The Dress With Tenishia McSweeney Ambrose

The Journey

I actually only visited two stores in order to find my dress. Browns I visited early on in the engagement and then 8 months before the wedding I realised I was running out of time and visited my second store where I chose a v neck lace dress with fairytail skirt from Pronovias. I selected a ready made design but had my bridemaids dresses custom made from Kalita.

The Vision

I tend to go for quite simple, or slinky outfits so for my wedding day I wanted something more princess-y. When else will I get a chance to wear a puffy gown? I definitely stuck with the v neck shaped style but the skirt had a good amount of puff to it.

Decision

I found the experience quite surreal. The strangeness of seeing myself in multiple wedding gowns in comparison to my normal clothes was the strangest thing and quite funny. Especially when you try some that are much more formal than your usual style. I think it really is a big decision and I think maybe visiting a few extra stores and allowing yourself more time than iI did would make it less pressure. Also I had my first appointment during covid so I only had one guest, it would be fun to make it a traditional group party if you;’e allowed to.

The Style Support

I would send my friends dress options for them to say yay or nay too. Narrow items down to what you like and then send over the options to perhaps 2 or 3 trusted friends. It could become tricky if you have two many cooks in the kitchen.

The Accessories

I’m a jeweller so I used pieces from my own collection at Escorpi mixed with a few antique/vintage pieces. I bought my shoes in Italy from Sergio Rossi, they have the best stores.

The Evening Look

I spent much longer looking into the party dress. I searched online for months before discovering Leslie Amon. They have the most fun, fabulous party dresses. For this piece, I chose a very short, white dress with feathers and sparkles. This dress is an heirloom to my daughter.

The Welcome Night Outfit

I initially looked for white in order to stay traditional for our welcome night but couldn’t find anything fun enough. Plus we aren’t that traditional so I decided it didn’t matter and also wanted to take the opportunities to be a little wild. This led me to choose a transparent black dress from Norma Kamali. My father in laws girlfriend at the time nearly fainted. The perfect effect I think. Our venue was Cala Gracioneta a beautiful beach restaurant. We had the Goddess Tarot reader and our celebrant Melchior perform pyschic readings and numerology for guests. Raven Mandella was our DJ across both nights and they are epic. Following welcoming drinks we had a massive after party atOku Ibiza. Definitely a risk but it was so much fun!

Advice For Brides

Leave plenty of time, have an idea of the style you want and go to 2-3 stores in the very early days of planning. Leaving to 8 months before leaves you in a rush and panic. Not pleasant! We actually had an initial ceremony the year before at Cambridge Cottage in Kew garden followed by a relaxed picnic of M&S sandwiches where we sat on blankets. This was much less stressful so i’m glad we had both! For this I wore Georgia Hardinge.

Favourite Photo Of The Dress

My favourite is taken at golden hour as the light becomes magical. I also look super happy in the photo and comfortable. My favourite of the day is where my husband and I stand before all of our guests and everyone looks so happy.