Real Bride: Susannah Sacred Delicate Lace Wedding Dress

“I saw an Instagram post of my wedding dress on your account and I just fell in love with it. I had to have it.” Vivien 

Brides discover their dream wedding dresses in many different ways. Whether it’s a photoshoot in a bridal magazine, a recommendation from a friend or walking past a wedding dress shop. For Vivien it was the power of social media that brought her to us – all the way from Hong Kong.

“I went to a lot of wedding shops in Hong Kong and the UK. Then I saw an Instagram post of my wedding dress on your account and I just fell in love with it. I had to have it,” said Vivien.

Vivien flew to the UK for an appointment at our Chelsea shop and tried on two other wedding dresses, as well as the wedding gown that she had fallen in love with. “One was a beautiful ball gown, it was really sparkling like a Cinderella dress. The other was simpler satin,” she told us.

For her wedding day, Phillipa Lepley and her team made Vivien a bespoke Susannah Sacred Lace dress. It is a soft, fluid, non-corseted dress with a slim A-line silhouette and low scooped back neckline. The lace used is extremely delicate and fine – Phillipa has said it reminds her of skeleton leaves, it is so intricate and feminine and worked it so beautifully on Vivien’s petite frame. The beauty of the lace is highlighted in sheer sections at the back neckline, and the lightly gathered sleeves, with the scallop of the lace just extending beyond the neckline of the dress to soften the edges.

“I loved the lace and the craftsmanship of the dress, it was totally different to anything I saw in Hong Kong. I kept seeing a lot of see-through and skin-coloured dresses. But this had a vintage feel. It was elegant it was much more ‘me’ than the sparkles and broderies I saw in Hong Kong,” Vivien said.

She remembered being “excited and anxious” about having her wedding dress made, but told us that “the team at Phillipa Lepley helped every step of the way. It was so much better than any other wedding dress shopping experience I’d had before. In Hong Kong it was so hectic, they give me limits for the number of dresses and time I had to try them on. Being at Phillipa Lepley was like a breath of fresh air.”

Vivien’s couture wedding dress was created over two years, with Vivien flying back to the UK from Hong Kong every six months. To mould the delicate lace to the body takes the finest and most intricate appliqué work, which was completed by the skilled team in our Chelsea atelier. During her fittings, the team worked with Vivien on the positioning and proportions of the hem of her skirt – which was finished with three gathered tiers of lace.

The dress had a light scattering of Lily of the Valley petals through the neckline, sleeves and across the bodice of the dress. Each petal was individually and carefully placed as if scattered like confetti across the dress. Vivien wore a two tier silk tulle veil embroidered with clusters of Lily of the Valley motifs to compliment the detailing on her dress.

When it came to Vivien standing in her completed dress two years later she said: “I still loved it as much!”

Phillipa Lepley is recognised globally as a leading British wedding dress and eveningwear designer, renowned for bespoke couture dresses of the utmost luxury. Her wedding dress shop in London, Chelsea, has over 50 dresses, all of which have been made in England from start to finish at her atelier.