Make it personal with these bespoke wedding ideas

Many bridal designers will add in personal details to your dress on request – for instance stitching your name and date into the belt or neckline of your dress. London designer Poppy Dover takes things a step further, specialising in gorgeous bridal pieces that include personal messages dictated by the couple’s own story. This is a bespoke service, beginning with consultations in her Chelsea studio and followed by sketches, calico toiles and the final bridal gown or bridal separates. She says: “We tell a story of unapologetic love, the kind you want to tell the world about”. This means garments that include beautiful stitching and embellishment – everything from cupid arrows and love hearts to initials and other personal symbols. It’s a subtle and playful take on a very old wedding tradition, and the outfits she creates are wedding-day treasures that not only look beautiful but are surely destined to become family heirlooms. poppydover.london

We love the idea of adding something entirely individual to your wedding shoes. Manchester shoe designer Charlotte Mills recently started offering a hand-painting service to add bespoke cool to wedding-day trainers. You source a plain white leather pair in the style of your choice. Then you pick a colour for the floral decoration and tell her what initials or message of love you’d like, send her the shoes and she does the rest. The hand-painting service costs £150, and you’re left with one-of-a-kind trainers after your wedding day.charlottemills.com

For something high-heel and high-glamour, check out the new monogram service offered by London shoemaker Freya Rose. This is available on her signature mother-of-pearl shoes and the heels are monogrammed using either sterling silver or polished brass. Each pair takes three to four months to create and will be entirely bespoke, with prices starting at £1,495. What you are left with at the end is wearable art. As Freya Rose says: “We are pushing the boundaries of shoe design by using fine jewellery techniques”. freyarose.com

All wedding stationery is personal – it’s your day and so the invitation will be unique – but couples are becoming much more creative and also less formal. one of our favourite ideas is from Emmy Designs. She creates quirky hand-drawn illustrations of couples to be used on invitations and other elements of the stationery suite. Each one is completely unique and designed in consultation with the couple – and she says she loves a challenge. Some couples also like to include their beloved pet, the place the met or the place they are marrying. She charges a design fee (typically £200 for the set of invitation, RSVP and information card), in addition to the cost of the stationery. emmydesigns.co.uk

Lewis R. Stevenson of Basildon fine stationer Leeming Brothers says couples his team work with are increasingly designing monograms, unique patterns and other strong ‘branding’ elements. Get the input of an experienced stationer, especially if you want to draw up an ornate monogram to include on save the date, table cards and other key pieces, since you’ll want to ensure the printing and card are of sufficient quality to reproduce the elements properly. But other than that caveat, the sky is the limit. leemingbrothers.co.uk

Personalisation works brilliantly for the key points in your wedding day. Shropshire Petals has a host of ideas for your confetti moment – starting with the unique mix of flower petals you choose. But if matching confetti to wedding colours isn’t quite enough, opt for its Personalised Confetti Pops, including your names, date or more creative wording. There are lots of designs to choose from, or you can upload your own logo and artwork. Bespoke confetti pops cost from £26 for ten. If you prefer cardboard, a box of 25 personalised confetti cones costs from £58. shropshirepetals.com

Don’t forget the wedding toast. It’s Your Bottle offer a personalisation service on bottle labels, and can even supply the wine or prosecco and attach the labels for you if you wish. From special gifts for the attendants to fizz for the toast, choose your wording to fit the occasion. They also design labels as table numbers – a great way to indicate who is sitting where. Labels cost from £3 and there’s free shipping on orders over £50. itsyourbottle.co.uk