Almost the second we got engaged I was dragging my newly appointed chief bridesmaid down the Fulham Road in London to the Wedding Shop. I’d seen the most beautiful Vera Wang empire line design in tulle and had to see it for myself. As a university student, I knew there was no way I could ever afford one…but they weren’t to know that were they?!

The Wedding Shop is one of the only stockists of Vera Wang in London apart from Selfridges so we were both rather nervous about going in just to play dress up, but what a wonderful game of dress up it was! Over the course of an hour (it didn’t take long) I tried on a number of incredible gowns, from the tulle empire line I had my heart set on in the magazines, to the dress I fell head over heels in love with, relegating the other back to the rail. This crepe backed satin number was a bias cut 1930s style with sequin appliquéd shoulders, ties around the back and a liquid train-real Hollywood star quality.

As the assistant placed the veil on top of my head, it was as if the room sighed with wonder-here was the defining moment, I was a bride. Just a snip at £4,300, it was clear I was either going to have to donate myself to medical science or sell my body to make this happen! As I prepared to kiss goodbye to the dream, an idea popped into my head…all I had to do was copy the design and have it made. The process in itself was simple. As I trained in theatre, I had friends in all sorts of creative places and one of my colleagues just happened to be a costume designer. What followed was a series of fitting sessions so that she could produce the toile which is a mock up (usually in calico) of the dress which is then taken apart in its panels to help draw up the pattern used for the final design. Once the pattern was complete, we spent a few hours pouring over fabric catalogues and before I knew it, I’d spent several hundred pounds on 12 metres of the most beautiful crepe back satin from James Hare.

It was wonderful to be able to have my mother make my wedding dress. Ever since I became obsessed with Pride and Prejudice at the age of twelve and told in her in no uncertain terms would she not be making my dress, she knew it was coming one day! I don’t think she realised just how much of a challenge it was going to be though until she saw the original design and got the pattern home. As a school teacher, she devoted the majority of her much needed holiday time to making it, slumped over the sewing machine from dusk til dawn until it was finished. I can’t tell you how wonderful it was to marry the man I love in a dress made by my mother, it was an experience we shared together stood in the living room while she pinned it onto me, and very emotional when I first wore the finished product and she could see all her hard work come together.

As the dress drew closer to its completion, there were aspects of the design that we adjusted and changed so that it became my own rather than an exact copy and I’m glad that we did as its truly one of a kind.

Although now it hangs on the back of our bedroom door waiting for a dry clean before going up to the attic, it is something I will treasure all the more and most importantly will hand down to the next generation, not necessarily to be worn at the next wedding, but to carry on a little bit of family history…

* all professional photos credit to Matt Faber