Dress by Katya Katya, shoes by Diane Hassall belt and bag both Reiss (previous season)
It’s not often that we get to wear our wedding outfit of dreams is it? Well, perhaps apart from on our actual wedding day that is. And mine and my husband’s wedding day is starting to seem quite a long time ago now.
Magical as it was, it was also accompanied by howling winds, rain and a 9 month old with a virus – who I’d taken to the doctors the night before, with a nasty rash. That night my husband (to be) and I sat on the floor in the corridor outside of our room, eating sandwiches and writing our vows, whilst our 9 month old daughter slept soundly (sort of!) in a our beautiful room with a four poster bed.
So when Katya Katya London asked me if I would like to visit their Chelsea store to choose a dress to wear for an upcoming event, I didn’t hesitate in saying yes. I mean, who doesn’t love to play Cinderella for the day? We had a wedding to go to barely two weeks’ later, so the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.
I chose this Hyacinth dress from the Autumn/Winter 2019 collection and it was absolutely gorgeous to wear. From the print, to the pleated skirt, to the weight of the fabric and the high neckline – I absolutely loved it all.
Katya Katya also has a spring/summer 2018 collection with some truly beautiful pieces in it, as well as a collection for brides and bridesmaids.
There’s such a huge variety of dresses in Katya Katya’s occasionwear that if you’re planning an event, or if you have an occasion coming up which requires a really special outfit, this is definitely the place to look.
This Viola dress (above) is a real favourite of mine, as well as the Franca (below).
And the Nora is gloriously elegant as a wedding dress
As luck would have it, at around the same time, I found Diane Hassall on Instagram. I seemed to remember her name from 20 years or so ago when I was looking for wedding shoes, so I dropped her a message and asked her if she was the same Diane Hassall that I remembered from the deep, dark, depths of my mind. And she was!
Diane very kindly offered to make a pair of shoes to go along with my dress and these are her Jessica mules which she customised with feathers and pom poms for me.
They were utterly amazing to wear – really comfortable, even on a first outing. And they weren’t too high plus they are just that bit fun. I can’t help but smile when I look at them. The great things about the shoes that Di designs is that although they are “wedding” shoes, they are contemporary and not too traditionally “weddingy”. I can’t wait to wear mine with loose jeans and a white shirt for a night out.
I love this Waterlily style too…
As well as this Peachette style….
Di and I also found out, via a circuitous route, that we grew up in neighbouring towns. My best friend from school realised that Di’s parents, and her own parents, were really good friends. With the advent of social media, I often wonder who we come across who we may actually know from a “previous” life, or which friends we may have in common. It’s often the case that the world is such a small place.
But with every good fairy story, it had to come to an end. I was lucky enough to play Cinderella for the day in the most beautiful dress which I would never usually get an opportunity to wear. Sadly the dress was on loan and had to be returned – but the shoes? Well luckily I didn’t lose one and both remain safely in their box waiting for their next outing.
Huge thanks to Katya Katya for the loan of the dress and to Diane Hassall for the beautiful shoes x
