Walk down the aisle with style

THE hand-crafted, flowing white gown. Encrusted with Swarovski crystals, of course. The bejewelled veil, vintage tiara and Vera Wang silk, hand-dyed shoes. Come on, admit it, you had it all worked out – even before you met Mr Right, let alone had a rock on your finger.

But when the big day finally becomes a reality, the pursuit of the perfect dress is often far from easy. Boned bodice or empire line? Cowl neck or halter neck? Fitted, A-lined, princess-lined, full skirt or ballerina? The permutations are endless – and then there's the budget.

"The sheer size of the bridal market today can be seen as very daunting," admits Edinburgh fashion designer Susie McKenzie. "From designer gowns to high street collections, where do you start?"

According to a Mintel report, the average cost of a wedding dress is now £826. However, given the prices charged by some of the Capital's boutiques, £826 seems relatively cheap in comparison. But for those who don't have an endless supply of cash, or would prefer to spend the money elsewhere, wedding style is available for much less than this.

After decades of creating bespoke gowns for everyone from celebrities to royalty, Elizabeth Emanuel has joined forces with BHS to create a designer wedding dress collection called The Art of Elegance, which retails at around £400. Then there's Pearce Fionda, Julien Macdonald and Ben de Lisi, who design a capsule bridalwear collection for Debenhams for around £250-£350.

Marks and Spencer launched its bridal range last year, Littlewoods catalogue employed the dressmaking expertise of Amanda Wakeley, and even H&M jumped on the wedding bandwagon with a Viktor & Rolf frilly wedding dress at £219.99, which sold out.

Then, of course, there's Monsoon and its renowned range of in-house dresses that combine vintage-style inspiration with luxurious fabrics and intricate detailing.

It's rumoured Matthew Williamson started his career designing for the high street giant.

While you won't get the highest quality fabric and it won't be as well made or as beautiful, these dresses do impress – and after all, you're only going to wear it once.

But for those who have a knee-jerk reaction to the high street wedding dress phenomenon and want something more unique, there are lots of independent boutiques that are far from intimidating and do not demand the exact date of the wedding and budget before you even enter – or you could have your very own bridal designer.

Susie has just launched Love By Susie bridal couture, following six years in London working for Coast, where she was a buyer for the brand. After honing her trade, she returned to the Capital to create "modern bridal wear".

She says: "The expense of a wedding gown comes down to fabric quality (normally silk) and the vast quantities used. A bespoke dress is designed and then a pattern from scratch is made up to fit exact measurements.

"Then the dress is handmade and sometimes hand-beaded, so the time to produce each dress can take weeks.

"This may be the one time in a girl's life when she can really go for it and be the ultimate princess."

For more information on Love By Susie Bridal Couture visit www.lovebysusie.co.uk or telephone [phone].