How To Dress For A Wedding In The Countryside

A celebration set among green fields, woodlands and wildflowers calls for an enchanting bridal look. The beauty of creating a couture wedding dress with Phillipa Lepley is that you can start with a timeless design and adapt it to suit your wedding day.

To complement the free-spirited nature of a countryside landscape a dress with a sense of fluidity and movement works wonderfully. This can be achieved with multiple layers of the beautifully high-quality fabrics Phillipa Lepley is renowned for; such as light airy tulle or matte crepe with a chiffon overlay, which both exude an effortless elegance.

Consider hand-embroidered wildflowers that imitate the surrounding, woven organically onto a tulle base. From our Atelier in Chelsea, each petal will be placed individually to create just the right immaculate, feminine shape. For a more contemporary look, a splash of colour and texture can be included – muted greens and colours that reflect the landscape around your venue work exquisitely, with 3-D hand embroidered petals turning your dress into a seemingly life-like collage.

A veil can also create an airy and ethereal feeling of movement. Bespoke embellishments are a Phillipa Lepley design signature and brides can pick and personalise every detail of their veil. Feathers, woodland leaves or your favourite florals cascading down a flowing silk tulle veil will blend beautifully into your rural setting, simultaneously creating a special bespoke item for you to treasure forever. A bride may also opt for a flower crown over a tiara for their wedding for a less opulent and a more organic look, drawing inspiration from the surrounding landscape. Earthy and sage greens look exquisite against the rich ivory tone of a wedding dress.

If your wedding is taking place outside and your dress will be exposed to the elements of British weather, incorporating looping techniques can be useful for gathering the dress up and preventing the train from trailing along a muddy ground. Veils can also be looped up as often brides wish to keep their veil on throughout the day; the traditional bridal accessory may play a meaningful role in completing your overall look.

Phillipa recommends steering away from a high-neck Duchess satin dress with long sleeves as the look can appear too formal and grand for a more relaxed and rustic countryside wedding. However, a sense of structure can still be achieved through one of our signature hidden corsets, and variations can be made on a dress throughout the design process – perhaps a lighter lace or fewer petticoats.

The softer and more floral bridal look with embroidery and organic edges can be transformed into something sleeker and more elegant for the evening. Often our brides opt to make their overlay removable, revealing a stunning satin or fluid crepe base dress for dancing in. A more glitzy accessory can be added, perhaps a pair of sparkly statement earrings or a diamante belt.

Once the design has been decided, the couture dress-making begins…

Phillipa Lepley is recognised globally as a leading British wedding dress and eveningwear designer, renowned for bespoke couture dresses of the utmost luxury. Her wedding dress shop in London, Chelsea, has over 50 dresses, all of which have been made in England from start to finish at her atelier.