Bespoke accessories for bride and bridesmaid

This is the story of a lovely commission I worked on recently. It's interesting and fun to design pieces to complement particular colours and dress styles. For Cliodhna, I had the opportunity to design a bespoke comb for both herself as well as her sister Fainche who was her bridesmaid.

Cliodhna's dress was a beautiful colour - so hard to describe...somewhere between antique blush pink but with a hint of grey blue. I love colours that can be described with lots of adjectives :-)

Anyway, this dress is beautiful as you can see and has an overlay of antique style lace. Cliodna described her personal style as well as her favourite style icon, Grace Kelly. We looked at pictures of her half-up hairstyle. We then tried on a variety of combs and soon found one that had the perfect shape but simply had too much sparkle on it. I came up with a design that incorporated a beaded vintage rose made from dusky pink seed beads. The overall appearance was soft and romantic with pearls as the key feature... Here is Cliodna to share some of her thoughts and inspirations with you!

"I really wanted a dress that had a vintage look with antique lace. This dress was the very first one I tried on with Aoife in Ophelia Bridal in Drogheda. I instantly loved both the lace and the colour of the dress, which Aoife described as ‘Tea Rose’. The fact that the dress was Tea Rose, that I’m a huge fan of roses of any type and that Aoife said not one other bride had bought the dress in this colour – I was sold immediately! I liked the idea of wearing a dress that was a little bit different in colour, plus Aoife also made me a beautiful bolero in matching lace.

What to wear in my hair was the next challenge, as I knew I definitely didn’t want to wear a veil. Then a friend recommended Rangoli as Aisling had made pieces for both her and her bridesmaids.

The first meeting with Aisling was great. Visiting her studio is like going into a sweet shop – I so enjoyed trying on different types of combs and hair pieces. Once we decided on a particular comb, my biggest issue was with ‘bling’ - I didn’t want a comb with any sparkle at all! I just wanted something that was vintage, simple and feminine that would complement my dress. Aisling was brilliant, she studied the lace on my dress and came up with lots of different ideas on what I could have on the comb. I really enjoyed being part of this process and having some input into the design. I think the finished comb is beautiful and complements the dress perfectly. It was also very comfortable to wear – which really is an important factor for any bride!


Aisling also made a bespoke pearl bracelet and earrings for me. They are beautiful and worked really well with the comb and dress, but I love the fact that they are personal to me and that I can wear them again and again.

Aisling also made a stunning yet subtle little comb for my sister’s hair that matches her vintage 1950’s prom dress (from Dirty Fabulous) perfectly.

I would (and have already) recommended Rangoli to any bride or bridesmaids. It was a truly lovely experience in the lead up to the wedding with no fuss or hassle at all and beautiful, special finished products. Thanks Aisling".

Cliodna's sister Fainche was her only bridesmaid which made choosing her dress much more fun. And what better place to shop for a vintage dress in Dublin than 'Dirty Fabulous'. Caroline and Kathy, (who are also friends of mine), and have the most dreamy array of original 1930's to 1950's dresses and separates.

I designed this comb for Fainche, picking out olive crystal, sparkling rhinestone and creamy pearls to complement the fabric of the dress. I love the round vintage shape!

Look out for my second post on Cliodhna's wedding where I will share some of her gorgeous wedding photos with you.