The Dress

This dress is part of the Hera Bridal 2014 Collection. Katie Yeung, Creative Director of Hera Bridal in Auckland, made it as a one-off (originally in a size 10) after sourcing the unique Ivory French Lace in Paris.

I wore the dress for the first and only time on the 6th January 2014 and had it professionally dry cleaned the following week. It has been hanging away safely since then and the dress is in the same condition as when I bought it - no damage from the Big Day!

When I tried this dress on I know it sounds cliche, but I knew it was the one! I was after the detail of lace, but nothing too fussy; I wanted strapless, a sweetheart neckline with a low back, a train that wasn't too big and something fitted that wasn't heavy and uncomfortable. The dress ticked all the boxes and I hadn't seen lace like this anywhere!

With just the ivory satin layer underneath the lace, and with the lace being quite light compared to other dresses I'd tried, this dress was really comfortable to wear and I had no problems with overheating in it in the height of our summer just been. The back zips up and the train hooks up easily on a button at the base of the zip.

This dress was altered to fit me - it was originally a standard size 10 and was taken down to fit my body shape. I am a small 8 on the top and more towards a size 10 on the bottom, so someone a standard size 8 would fit this perfectly and would just need to have the bottom taken in slightly at the side seams.

I felt so great wearing this on the day and it has nothing but good vibes from its one and only night out! Although it will be sad to see it go, it would be great to have someone enjoy it as much as I did.

Visit the Hera Bridal site for pictures of Freesia at: http://www.herabridal.co.nz/our-gowns/2014-hera-wedding-collection/#mg_ld_1609. Note, I did not purchase the shrug that is pictured on Hera's website.