How to find the perfect bridal look for a post-lockdown wedding
Weddings might be back from this week but what do the smaller ceremonies which will be in place for the foreseeable future mean for The Dress? With less time to plan and fewer guests, Big Gown plans are being put on hold in favour of more laidback options.
When I chose my wedding dress, I wasn’t navigating a pandemic, but I was recovering from surgery, and with a three month deadline, I had to park my dreams of bespoke Hermione de Paula. I bought my dress from bed, without setting foot in an atelier. It wasn’t ‘bridal’ or full length and (ahem, fitting aside) I’d get away with re-wearing it now (maybe…). I loved it, I still do. Amongst my friends, one tied the knot in a crisp white suit that’s still a regular wardrobe fixture, another in an asymmetric Isa Arfen midi - the summer dress of dreams, a third paired a Roksanda column with a knockout pair of pink velvet Prada pumps that have drawn gasps when she’s re-worn them at subsequent weddings.
Camilla Ridley, of made-to-measure label Ridley London, has already seen an increase in wedding enquiries - brides looking for ‘less formal, more relaxed styles’ like her special yet versatile Vinia and Sophia designs. Engaged friends echo similar sentiments. ‘The pandemic has relaxed my view on the whole thing,’ says Priya Roy, a PR director from London, ‘I ordered my wedding dress off the peg from a designer in Beirut. As it’s less wedding dress-y, I’m hoping it’ll adapt to us moving the wedding once (and probably again)’. Amy McPhail, Edinburgh-based founder of The Block Hut, says ‘I decided in January that I wanted to either wear a second-hand dress, or rent a dress for the day, it was always going to be super low key.’
Floral midi, £349, Ridley London; Strapless white dress, £415, Reformation
Pandemic or no pandemic, adaptable, rewearable and sustainable are the new bridal buzzwords. Of course, brides still seek something beautiful and special. Enter Matchesfashion’s wedding edit, launched in January, ‘to offer pieces that are great investments, suitable for all climates, feel timeless and can be worn again,’ says Natalie Kingham, fashion & buying director. The ethos is style catnip in a post-lockdown world - ‘we’ve seen a + 23% increase in sales on this category over the past month - customers investing in pieces that they can wear at registry office ceremonies, or for future events,’ she says. Kingham’s advice to brides in a Covid world? ‘Invest in something you love, which you’d wear again.’ The edit caters to varied budgets - Marques’ Almeida’s taffeta puff dress is £249 in the sale (along with tailoring by Gabriella Hearst and Albus Lumen), Rat and Boa’s slinky cowl neck slip is £250 - just add an oversized tuxedo-style blazer by Blaze Milano. All will find a place in your wardrobe post-nuptials.
Rental is another excellent option. My Wardrobe HQ has a wedding dress edit (and use virus-banishing ozone cleaning after every return). Strapless Lanvin, with an asymmetric hem, is £23 per day (RRP £5000) or Ellery’s slick fluted-sleeve style is £12 per day. Note, raised hemlines are the perfect excuse to invest in major shoes. And if you decide you don’t want to send it back? The resale price is considerably lower than the RRP.
Vintage is worth keeping an eye on, though most - Real Green Dress, Heavenly Vintage Brides and Pennies Vintage - are small and don’t have comprehensive online offerings. At Vestiaire Collective, while you can’t filter by wedding dress, you can select fabric, colour and size, which narrows down the options. I found a couple of tempting Zimmermann pieces, vintage Lanvin, and a Preen shirt dress.
White blazer, £299, white trousers, £229, both Whistles; White dress, £2,221, Cecilie Bahnsen
Look to Cecilie Bahnsen for dreamy designs that fuse whimsical with edgy; you’ll be spoilt for choice. Christopher Kane launched his debut bridal collection, which includes crystal trimmed mini dresses and feathered veils, last week - ‘buy what you love,’ says the designer, ‘what you know will make you feel really special on the day. I don’t mean the most obvious, extravagant dress, it could be something that you could wear over and over again.’ Ghost and Galvan also do 90s-style minimalism which strikes just the right note.
There are a slew of high street brands, too, creating beautiful, and affordable, pieces. Reformation has an online edit of 24 wedding-ready dresses, from flounced minis to flowing maxis styled with trainers and Whistles has a stunning Bianca Jagger-style ivory trouser suit. It’s also worth checking out labels that don’t offer ‘bridal’; Baum Und Pferdgarten’s Alula dress would be perfect with a flower crown and bold shoes.
And if you’ve bought the fairytale dress and you’re worried it might out-do your scaled down day? Don’t. As Jessie Rowe says, ‘I always knew the style and fit of dress that I wanted - it wouldn’t matter when or where I get married, it will always be that dress, just as much as it will always be Tom.’ True love.
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