Before you had found me, what were you looking for in terms of service and dress style?

Before I met Rachel I had collected a couple of magazines and been to a couple of bridal shops. Trying on dresses in bridal shops was at times fun and at other times uncomfortable. While there were some dresses I liked - I never felt quite comfortable that this was me, what I wanted, how I wanted to look. For me, marrying Ben was one of the biggest most joyous gifts in my life and I wanted to celebrate that in the dress but also have something that I felt captured me, captured 'us', and captured the joy of the occasion in some way. That sounds very intangible, but there was also a practical element as our wedding was going to be a little unusual in that it was a weekend celebration on land owned by friends of ours, with a ceremony under the old oak trees and partying in giant nordic tipis, lots of music and everyone camping.

What made you decide to use Rachel Lamb?

After finding Rachel through an internet search of local bridal designers, I contacted her to arrange to go and see her. We made a time and then I broke the news that there would be a few people coming with me. There is an old African saying that it takes a village to raise a baby, well in our case, we are incredibly lucky to have a 'village' of close friends around us who are like our family. When it came to anything to do with my dress, my 'village' included at least six other people. Two of these were my young bridesmaids, their two older sisters and their mothers. So Rachel calmly replied that six extra people coming would not be a problem. We arrived to coffee and biscuits and as my village were seated, Rachel and I went and one by one I would try on a dress from her collection and then come down for the verdict from the crowd. Rachel seemed to take all their comments on board, as they thrust pictures from magazines in her face explaining they liked this neckline or this hemline....until Rachel sat us all down and said she was just going to draw. She did two drawings and it was the first drawing that she completed that somehow incorporated everything all of us had imagined - but most importantly I adored it! It was like having another 'sister' to input and make possible what I wanted. It was the easiest decision of the whole process to use Rachel from this point on - as much because I loved the drawing and trusted her ability to make the dress, as it was because I knew she was someone I wanted to enjoy this whole process with. We all loved her!

Did I do anything to help you decide? If so, what?

Apart from that other meeting, there were two other moments I remember thinking " we have found a gem here - no one else would be this accommodating". These were both to do with details of the dress. With my 'village' we went shopping for fabric and I ended up falling in love with two fabrics that I wanted to layer. The top layer was a very loosely woven silk/linen and it looked like it would be awful to work with. When I showed it to Rachel there was no blocking the idea - she seemed to love the idea and could immediately imagine with me how it might work.
The second moment was to do with the embroidered flowers that were hand sewn on to my dress. One of my friends made these and Rachel incorporated these flowers in beautiful and magical ways.

What were your first impressions of me?

We all immediately felt comfortable being with you and in your house. There was nothing threatening about you that made me feel like i couldn't say what i actually liked or what I didn't like. But also, I loved the way you handled everyone, fielded questions, made suggestions and immediately we felt like you were 'one of us' and very much a part of it all. I loved every dress fitting I had with you.

How did you find the fitting process - exciting/useful/scary etc? How did it feel to have your dress evolve in this way? What were the benefits of ther process for you?

There was so much that was unknown about my dress. I remember one day thinking - how do I even know if it will suit me? But I loved that at every fitting the dress evolved. We had some plans at the beginning for the dress that when it got to the point of that detailing it was an easy an unanimous decision not to include that. The dress was made around me and hence there was no chance it didn't suit me and no chance for there to suddenly be a dress that I didn't want or a detail that I didn't like. I felt like a goddess at every fitting - even in the calico it felt gorgeous and exciting.

How did you find my advice/personality etc?

Rachel is fabulous! She listened and offered her suggestions confidently. Her advice was always entirely appropriate, however I also felt like she always checked with me before anything was set in stone so to speak. She exudes a calmness through the whole process and has a great sense of humour. Even though it was her doing all the hard work on the dress, i really felt like we were a team and that she loved my dress every bit as much as i did.

What did you think of your dress?

Oh my dress! I loved it. As I have already said, I wanted a dress that somehow captured me, captured us and how special this day was for us - for knowing where we had come from and what we were commiting to. To say a dress captured all of that might seem a bit far-fetched, but for me it did. It captured the idea of a journey, each aspect was so lovingly thought of and constructed, there was so much input into it and on the day I knew i was wearing something totally original and yet something that was not out of place, over the top, or something I would look back on and think "I didn't wear that did I?". For me it was elegant yet unusual all in one. It was the easiest and most beautiful thing to wear - a complete work of art!!!

What were your friends thoughts?

Close friends came with me to each fitting and at every fitting there was so much excitement and awe at this dress as it unfolded. The final dress fitting was really special. Rachel put me in the dress without anyone else there and allowed me to have my moment of feeling very overcome and then brought my friends in .. there were tears - many tears and so many sighs of 'Its just so beautiful!' Its a work of art! The detail on the dress was superb and I think blew people away on the day. It was a step beyond and above anything anyone had imagined. My friend who was our photographer said as I arrived for the ceremony how he had been wondering what on earth I was going to wear to fit into the magical setting of our wedding - the dress was amazing.

Would you repeat the experience?

I don't intend to get married again! But I have and will always recommend  Rachel to anyone I know. Not only did she create a beautiful dress for me, but she made the experience of creating the dress a really joyful, meaningful and anticipatory part of the whole process. When I remember our wedding, not only do I remember the day, the fabulous festival weekend that we had, I also remember the whole story of the dress! It is part of that day!