The Worthing woman making dream dresses a reality

Where once it was the bigger the better in white, now it seems anything goes.

“People realise they can have what they want and that now there aren’t any rules when it comes to your dress you can have long, short, separates or colour,” explains Emma Guard of Emma Guard Design, based in Worthing.

Recently she has seen brides opting for light grey and blush undertones and choosing to go for separates over one dress.

“It means that brides can mix up their dress and opt for different tops or skirts depending on the part of the day,” reveals Emma.

“I have also had a few brides asking for a tea dress length (short) and then asking for an overlay to make it longer for the evening.”

Emma describes the style of dresses she makes as ‘quite modern’ compared to traditional wedding dresses, with much of it done by hand.

“No two dresses are the same,” she says.

“Even if two brides have the same style they may opt for different lace or embellishments.”

One of the exciting parts of Emma’s job is finding out what the bride wants.

“Sometimes they come in and know exactly the dress they want to wear, whereas others we talk, create a mood board and I go and design it.

“If they want lace I show them what is available and they can choose.

“The supplier I use, Michael’s Bridal Fabrics, has 1000s of lace and you can have anything from Chantilly to guipure.”

Both Emma’s mum and grandmother were seamstresses and after enjoying textiles at school she decided to pursue a career in design.

“I did art at BHASVIC in Brighton where you did a bit of everything from fine art to textiles,” she reveals.

“It was here that I did pattern cutting and knew that was exactly what I wanted to do.”