I’ve just been for my usual October jaunt to Harrogate to a bridal trade show called BBEH.  It’s actually a lot of fun – I get to drool over lots of gowns and go to a few fashion shows.  Whilst strolling through the Designer Room, Olivia Couture caught my eye, and specifically the dress in the picture below on the left.   So funky, and really quite unusual – it has buttons in two layers on the neckline, which act as a really lovely detail, but also undo, so if you want your dress to be a little more racy for the evening, you just get unbuttoning.  The designer is based in Singapore, and her stuff really is seriously gorgeous.  See a taster below, and check out her website here – Oliva Couture »

I’ve commented previously about Spanish designers – there are a plethora of formidably good fashionistas from Spain who I am quite sure flourish from consistently good weather, amazing scenery and a diet of extremely yummy food.  Yes, Spain is on my list of favourite holiday destinations!

Anyway, that is completely beside the point.  I’ve just stumbled across some extremely lovely wedding dresses that are targeted at a slightly lower budget (around £1,000) from Two by Rosa Clara.  Now what’s got me really excited is that the same fashion house also does tops to go over your gown to give it a completely different look, so you can switch it up during the big day and really confuse your guests.  I actually prefer the look of the gowns with the tops on, but anyway, here’s a taster.  Make sure you take a proper look through their website – I can’t really do it all justice on here.

There’s a trend you may have seen that’s been around a while in the bridal fashion world.  Gowns are designed with material flowers placed in various places for maximum effect.  While I’ve seen this overdone outrageously on occasion (and I’ll be the first to admit that my tastes tend toward less fussy lines), I do love how pretty some of the designs are.  So, eye candy for both you and me to enjoy:

1. Ian Stuart, 2. Lyn Ashworth, 3. Charlotte Balbier

4. Alan Hannah 5. Kula Tsurdiu 6. Suzanne Ermann

7. Linea Raffaelli 8. Jesus Peiro 9. Benjamin Roberts 10. Two by Rosa Clara

I’ve stumbled across Veromia a few times in my travels, thought they had very pretty gowns but nothing that really inspired me to blog, but my word, Jason Jennings has come up trumps with this lovely vision of a wedding dress – absolutely exquisite.  This would be an inspired choice for any bride who doesn’t want white, and the combination of brown and pink (which sounds really quite foul – “Yes, I’m getting married in brown and pink”…!, but in this dress is simply gorgeous) would suit a lot of different complexions.

View the Veromia website »

I avoid posting about US designers simply because this blog is really for UK readers, and it seems a bit pointless waxing lyrical over designers who are fairly inaccessible to Brit brides, unless they’re into jetting off overseas for the sake of their big day.

Carolina Herrera is one of those US designers who I’ve heaved wistful sighs over – she has utterly gorgeous wedding gowns that make me drool on every perusal. So after another idle glance through her website this morning, I discovered (to my delight) that Browns Bridal is the sole stockist in the UK, so if you too were longing for a Carolina Herrera gown, you’re now officially in luck, and you’ll only need to go as far as London.

I was excited to see that Charlotte Balbier has posted on her blog some images (admittedly small, but I’m guessing things are still a little under wraps until the official launch) of her 2010 collction – looks fabulously girlishly pink. You can follow her on Twitter too.