Luxury British bridal brand, Charlie Brear, talk us to about their focus on sustainability, styling your bridal party and how the company began. Keep reading for their expert tips from trying on your first wedding look, to choosing the perfect dried flower bouquet to compliment your dress.

Charlie Brear is a contemporary bridal label and our collections are stocked in over 50 boutiques internationally. We’ve attracted a cult following from spirited modern brides who want their wedding dress to be as unique as they are. We love finding them the perfect outfit for their celebration. It all started in 2005 when Charlie, a Fashion Stylist, found herself selling off vintage wedding dresses sourced for a music video. This inspired her to launch her own bridal wear company, sourcing & selling one-off original vintage gowns. Over the following 5 years Charlie began designing a small capsule collection of dresses and styling pieces that could be used to create many different looks. In 2011 she took this original concept to wholesale retailers, it was an immediate success and helped to create a new market of interchangeable looks in boutiques across the world.

Desert Dreamers, our latest collection, has a soft feminine edge which is showcased by beautiful luxurious fabrics - a wide range of laces feature in the collection. Our laser cut flower lace adds delicate 3D detail, the Lariette lace has a delicate flower pattern, and the Aviana lace combined with the contrast Lattice lace has a directional fashion approach to a somewhat traditional fabric type. With this in mind, our brides can create multiple looks and change their outfit from day to night should they want to. We’re focusing on sustainability and the finer details of our British based production and while navigating the balance of life and joy with our love for design and dresses of dreams. See the Desert Dreamers collection here.

The design process starts in the studio: a sample of each dress is designed and hand produced and meticulously tested to ensure fit. We source our fabrics from specialist suppliers in the UK and look to France and Italy for exquisite laces which are hand crafted on looms dating back 250 years. Every Charlie Brear wedding dress is designed and hand-finished in the heart of London, England, at one of our 3 amazing family run factories. Manufacturing locally helps us maintain a sustainable business that narrows waste to the smallest level and keeps our carbon footprint as low as possible.

We often find our brides decide on their flowers after they’ve found their style of dress or have ordered with us. Depending on the style they’ve chosen, it can range in size but we often see pastel shades and soft luscious dried grasses at many of our brides' weddings. Generally, the simpler the dress, the bigger and grander the bouquet but saying that, we love styling the simplest of looks like our Mariam dress with a single stem to give a beautifully sleek look.

Our brides range from just beginning to plan to the mid-way planning and often with the dress being a decider on the direction they take in terms of flowers, hair and makeup. Each bride has their own look in mind, whether that’s what they feel comfortable in from their everyday wardrobe to how they want to feel in the dress. We focus on the bride and want them to feel comfortable and the best version of themselves, no matter the plan for their day, because as this last year has proven, plans change but our brides are still getting married.

For Desert Dreamers, we made smaller styling additions such as hairbands, jewellery and bags for the shoot. Our design team loved creating these fun pieces and our brides adore styling them at their studio appointments. We would love to see something like this done with florals, whether that’s going back to childhood daisy chain style accessories, to full, dramatic flower headbands.

Pay attention to each member of your bridal party, you will all be so close but don't forget to show their individuality. Many of our brides choose a colour palette and then let their party decide on a look that best suits them.

We say come in whatever makes you feel most comfortable and ‘you’ in. I often tell our brides in their initial virtual consultation before they attend their appointment, to dress like they are going out for a nice lunch with friends after and have made an effort. If you feel good in yourself, the first dress won't seem as intimidating.

In terms of guests, we suggest bringing up to 2 guests to each appointment. That may sound mean if you have a big bridal party, but bringing too many people, brings too many opinions and may cloud your judgement. It is also sometimes good to do the first initial appointment by yourself, no one knows you better than you!

And finally, DON'T forget your nude pants... Seamless are best as you don't want to get distracted by lines that aren't really there!