
5. Kelly Spence - Fifi silk face veil (shown with Lucinda Comb) and Darcy freshwater pearl & Swarovski crystal comb (photos Kat Hill)

Vintage Bride Designer Sale

We're very excited to be exhibiting at (and helping organise!) the inaugural Vintage Bride Designer Sale at One Marylebone on Sunday! There are going to be lots of amazing suppliers offering generous discounts, sample dresses for sale, a cocktail bar and even a spa area!

The sale is on from 12-6pm, entrance is free (that makes a nice change doesn't it!) but pre-registration is required. There are also some fab goody bags with treats from Aveda & OPI for the first 200 through the door!

Now that is something to be excited about don't you think! Hope to see you there!

Royal Wedding - The Bridesmaids

Pippa Middleton may have become an internet sensation due to a certain 'asset' but surely part of the credit for her meteoric rise to fame must surely go to Sarah Burton for creating such a beautiful maid of honour dress that showcased her fantastic figure. Her dress was made of a heavy ivory satin-based crepe with a perfectly draped cowl front and with the same ace trim and gazar and organza covered buttons as the bride's dress.

He hair was beautifully styled by a hairdresser from the Richard Ward salon in Sloane Square into a half up style and perfectly finished off at the back by a cascade of lily-of-the-valley to match the bride's bouquet.

If you are looking for the same delicate look but with a hair adornment that can be treasured for years to come and not thrown away, try our freshwater pearl Lucinda comb.

Pippa, like her sister, wore some specially designed drop diamond earrings made by Robinson Pelham.

The Duchess of Cambridge's smaller bridesmaids were dressed in beautiful satin gazar ballerina length dresses created by Nicki MacFarlane. Nicki is a fellow exhibitor at the Designer Wedding Show and so we have known her exquisite designs for many years. Nicki and her daughter made the dresses to echo the bride's dress by using the same fabrics and lace but with crisp box pleat skirts, generous petticoats and wild silk gold sashes.

The two page boys were impeccably turned out in scarlet & gold uniforms in the style of that worn by a Foot Guards officer at the time of the Regency (the 1820s) with insignia from the Irish Guards, whose Colonel is Prince William.

Royal Wedding - The Dress

When Catherine Middleton married HRH Prince William on Friday, months of speculation about her dress finally ended as she stepped out of the Phantom Rolls Royce VI onto the red carpet of Westminster Abbey in a breathtakingly elegant gown designed, as hotly tipped, by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen.

The Official Royal Wedding Website tells us "Miss Middleton chose British brand Alexander McQueen for the beauty of its craftsmanship and its respect for traditional workmanship and the technical construction of clothing. Miss Middleton wished for her dress to combine tradition and modernity with the artistic vision that characterises Alexander McQueen’s work. Miss Middleton worked closely with Sarah Burton in formulating the design of her dress."

It is surely no accident that the dress bore more than a passing resemblance to that of another fairytale princess in waiting, Grace Kelly.

Who can blame Kate for using as her inspiration one of the most famously elegant and certainly the most timeless of wedding dresses? Even her bouquet echoed Grace Kelly's modestly sized posy, also of lily of the valley.

The lace for her dress was worked by the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court Palace incorporating symbolic Rose, Thistle, Daffodil & Shamrock motifs. Hands were washed every 30 minutes to keep the lace and threads pristine; needles were renewed every 3 hours and only short lengths of thread were used, each no longer than 30 cm. Also, to maintain an even appearance, no securing knots were used as it was important that the back of the work looked as neat as the front.

Sarah Burton added subtle signature McQueen touches to the design of the dress such as victorian style corsetry with padded hips to emphasise Kate's tiny waist and a beautiful folded bustle detail along with a modern v neckline, pleated skirt and 2.7m train to perfectly blend the traditional and the contemporary and so create an iconic and inspirational gown that will undoubtedly stand the test of time as much as that worn by her muse 55 years earlier.

(next...veil, tiara & jewellery)

Princess style at charity shop prices

Dream of finding a stunning wedding dress from one of the country's top designers at a charity shop? This week your dreams could come true!

Head down to one of 6 specially selected Save the Children shops, including Mary Portas' Living and Giving London shop in Westbourne Grove and snap up one of the gorgeous dresses donated by designers such as royal favourite Stewart Parvin, Matthew Williamson, Jasper Conran & Jenny Packham for a fraction of their original price.

{IMAGES} 1 - Stewart Parvin, 2 - Charlotte Balbier, 3 - (Mary Portas) Save the Children

Vintage Style Inspiration at The Globes

40s style seemed to be the hot look at the Golden Globes this year.. Sharp shoulder pads, long sleeves, high necks and cut-away backs reminiscent of the type of liquid dresses worn by war-time screen goddesses such as Lauren Bacall and Veronica Lake.

Could these sleek silhouettes be a foretaste of vintage influences for bridalwear 2012?

{IMAGES} Angelina Jolie in Versace; Lauren Bacall 1944

Anne Hathaway in Armani; Veronica Lake

Leighton Meester in Burberry

Scarlett Johannson in Elie Saab

Royal Engagement Fever

At last, after months of speculation, Prince William and Kate Middleton have announced that they are to marry next year.

But what kind of wedding dress will the future Queen Catherine wear and who will she choose to design it? No doubt she will follow royal tradition and choose a British designer, perhaps celebrity favourites Alice Temperley or Jenny Packham or classic English designer Phillipa Lepley?

William proposed with his mother's iconic sapphire engagement ring and while Kate said yesterday that the late Princess Diana was 'an inspirational woman' she is unlikely to walk down the aisle in a quite so voluptuous gown as the then Lady Diana did in 1981.

If her engagement dress is anything to go by, her tiny waist could be accentuated with a dress something along the lines of this design from Suzanne Neville's 2010/2011 collection.

Bride's Spy friend Peta Hunt, fashion director at You & Your Wedding Magazine, thinks that she may even choose a demure, high-necked, hand-embroidered lace dress. Perhaps like the one worn by Grace Kelly for her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956?

or this one by designer Justin Alexander?

We think her style indicates she might opt for a simpler dress but maybe with a heavily laced veil - gorgeous! Whatever she chooses we are sure she will look fabulous and every inch the elegant princess.

.....and when she is ready to choose her hair accessories we will be here waiting! ;-)

Romantic Perfectionist?

Your perfectionist side draws you to a crisply sculpted dress with clean lines and beautiful paper-like folds but your romantic side wants ethereal draping and delicate lace.

What is a girl to do? Well, try heading over to Pronovias and perusing dresses from their new 2010 collection including the elegant Megara a perfect combination of feminine and modern.

I dream of Vera

If you dream of walking down the aisle in a gorgeous Vera Wang gown but didn't want to take out a loan to do so, head down to Selfridges in London this weekend for their Sample Sale. There will be up to 75% off on Fri & Sat from 10am-9pm, Sun 12-6pm so sharpen up your elbows ladies and prepare for your dreams to come true!


{PHOTO} - VERA WANG