West Yorkshire Vintage Style Wedding Gown Collection Has Arrived.

During the 1950’s influences including film, television and music created a new market when teenagers became an emerging fashion voice. 1950s glamour had suddenly arrived. The era can be remembered for two fashion silhouettes; the full skirt and the pencil slim. Both styles placed great emphasis on the narrowness of the waist and we have taken this as our inspiration for our new 2011 Spring/Summer Vintage Collection.

We are delighted to have been featured on one of the most popular wedding blogs

Love My Dress.

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There really is no 'I' in team and this really has to be said on this occasion. I'd like to dedicate this post to all those lovely people involved. Here's to you!!

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Ingrow train station and the Vintage carriages trust were the settings for the photo shoot which took place on Sunday 20th February 2011, to launch our very first Vintage style Collection.

The day began with the arrival of Donna Judson, hairstylist, and Leanne ‘Annie’ Anderson, makeup artist, at 8.30am sharp. We met photographer, Rob Booker on location at 1pm who immediately briefed us on the various shots he wanted to capture.

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Along with florist, Sarah Richardson of Leafy Couture and hat/headdress maker extraordinaire Jane of HF Couture, the whole look gelled together instantly. We really could not have achieved it without any one of them.

We'd also invited local photographers Graham Warsap and Martin Beaumont along. Graham said. "So we went hoping to meet a few people that are involved with the wedding industry. I had not bargained for how much talent you could get in one place. The work that had gone into the shoot was stunning."

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Between Saturday and Monday West Yorkshire had experienced snow and our models sat and stood bare armed in the cold for four hours. There was the brief warmth of fleece dressing gowns and hot chocolate. However, not one of our models mentioned the cold, their hunger or how tired they were feeling. Hats off to our models!

So, really, in no particular order.

Flowers by Leafy Couture. Photography Graham Warsap.

Flowers Leafy Couture, Photography Graham Warsap.

Flowers Leafy Couture, Photography Graham Warsap.

Flowers Leafy Couture, Photography Graham Warsap.

Gown, Sophia, Dresses at No 9

Head piece, Clara. HF Couture.

Photography Graham Warsap.

Gown, Esther Dresses at No9

Headpiece DragonFly Dream HF Couture

Photography Graham Warsap.

Gown Vivian Dresses at No9

Birdcage veil HF Couture

Photography Graham Warsap.

Picture hat, Audrey. HF Couture

Photography Graham Warsap.

Photography Martin Beaumont

Hair Donna Judson.

Make up Leanne 'Annie' Anderson.

Photography Rob Booker

Below you will find the final images of the day. The whole look was captured perfectly by Rob Booker. I've adopted him as our official photographer!

Esther, Vivian, Sophia.

Rita.

Model wears Pearcher hat, Ellie

And finally, just for fun.

This day could not have been complete without the professional talents of Photography Rob Booker www.robbooker.co.uk Accessories Jane www.hfcouture.co.uk Florist www.leafycouture.co.uk Hairstylist Donna Judson judsond@hotmail.co.uk Makeup Leanne ‘Annie’ Anderson makeupbyannie@hotmail.co.uk Location http://www.vintagecarriagestrust.org/ And of course us Dresses at No. 9 We would also like to thank our models and special thanks to Trevor, chairman at Vintage Carriages Trust for his hospitality.

Take The Stress out of Your Dress.

Your wedding gown should be the one thing that is all about you and something you may have dreamt about ever since you were a little girl. I know I did.

Ok, my expectations were different as an adult than those of my childhood fairytale dream, but nevertheless, my gown filled every expectation I had.

I still believe that bespoke is the way to go. You get exactly what you are looking for in a relaxed and happy enviroment. "You've made this so easy," many of my clients have said.

I certainly feel the pressure is on to find 'The One', but do worry that this pressure often leads to those impulse purchases. Yes, they can happen with your wedding gown!

I quite often read that ladies are not sure if the dress they have bought is the one for them. They were swept along by the ambience and fairytale and sadly they end up shelling out on a new gown when the doubt sets in leaving them to sell their original choice at a much cheaper price. In this current economic climate, can you really afford to give money away?

Top tips.

1. Take your time and don't rush into buying the first dress you see.

2. Look through magazines for favourite styles and looks. But remember, the choices you make may not be right for you once you have the gown on.

3.Take someone with you who knows your likes and dislikes and knows what looks good on you. Or not! I honestly feel, from meeting with many clients, that mum isn't always the best person to take. They have a vision of their daughter in mind and sometimes this does not reflect the vision of the person.

4. You wedding album is going to be with you for the rest of your life so think about your style over current fashion trends. And if your style isn't available to buy, you always have the option of your local dressmaker!

Many ladies are filled with dread when they walk into a bridal salon. Many are a little self concious of their body shape and can find the whole process intimidating. We offer a relaxed and informal service without compromising on quality. We want your wedding gown to be the dress of your dreams and above all a happy experience. One you'll feel comfortable about coming too for every fitting.

You deserve it!

Getting Married In Vegas!

Las Vegas is famous for weddings, and this was to be the dream wedding for our client, Julie today.

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Julie wanted to feel every inch bride, without feeling too weddingy (her words) with the current trends of bling, beads or a traditional wedding gown look.

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As designer/dressmakers, we feel it is very important that the vision a client has in her head, is the vision she portrays into ours. It's having an understanding, the ability to voice her preferences or changes where she feels they are needed without feeling she is going to upset the dressmaker, us! After all, if there is really something we know won't work, we'll tell her!

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The way a client will upset us is to not say when she feels something isn't right or her vision isn't quite the reflection she sees in the mirror at her fitting.

Sometimes a client will try on styles before we have a consultation so she knows what suits. Sometimes we pull together a design and have toile fittings. Or sometimes a client will come with a favourite dress or sketch of something she has worn before just like Sarah did with her trouser suit.

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This is how Julie chose her wedding day gown. She brought along a favourite dress, but wanted to add sleeves, a subtle change to the neckline and of course change the colour.

Julie also wanted the skirt of her gown to have a 'feather' effect similar to that of the wedding gown we produced for Jodie.

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The effect a synthetic chiffon gave opposed to silk was slightly different and the result wasn't as effective for Julie as it had been for Jodie. However, after hours and hours of pulling back individual threads of the chiffon to achieve the 'feather' effect Julie had fallen in love with, proved successful.

Julie was over the moon when she collected her gown today and that makes us very happy indeed.

Julie, we hope you have an amazing time in Vegas. Your gown rocks!

Satin bands added an elegant detail. Something the beaded embelishment simply did not do.

The beautiful wide neckline looked stunning on the bride-to-be. With the insertion of little poppered loops, Julie could anchor her bra straps so they wouldn't work onto her shoulder and expose themselves.

The feather detail (a little hard to see) in the skirt.

Vintage Carriages Trust and our Vintage Wedding Gown Photo Shoot.

I'm that excited I'm simply fizzing! and no, Mr D is not driving a steam train, but we had a very exciting meeting with the man in charge, Mr Paul Holroyd.

The Ingrow Museum of Rail Travel is owned by Vintage Carriages Trust http://www.vintagecarriagestrust.org/ and as Paul said, "is nothing to do with them lot out there," pointing at the Worth Valley Steam Railway, so is to be the venue for a forthcoming photo shoot to showcase our small vintage collection of wedding gowns available to buy late February.

It's a very exciting time for us as we generally focus on bespoke wedding gowns,but now seems as good a time as any to launch the new vintage line.

We felt that the vintage theme needed a vintage setting and when Mr D quite aptly suggested the Vintage Carriages trust Museum, who better than to take the photos than my favourite photographer, Mr Rob Booker and supply the vintage headwear than HF Couture Accessories.

Rob sent Mr D and myself to check out the venue and asked for some sample shots of our all access areas to get a general idea of how he was going to work.

Paul Holroyd, who accompanies his beloved carriages all over the country while on location for films such as The Railway Children with actors such as David Suchet and Nicole Kidman and supplying memorabilia for train mad Roy Cropper of Coronation Street was an ever ending supply of knowledge and sheer fascination.

We really do have an access all areas which means we can sit in the carriages and even use the authentic suitcases lined up alongside the wonderful trains.

Our props!



It really is going to be super amazing and if you would like to come along and watch the professionals at work and also have a chat with photographer Rob Booker, accessories and bespoke jewellery maker Jane of HF Couture, makeup artist Leanne Anderson and super florist Leafy couture, then please do feel free to join us for what will be a fun and vintage themed gathering.
You are more than welcome to join us afterwards for a light lunch of sandwiches, cupcakes and lashings of ginger beer and of course, more wedding chat.

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When - Sunday 20th february 2011 at 12noon.

Where - Vintage Carriages Trust Museum Ingrow

Vintage Frocks http://www.dressesatno9.co.uk/

Accessories and headwear http://www.hfcouture.co.uk/

Photography http://www.robbooker.co.uk/

Floristry http://www.leafycouture.co.uk/

Makeup artist Leanne Anderson 01274833608/07862713910

Hair stylist Donna Judson

Venue Vintage Carriages Trust http://www.vintagecarriagestrust.org/

Please do be aware that there may be a small fee for the upkeep of the museum and a warm coat may be necessary as the shed doesn't have heating. The light lunch is free!

Very much looking forward to seeing you there!

Wedding Day Trouser Suit for a Yorkshire Bride.

It all began with a simple sketch; a favourite all-in-one outfit Sarah had worn many years ago and not wanting the traditional wedding outfit, chose something she knew she loved.

Slight variations were made to the original design by way of a back rather than the straps having the 'bib and brace' appearence.


The suit was made from silk crepe and lined with a silk lining. The edges were decorated with a diamante sparkle embellishment.

The happy couple married at Skipton registry office.

Reception at The Dog and Gun Crosshills for fish and chips.

The fabulous detail of the crossover straps.

Sarah, thank you so much for the images. You looked amazing.

The Dog and Gun

Dresses at No. 9 Competition and Meeting Our Winner.

This year seems to be marching on full steam ahead and in no way am I being left behind!

We seem to be in great demand from new clients and with some fabulous designs and gowns to get our teeth into our popularity doesn't seem to be letting up any time soon.

Today I had the greatest of pleasures to meet our Dresses at No. 9 competition winner, Abi and her wonderful mum.

Abi brought along the wedding ideas she had been collecting so we immediatly began discussing everything about it.

Romance is the key feature using soft palettes along with vintage elements to bring together the Tea Party theme set for the reception.

Abi doesn't want the traditional wedding breakfast, to be held at her Aunts 200 year old white washed walled barn (and Marquee), so opted for the tea party theme comprising of sandwiches, nibbles finishing off with plenty of cake. All served up on vintage crockery I might add.

"So," I said. "Will you be hiring the china for your 70 guests?"

"No," she said. "My aunt has plenty of the stuff. I'm sure she even has 70 cups and 70 saucers hidden around the kitchen!"

We talked about the bridesmaids outfits, flowers, the photography and even discussed an outfit for mum. Of course, the bridal gown is going to be a close guarded secret (a bit like Kate Middlestons gown) but I can say it is going to be one heck of a show stopper. Both Abi and I are very excited now the design has been sketched and fabrics chosen.

We chatted for over three hours and after Abi and her mum left, I felt a little like I'd just done the Conveyer Belt from The Generation Game! ("Did we go a bit fast for you there?") with everything still wizzing around in my head.

So, with the design drawn, fabrics covered along with other ideas, it's full steam ahead. And I simply cannot wait!!

Happy New Year and Happy Birthday Dresses at No. 9!

At precisely 12pm midnight tonight, it is officially our 2nd birthday.

My gorgeous husband Mr. D is my number one fan. He says he is so he must be!

It's been one heck of a year for us with two magazine features a ton of clients and making friends with some lovely people in the wedding industry.

Family has taken a little back seat so this will be something I shall address in 2011.

We've decided to make a monthly 'Bucket list' and my five-year-old has suggested our first should be a hot air balloon ride. So, that seems to be first on the agenda. We will also have a year end one too and next year, I rather fancy Lapland!

I've said hello to some wonderful new clients, and goodbye to a few to.

I've also waved off my son who joined Plymouth University this past September. It's been a bit of a wrench for all of us, but he's happy and we feel we've given him the best start we can, so I'm happy! (even though I still cry each time I see him and more so when I leave him)

We've also made a brides dream come true with our fabby competition and I cannot wait to get my teeth into 2011 and her gown among others.

I've had one week's holiday in Devon this year where no mobile phone reception was a blessing in disguise. A good opportunity to totally recharge my batteries.

We also have a further two magazine features pending and an exciting new collection to launch in the New Year.

It's going to be a busy one, with our books at full capacity at this time until September 2011, and a new booking today for 2012.

I cannot thank my clients and wedding suppliers enough for their ongoing support.

So, may I take the opportunity of thanking my past and current clients for their custom and wedding suppliers for their inspiration and on going support.

A very Happy New Year. Let's make this a great one!