Visiting your local bridal shop means that they can ensure a comfortable fit for everything you buy, and they stock a variety of styles and sizes for you to try and to match to your colour theme. This section will provide information on the types of fabric, crystals and other materials that we use in our products. Some brides like to take the trouble to exactly match details such as beading on their dress to the beads or crystals used on their veil, tiara and jewellery. This can be done to great effect and our design team often create items that specifically match certain gowns. However it is not essential to do this in every case, so if you are committed to wearing a Victorian pearl necklace, for example, you are not obliged to wear pearls in your hair! If your dress is beautiful gold silk you can still wear silver jewellery with AB crystals. It is your day, let your individuality shine through!

Veiling

Our veiling is called Fine Diamond Veiling, and is exclusive to Richard Designs. Over the last 19 years, we have sourced the finest veiling to bring our veils to the highest level of quality possible. The veiling that we use drapes very softly whilst still retaining its shape, providing you with the traditional halo effect, combined with modern decoration and design. The veiling is particularly fine, meaning that it lies softly and will not irritate your skin. Our veiling comes in several different colours, some of which are shown below

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Lace

Lace is a timeless classic for bridal wear, yet it has remained fresh and innovative in its application at Richard Designs. With over fifty designs of lace, we believe that there will be the perfect style in our collection of veils for every bride’s taste. Extensive research into the style and production methods of lace has ensured that our selection is of the highest quality and has the widest variety of designs.  We have tirelessly searched for only the best manufactures of French, Austrian and Belgium lace with fine quality our main requirement. The Leavers lace and Bobbinet tulle, which we have sourced from one of the finest lace, embroidery and Bobbinet tulle manufacturers in France, is sure to complement the exquisite designer gowns of the most highly regarded Designers in the industry, as they too incorporate this fine lace into their creations. You can see some examples of our lace veils here.

Sinamay

Sinamay is a unique and very special fabric woven from strands of Abaca bark. This forms a stiff fabric with a medium sized weave, and is ideal to create hats and fascinators from. The array of colours available is immense, and combined with the fact that we press all of our own hats to order, it is possible for us to create millinery in line with all the latest fashion colours. You can see our beautiful collection of hats and fascinators here - they are perfect for bridesmaids or the mother of the bride!

Silks and Organza

Silk Dupion and Organza are used in several of our fascinator designs and hat trims. Creating a softer effect than sinamay, they are used for decoration rather than the structure of items, and are often paired with similarly soft feathers. We are often able to carefully match organza and silk colours to your outfit.

Crystals

These days no bridal outfit is complete without the incorporation of crystal of some kind or other, whether that be a subtle touch of sparkle and colour or extravagant bling! We use the finest quality Swarovski crystals in a vast array of colours and sizes. See below for current colours for Bridal and The Boutique Collection.

Pearls

The standard colours for pearls are light ivory or cream. However we also use Swarovski Crystal Pearls, which are available in a wider selection of soft muted colours that are perfect for a modern bridal look, delicately coloured gowns and for Boutique millinery in the latest fashion colours.

Freshwater pearls are also available in both traditional ivory and luxurious black, for a special touch to your outfit.

Crystal Fabric

Crystal fabric is an innovative product that brings the ultimate crystal sparkle in the versatile form of fabric. It allows us to create breathtaking designs with a subtle crystal shimmer. We use crystal fabric in AB, but as it is slightly transparent, it can be applied to all of our usual colours of fabric, or simply used alone.

Combs

Veils are secured to the hair using combs. All of our veils are made with a clear acrylic comb, which is both comfortable and discrete. For heavier hair decoration such as fascinators and tiaras we will often use wire combs which are available in four different sizes.

Bands

Headdresses and tiaras are often made on our hand made bands, which differ from the industry standard pressed spring steel bands, and are far more comfortable. As we make all of our own bands by hand, we are also able to produce them in gold, silver (and by special request) dark brown or blonde, if you want them to match your hair colour. We can supply spring steel bands on request, if you desire them. You can see our bands in action by viewing our latest collection of tiaras here.

Colour matching

We can match our designs to your colour theme, making the design unique to you and the perfect complement to your outfit. Simply ask your bridal shop to send a swatch of material to us, along with the design you would like, and we can suggest some colour matches for you. We can match your colour to almost any of our veils, tiaras, wedding jewellery , bridesmaid or mother of the bride accessories – to give you the complete coordinated look!