Ladies, listen up! If you are looking for a wedding dress that is both bohemian and vintage in style, then look no further that the wonderful Indiebride London. Their collection of beautifully designed wedding dresses and accessories are handmade to order in South London and feature lace from Scotland and England, sustainable organic fabrics and silk linings.

Available to view at their unique South London showroom in the attic of a beautiful art nouveau church on Brixton road, Indiebride offers a collection of long wedding gowns, short dresses and tops and skirts. Their aim is to help you find a dress that is both stunning and comfortable…

Our dresses are vintage- and bohemian-inspired and decorated with lace trimmings. Our two main goals are to design beautiful and comfortable gowns. We want all our brides to feel as comfortable as they feel beautiful when wearing our dresses. 

Miina, Owner of Indiebride London

As well as their existing collections, Indiebride also offer a bespoke design service where, with the help and guidance of Miina, you can create a dress that is completely unique and completely you.

We asked Miina, the owner and designer of Indiebride London, all about her beautiful boutique, her gorgeous wedding dresses and the sort of service you can expect when you walk through her doors…

If you had the chance to go to any music festival, which one would it be and why?

I am not a big fan of trance music but I would definitely go to Boom Festival in Portugal. This has been on my bucket list for a while now. Boom Festival is a transformational festival organised every other year since 1997. The organisers have sustainable values and they for example use a lot of wind and solar power. Boom Festival is much more than just a music festival. It revolves around art and culture and mindfulness. You even get a free entry if you cycle to the venue so people cycle there from abroad!

Tell us about Indiebride London and your beautiful and unique bridal boutique?

Almost 10 years ago, when applying for an internship in London, I got accepted by a company called Minna (I know, it’s confusing right?). Minna was a small company owned by a Finnish woman called Minna. She used beautiful Scottish laces to make beautiful tops and dresses. I stayed in London for two months and went back to finish my studies. When I graduated I contacted Minna and asked if she had any placements in the company. She said yes and I moved to London in 2014. Since then I have been working for the company. They had two labels; Minna and Indiebride London. Earlier this year I took over the business as Minna wanted to pursue her career as a Pilates instructor. First thing I did was change the name. The brand being called Minna and my name being Miina has been confusing the brides since I started working for the company so I took the name Indiebride London, which perfectly describes what we are all about.

All our dresses and accessories are handmade to order in South London and this is why we can alter our dress styles if a customer wants to change it a little bit to be perfect for her. We also make bespoke dresses that you can design yourself with my help.

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We have a gorgeous showroom in a church in South London. It’s a quiet oasis on the side of a busy road. You walk up the stairs all the way to the attic of the church and arrive to our cosy showroom. Customers often compare the experience with trying on dresses in your grandmother’s attic. I am obsessed with cacti so there are several cacti scattered around the space as well as few other plants. You can also find few elephants figurines and vintage furniture. As we live in a flatshare and don’t have a home of our own, the showroom is where I put all my interior decoration energy into.

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Tell us about your gorgeous collection of bespoke wedding dresses and the design process behind them?

Materials and design process:

We make beautiful lace and silk dresses. We have a range of long gowns as well as short dresses and tops and skirts. Our dresses are vintage- and bohemian-inspired and decorated with lace trimmings. Our two main goals are to design beautiful and comfortable gowns. We want all our customers feel as comfortable as they feel beautiful when wearing their dress. 

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After the ownership change we make all the dresses with silk lining. The laces we use are mostly made in Scotland and England and some of the silks are organic peace silk. For the upcoming collection I was able to source beautiful organic ramie fabrics and organic cotton laces. I can’t wait to make new styles of our new sustainable materials! The accessories we make from the off cuts from the dress production. 

The design process usually starts from the materials. I love sourcing new, sustainable materials and when I find something I love it inspires me to design and make a dress from it. I also note down cool details (shape of sleeve or neckline etc.) I would like to have on a dress and then design a dress around that particular detail. I get lots of inspiration from our customers as well. They sometimes have amazing ideas how to customise their dress and I might then incorporate that dress or just the detail in a new collection.

For Festival Brides:

Gabrielle dress is a simple, retro-vibe short dress made of organic peace silk and lined with silk satin. It has lace trimming details on the neckline and the sleeves. The bell sleeves are the “thing” on this super cool dress.

Angelica dress is made of silk marocain and organic peace silk and lined with silk satin and has the most awesome back detail ever! The skirt of the dress has the same lace detail. This is the perfect dress for a festival bride.

Brie dress has a beautiful lace top and silk skirt. The lace is made in England and the silk is organic. It’s line with silk satin. The lace on the top creates a beautiful overlap detail at the back of the bodice. Brie dress is super light to wear and perfect for dancing until the sun comes up.

Farrah top and Anette skirt is my favourite pair from our skirt and top collection. The loose-fitting and cropped Farrah top is made of organic peace silk and has tons of lace details on it! The floaty Anette skirt is made of crinkled silk chiffon and lined with silk satin.

Details of ordering:

When you purchase a dress from us you have 4 choices:

1. Standard size and style dress.
2. Made-to-measure dress
3. Bespoke dress that you can design with my help
4. One of our standard style dresses customised for you (neckline changed, sleeve added etc.)

All of these factors affect on the price of your dress. I am always happy to give advice on the phone or via email so you can get in touch if you have any questions =) As we make the dresses here in our South London studio our turnaround times are short. Standard turnaround time for a dress is 12-16 weeks and for tops and skirts 6-8 weeks. If you need your dress even quicker we are able to make items as quick as in 3 weeks. Priority orders have fees added to the dress price.

We especially adore your Nina dress with it’s stunning lace back. It’s perfect for a boho Festival Bride. Do you have a favourite in your collection and why?

I have two favourites in the current collection. Maeve dress, which is a perfect vintage inspired dress made of delicate lace and it has a separate, bias cut silk satin slip to go under. Maeve is super light and comfortable to wear. Another favourite of mine is the Naomi dress. It is a gorgeous and elegant lace dress with an open back and a train. It’s made of beautiful cotton mix lace. These dresses are really different from each other but I love them both! However, we are making new styles for an upcoming collection and I think my all time favourite is going to be one of these new styles.

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You mention you also specialise in bespoke dresses for expecting brides. Can you tell us a bit more about this?

We often get approached by brides, who have found out that they are pregnant, asking if we could help them. As our dresses are soft structured, they are perfect for fitting in a baby bump. Some of our styles are suitable for expecting brides as they are, depending on how far along the pregnancy is. Often we need to change the style a little bit to make the dress fit nicely. When working with a bride who is expecting, we work close to their wedding day so that their measurements are as close to their measurements on their wedding day as possible and achieve the best fit. 

We’ve made Lucinda, Emily, Valerie, Gaia, Claudia, Adele and Maeve dresses for expecting brides, just to give a few examples.

The latest dress we made for a bride who was expecting was the short Lucinda dress. The bride had never seen the dress in person as she lives in the US. She liked few of our dresses and after an email exchange she felt comfortable to place an order for the Lucinda dress. I made her dress according to few measurements she sent me. She received her dress a week before the wedding and she loved it. The fit was perfect!

We can see that you also supply veils and sashes. Are these all handmade and bespoke as well?

All our accessories are handmade to order as well. We make them using cut off silks and laces from the dress production as well as lace trimmings and tulle. We are making new styles to go with our upcoming dress collection. In the new accessories collection we will use delicate silk tulles instead of the polyester ones so often seen in bridal fashion. 

What sort of service can brides expect when they visit your boutique?

The brides can expect laid-back and personal service. When they arrive at the showroom, they will meet me. I am the only contact person for the brides and responsible for everything regarding their visit and dress. Our brides come from all over the world and they often tell me they enjoyed the relaxed vibe during their appointment.

I take the brides upstairs to our showroom in the attic of a church. We then have a little chat about the bride’s wedding and the style of the dress they are after. I also ask if they have a list of dresses they want to try on. The bride then goes through our selection of dresses and chooses more dresses to try on. Our dresses are super easy to put on and take off but if the bride needs help I am just behind the screen of the dressing area. If they feel more comfortable with their mum/friend/sister helping them I am fine with that as well. The bride goes through the dresses and takes pictures of them. If you are by yourself, I will take pictures for you that you can show to your friends and family to be able to choose the best dress for you.

If asked, I give my honest opinion about which style I think suits the bride the best and if there is something we can change in the dress to make it fit the body shape of that particular bride better. 

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We always have fun with our brides and I never push anyone to make a purchase. That doesn’t benefit anyone. The brides can try as many dresses as they can within the hour long private appointment they have booked. I will then write down the names of the styles they liked and they can go home and have a think. Our brides are allowed to take pictures so brides often want to go through the pictures thoroughly before making the decision. I am always available via phone or email if they have any further questions after their appointment. 

Often the customer wants to visit a second time to place an order and decide on the details. I will then take the customer’s measurements to either determine the best standard size for her or to make the dress according to her measurements. We will also take measurements for any customisations if needed.

When the bride wants to place an order, she can either place the order at the showroom or online, give me a call and pay via phone or I can email them an invoice. The bride can pay in two installments if she prefers instead of paying the full amount at once. As the dresses are made-to-order we require the full amount before we start making the dress. 

We’ll then schedule the first fitting. There are usually 1-3 fittings, depending on the dress style. Fitted dresses usually require more fittings than the loose-fitting ones. The whole process from placing an order to collecting the dress takes maximum 16 weeks.

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What’s your best piece of advice for brides trying to choose their wedding Dress?

My advice would be; Keep an open mind, try on several different styles. Not just the one you have been dreaming of. I have noticed that quite often what the bride told me about the dress style she is after before trying on dresses is quite different from the style she ends up choosing. 

Finally, what is your life quote/motto at IndieBride London?

Being comfortable in your wedding dress is as important as you feeling beautiful in it.

We are very proud to have the wonderful Indiebride London as a member of our Festival Wedding Directory. You can read more about Minna and her beautiful collection of dresses by visiting her listing: Indiebride London | Bohemian & Vintage Inspired Wedding Dresses.

To see her full collection in all its bohemian lace and silk glory, please visit her website: https://indiebridelondon.co.uk/

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