We’re starting this new week a spotlight on an incredible British bridal fashion designer, whose name should be on the radar of all brides looking for a couture and bespoke wedding dress designer.
Her name is Sally Bean, of Sally Bean Couture and I am really delighted to that I have the privilege today of introducing you to her and sharing an insight in to this immensely talented designer’s world of creativity.
Sally is renowned for her modern romantic and effortlessly feminine wedding dresses, each one created from the most exquisite, ethical silk fabrics, within her London studio, to the highest of couture standards. This London bridal designer needs to be in your little black book of best wedding suppliers, if she isn’t already. Let’s find out why…
Can you talk us through your couture wedding dress design process?
Creating a bespoke wedding dress is the most special collaboration with a client. I love the beauty of being able to take ideas, work individually with each bride and then make them a dress that suits them so perfectly and personally. The dress is always next level beautiful and fits like a glove. The process really does fulfil me.
The way I work is very special. I am available and in every single client’s appointment. They get me and my undivided attention for their whole design and dress creation journey.
When it comes to process, the client will come to a design appointment in our beautiful showroom and studio in Kew. We’ll chat and explore ideas together, and I have a showroom full of beautiful dresses for them to look through and try on, as well as every lace and embroidery sample imaginable.
I adore fine details and love to add personal love notes embroidered into the dresses, source perfect laces or flowers that have significant meanings.
Visit sallybean.co.uk
During the design appointment, I will create the actual look of the design on the bride in front of the mirror, so she will see the whole look and feel confident in the design. I then sketch the look, send a beautiful order pack with all the details for the client to browse through – and then the true magic begins, we start the dress creation journey.
To create the bespoke made to measure dress, we really are perfectionists. We start with a cotton toile, which is an exact replica of the actual dress design, usually in calico or other similar fabric and during the appointment, we will use this toile to perfect the shape of the dress, neckline, and adjust anything technically.
Once the toile is perfected, we move on to creating the actual wedding dress which takes a further five to seven fittings, where at each appointment, the dress grows. We perfect and work directly on the bride checking proportions, designing the lace and embroideries and really making everything completely beautiful and elevated and utterly luxurious.
All my brides adore the process of creating there wedding dress, we share Whatsapp conversations the whole journey through and amazing reviews from my brides left on my google business page where each talks in detail about how special the journey was.
Find out more about Sally Bean
What is your favourite part of the wedding dress design process?
My favourite part of the design process is making the most spectacular dress for a bride. A dress that enhances her beauty, that is perfect for her. I adore seeing the actual beauty and magic of the process, right from our first appointment to the last. I really do make very special elevated dresses and I don’t want to do anything else in life.
I only use the most luxurious fabrics and invest huge amounts of passion, skill and time into every single piece we create. The luxury hand finishes, the refined elevated beauty. It’s so important to me that every element, every stitch is beautiful.
Visit sallybean.co.uk
The Curries Photography
Rebecca Searle Photography
Can you tell us more about your passion for wedding dress corsetry and how you incorporate it into your bridal designs?
I am now well known for my corsetry within my wedding dresses. It’s a special skill we have developed to build a figure defining smooth silhouette with a corset built perfectly within the dresses we create.
I am very proud of them, I want them to feel comfortable, be very flattering and give the client confidence when wearing them.
The skill creating ultra figure defining flattering corsetry is extra special and I am so proud of the support and skill of each piece we have created.
What efforts are you making to run a more responsible business and create more sustainable wedding dresses?
I am passionate about sustainability – we plant a tree for each client with The National Trust. And as we make each dress individually for each client in London, I am very tight on wastage. We keep all off cuts and repurpose them also.
I am constantly looking to find ways to lessen our impact on the world, both in my business and personal life.
I truly believe that firstly a bride should not worry about trends. They should firstly look for what suits them, their figure and their personal style firstly. Then trust their own choices.
When clients come to me, I want to make them feel confident, empowered, feminine and their beautiful self. I am passionate about creating dress shapes for clients that are modern, yet timeless. That suits the perfectly, also as the dresses grow throughout the dress creation journey over 5 – 7 fittings we can adapt and perfect things to suit the bride 100% we never go to far with design so its never worry to chose the wrong dress for my clients.
So My clients feel happy, confident and their true selves on their wedding day, because the dress has been created to perfection literally on them from every angle.
Visit sallybean.co.uk
Tom Durn Photography
Visit sallybean.co.uk
Tom Durn Photography
Annabel View all Annabel’s articles
Annabel is the founder of Love My Dress. She has a passion for photography, walking, yoga, nature, and loves to support talented artists and creative businesses. In 2013, she became a published author. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters Eska and Leanora and menagerie of furry hounds. Annabel supports Philip in the running of the family flower farm at at Moonwind Flowers. She is also co-founder of What About Weddings.
