Bespoke - Myra Cassidy

As I wrote the wish list for my wedding, in order of priority, my number one wish was for a ‘dress to die for’… and at the time I had no idea where I’d find it and how much of a ‘dress to die for’ I would end up wearing.

I found Leonie Claire by chance as I was walking through Brighton, the dress in the window was my kind of dress and as I went inside I knew it was my kind of shop, stylish, perfection, everything you could wish for in a wedding dress shop and I booked my first appointment straight away.

I was so excited as I arrived for my first appointment, trying on many dresses with Leonie’s undevided attention. I loved them all! Finally I found the style of dress for me but I wanted it in different colour tones. Leonie and I looked at each other both thinking the same thing… and Leonie said ‘I’ll make it’…. And so my wonderful experience of having a dress made purely for me began.

Leonie drew a sketch of everything I had in my mind and from that moment on we were on the same wave length both knowing exactly how we wanted it to look.

With every fitting it all became more and more exciting and every trip to see Leonie was a sheer delight. My friend and I could hardly wait until the next fitting to see how it looked. The silk and the lace we chose were perfect. Leonie was wonderful to work with and we became good friends, catching up with my wedding plans and life in general over coffee at every visit. I had complete trust in Leonie to create my perfect dress.

As the dress was nearly finished Leonie asked if there were any more finishing touches I would like to add.. can you imagine being in a beautiful dress shop and being told ‘you can have anything you want!’ My mind was in over drive, but I decided to stick to my original thoughts and keep it elegant and simple. However I could have asked for anything and Leonie would have created it, nothing was too much trouble for her. Leonie’s attention to detail was impeccable and every tiny detail in the dress was for me.

I miss my trips to see Leonie and to watch my beautiful dress being created, it was the nicest experience of all our wedding plans. Now I have my beautiful pictures of our wonderful day wearing my ‘dress to die for’ and I’ll always remember the gasps as my friends and family saw ‘the’ dress for the first time.

Thank you Leonie from the bottom of my heart for your kindness and my dream dress!

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