Bucks wedding dress designer offer prizes for nearlyweds to celebrate its quarter century

Buckinghamshire bespoke wedding dress designer Lesley Cutler is celebrating 25 years in business by launching a competition for brides-to-be to win exclusive prizes for their wedding day.

Starting from an upstairs bedroom in 1994, Lesley Cutler began her career working with Elizabeth Emanuel and Jenny Packham, and twenty five years later, Lesley Cutler Bridal Wear is an internationally renowned bridalwear business trading from Milton Keynes.

In 1994 Lesley took on a freelance contract with Elizabeth Emanuel, the British fashion designer who is best known for designing the wedding dress worn by Diana, Princess of Wales. Lesley was making elaborate dresses for the rich and famous, often very  theatrical pieces in a range of different looks and styles all based on historical costumes and complete with corsets, crinolines, bust pads and hundreds of metres of silk fabrics, laces and ribbons. Another designer Lesley worked with early on in her career was Jenny Packham, making evening dresses in slinky silks and short knee-length dresses with fitted bra style bodices. These two very different designers gave Lesley the experience and confidence to create garments in her own name.

The first Lesley Cutler wedding gown was a silk satin gold coloured dress with beautiful ivory and gold brocade panel at the centre front and ivory chiffon medieval styled sleeves, cascading down into a long train. In 1997, Lesley had a studio built adjacent to her house with a separate entrance which was decorated and designed to replicate the excitement of visiting a wedding dress shop. This was, and still is a superb professional environment that gives Lesley the opportunity to design and make garments for brides, bridesmaids, mothers-of-the-bride and grooms.

In 2000, Lesley was filmed for a Channel 4 documentary and featured in a fly-on-the-wall film called A Wedding In The Family. The bride's whole dress-making process was filmed from the initial consultation through to the wedding day and Lesley even went to the wedding. The bride wore a sleeveless A-line silk ivory gown with sweetheart neckline.

There are now over 1,000 garments with the Lesley Cutler label inside across the world, and Lesley's mission is to make brides' dreams come true, whatever their wish. "Back in 1994 I'm not sure that I would ever have thought that Lesley Cutler Bridal Wear would be where it is now," says the designer. "I am so incredibly proud of the journey that we've been on and feel honoured to have worked with so many brides to create their dream dress for their special day. More than ever I'm excited about what the future of Lesley Cutler Bridal Wear will hold.”

Throughout its 'birthday month' of April 2019, Lesley Cutler Bridal Wear has a whole host of activities to celebrate and ways in which you can get involved in #25YearsOfCutlerBrides. On 2nd April Lesley is collaborating with other local wedding suppliers to launch an incredible competition for brides-to-be to win exclusive prizes for their wedding day. If you're a bride-to-be then follow Lesley Cutler on Instagram @lesleycutlerbridalwear to find out how you can win some beautiful bridal accessories as well as unique, one-time only offers and prizes from other local wedding suppliers worth hundreds of pounds. And in celebration of #25YearsOfCutlerBrides, Lesley Cutler Bridal Wear will also be sharing exclusive content from the past 25 years on its Instagram and Facebook channels every day for 25 days. Follow along and see some of the dresses Lesley has made over the years and some favourite memories. To find out more, go to Lesley Cutler Bridal Wear.