Remember that time an APW reader needed help finding bridal separates for her awesome wedding skirt? Remember how I said Googling “bridal separates” was basically my living nightmare? Well, I wasn’t exaggerating. Most bridal separates are like a bad time warp into the early 2000s. But APW’s newest sponsors, Lace & Liberty, are here to change that. They offer stylish, classically inspired bridal separates (skirts, tops, and cover-ups), ranging from $130–$650, that that you can mix and match into a custom wedding dress, for half the price of most traditional wedding gowns. Here’s how it works:
Lace & Liberty are all about options. They offer skirts, corsets, and add-ons like sleeves and overlays that you can pair with each other for something a little more classic, or purchase solo to combine with something more indie, or perhaps even pieces you already have. (Olivia Palermo anyone?) They even offer a mini-dress that can be worn under their skirts if you don’t feel like wearing a full-length dress all day. And while other companies might offer separates as part of their business, Lace & Liberty are one of the only that focus exclusively on mix-and-match pieces, so all of their styles are specifically designed to play nice together.
But more than just offering stylish wedding attire, Lace & Liberty is run by two APWers whose big picture vision is about providing a resource for affordable wedding dresses that can live beyond the wedding day. Founders Danielle and Jacqui explain:
We started off as APW readers ourselves. Jacqui is currently in the middle of planning her destination wedding in Italy and first discovered APW when googling around for tips on finding a wedding photographer. Nowadays, APW’s “How To” page has replaced Google or Pinterest as her first point of search when tackling the next item on her never-ending wedding planning checklist. (Danielle, on the other hand, is just jealous she didn’t find out about APW until three years after her own wedding.)
We want to advertise to APW readers because firstly, we are them! And secondly, because we created Lace & Liberty to address the needs of our friends and family who, when it was their turn to pick out wedding attire, were looking for dress options that felt stylish and classic, but not fussy. We wanted to create options for women who want to look great, but who might not want to drop $5,000 (or even $2,000) on a wedding dress. The entire wedding planning process is a series of trade-offs between what looks beautiful and what one can justify paying or afford, but we hope that Lace & Liberty means having one less of those trade offs to make.
Lace & Liberty just launched their first collection, and they’ve kicked things off with more classically inspired silhouettes. For skirts, you can choose from A-Line, mermaid, sheath and ballerina styles, and for tops, you can go strapless, V-neck, long sleeve, off-shoulder, cap sleeve, and even one-shoulder. And that’s just where Lace & Liberty are starting; as the business expands, they plan on adding an even greater variety of styles. Meanwhile, Jacqui and Danielle understand that with so many options, it’s important to be able to see how your separates will work together, so they created a virtual dress builder that lets you instantly see what combinations might look like in real life. (I’m partial to the off-shoulder top with the sparkly ballerina skirt, but that’s just me.)
Because they are nice, sane people who don’t want to drive you crazy trying to figure out “bridal sizing,” Lace & Liberty currently offer separates in street sizes 0–18, or you can include your measurements and have your separates made to measure. Jacqui and Danielle say:
Separates work especially well for petite or tall women whose torso length or waist placement may not fit “Standard” sizing (it’s also usually harder to alter this part of a one-piece dress.) With the combination of separates and made-to-measure, we aim for our tops and skirts to suit your body shape and height as best as possible. Although all wedding dresses may require some form of adjustment, we aim to make our dresses as close a fit as possible with this feature.
Lace & Liberty tops range in price from $400–$565. Skirts go from $400–$650. And add-ons (such as cap sleeves, v-neck, and one-sleeve) are priced from $130–$295. And everything comes with a fourteen-day risk-free return if your dress is not up to standards.
So if you’ve been striking out in the wedding dress search, or just want more options in bridal attire, then how about custom separates that cost half the price of most standard wedding gowns? If that sounds like it might be up your alley, then save yourself the horrific Google searches, and go straight to Liberty & Lace. Because trust me, I’ve looked around, and Jacqui and Danielle’s operation is what I wish I’d found in the first place.
Click here to design your own Lace & Liberty creation in the virtual dress builder!
