Bespoke, how does it work?

Hiya

.

At Claude Bridal Studio, as well as purchasing unique hand-embroidered, contemporary bridal accessories, you can customise an original Claude design to perfectly suit you and your wedding theme.  I also offer a hand-embroidery service embroidering designs directly onto your chosen outfit or fabric.  But, did you know that in addition to that, I offer a Bespoke Service? 

Now, your first question may be what does bespoke actually mean?  Secondly, how on earth do you go about getting something designed and  made specially for you? And thirdly, how much is this going to cost me? 

.

I'm going to shed some light on the mysterious world of bespoke with the help of examples from my sister, Jessie's gorgeous wedding as it was my pleasure to create bespoke pieces for this special day.

.

.

.

.

Briefly, the Big Day...

.

Jessie and her husband Elliott tied the knot in July 2022, it was a completely gorgeous and magical day full of total love and celebration.  Jess and El married in their local village church and the reception and after party was on my Mum and Dad's farm. 

 .

.

.

.

The wedding was a real family affair, everyone pitched in with their time, effort and skills to create a spectacularly beautiful day.  I was happy to be involved by designing and making Jessie's hand-embroidered wedding veil and a hand-beaded belt for her beautiful gown as well as my mum's dress with a hand-crafted, embellished belt and matching head-piece. 

.

.

Bespoke means custom-made, "made specially, according to the needs of an individual customer".  I find the whole thing sounds quite stuffy when put like that which is a shame because, in my opinion, bespoke is a much more imaginative, collaborative, fun, exciting and altogether simpler experience.

.

Bespoke can also sound quite daunting and expensive.  I would love to dispel this.  If you approach me about having something designed and hand-made specially for you - perhaps a veil or bridal accessory, a unique headdress maybe a beautifully embellished cape or even a sequin embroidered over skirt - whatever creation you have in mind it will all start with a relaxed chat.  Don't worry, you don't need to have all the answers at this point, it's simply a chat about your ideas and what's inspiring you.  We will also establish your budget.  Custom-made doesn't have to mean breaking the bank. There are many ways to keep within a budget so don't let that put you off enquiring about bespoke if you have something in mind.

.

.

.

.

Jessie's bespoke journey

.

Jessie chose her dream dress from Pink Confetti Bridal Boutique in Leicestershire.  A beautiful Donna Lee gown of cream Mikado silk. I was lucky enough to be there at that first appointment and saw Jessie's face when she tried on the dress for the first time. She just looked so comfortable, like the dress already belonged to her - she was in love. 

.

.

.

.

The dress came with a faux belt sewn onto the waistline, a piece of lacey net with seed pearls and clear glass beads.  Jess loved the dress and she liked the idea of a belt but she didn't like this faux belt that was part of the dress, what to do? 

.

To me, the answer was simple. I offered to make Jess a bespoke belt to replace the original. It could be whatever Jess wanted it to be.  I think Jess was surprised by this, bespoke hadn't occurred to her as an option.

.

So, a little side bar here but I think it might illustrate an important point about bespoke and how 'available' it is to us as a service.  Before I launched Claude Bridal Studio, my background was in costume for film and T.V.   Within this magical department, anything at all is possible when it comes to creating the perfect look for that moment of filming.  Costumes are made from scratch, fabric is dyed the perfect shade, sleeves are taken off and replaced with different ones, a skirt is taken from a dress and sewn to a top to make a new dress, embroidered detail is added, embellishments are taken away. You can pretty much create anything out of anything and often at a moments notice.  My experience in costume makes me quite comfortable with the bespoke process. However, it was when Jess was trying on dresses that I realised customising or having something made specially isn't foremost on our radars.  It often doesn't even figure as an option.  Maybe this is because our regular shopping experiences aren't anything like the bespoke process, we are used to not always getting exactly what we want.  For example, when you are in a shop you might love a skirt but you wish it was a jumpsuit and you also want pockets, you don't then go up to the till and say 'I'll buy this skirt but can you please make it a jumpsuit with pockets?". That option doesn't exist. You either buy the skirt as it is or you don't.  Simply put, bespoke offers you the option to get exactly what you want, you can have the jumpsuit with pockets.

Jess said yes to the dress and yes to the custom-made belt. It was all go...

.

The bespoke process

.

After a chat over a cup of tea and a perusal of Jessie's wedding Pinterest board we got our design nailed down.  I mounted the original piece of beaded lace onto cream taffeta, a beautiful fabric and lovely to embroider.  We got rid of the beads that Jess didn't like and replaced them with newly sourced beads from Jessie's chosen colour palette of ivory pearl, pale pinks and greens. We were on our way.

.

.

.

.

I sent pictures of the progress and at a couple of points we made some minor changes to the design, for example swapping in different coloured beads.  The joy of bespoke is that it's collaborative and you can adapt the design as you go.

.

The belt was now beautifully embroidered but it remained unfinished until we could take an accurate waist measurement.  This is a really important step when it comes to bespoke belts, you want it to fit perfectly over your chosen outfit so it is always best to get measurements whilst you are wearing it and after any alterations have been made.

.

.

.

.

Jessie's bespoke veil.

 .

I sampled a few different ideas for Jess until we hit on 'The One'.  Sometimes it takes a bit of exploration to find what you LOVE.  But please don't be daunted by this, it's all part of the creative fun of having something specially made, the magic of bespoke.

Jessie's gown had a beautiful train, we planned for the veil to be just a couple of inches longer.  During a dress fitting at the boutique, Jessie got a measurement from roughly where the comb of the veil would sit, to the hem of the train to get her desired veil length.  Another joy of bespoke is that you don't have to conform to any standard sizes, shapes or lengths, it's whatever works for you.

.

.

.

.

The veil was looking glorious.  The design used lots of sequins matching Jessies colour pallet, hand-sewn to the top of the veil and then cascading down through the veil gently petering out to nothing. 

I sent Jess pictures of the progress and had the veil ready to try on in time for a dress fitting at the boutique.  If you are having bridal accessories custom-made, its a great idea to set a deadline that coincides with a dress fitting so that you are able to see the look coming together.  Following this fitting we adapted the design to add more sequins through the bottom of the veil to complete the look. 

.

Wedding day...

.

.

www.mcaraphotography.co.uk

.

.

Jessie's veil shimmered from top to bottom with delicately sparkling hand-sewn sequins, crystals and beads and it worked so beautifully with her gown and her belt.  Jess looked like she had shimmering confetti cascading all over her.  Drop dead gorgeous, this veil design will always be close to my heart.

.

. 

.

.

A version of Jessie's veil, the newly named Confetti Veil, has now become a staple part of my bridal accessories collection thanks to Jess.

.

.

photography  @nishajayne

 .

And if you would like to know more about customising an original design or creating a bespoke order with me then take a look at the bespoke page or take a look at my bridal gallery for inspiration.  Can't wait to see what ideas you have.

.

Thanks for your time,

.

Love Emma xxx