What came first, the dress, or the renewal? In truth, it was a bit of both; following 10 years of marriage, 2 kids, and a 50lb weight loss, I found myself stumbling across the delirious musing; could my beloved, original wedding dress actually fit me again? This triggered an instantaneous cascade of ideas and plans; another wedding, my kids able to attend our wedding, inviting long-distance friends and family to join the celebration, decorations, outfits, party-time. I was excited.

Step 1 was to get my original wedding dress across the Atlantic from my childhood home in Chelmsford, Essex, UK, to my home of the last 13 years, Houston Texas. The annual and eagerly anticipated festive- visitation of the grandparents brought with it an additional, large package… The Dress. Did it fit? Well let’s just say, following the indulgences of December 2023… no, it absolutely did not.

Was that the end of my renewal plan? Not at all. Anyone who has struggled with weight loss knows that the carrot and the stick approach can be crucial for providing the necessary will-power needed to slim for a special event. The deal was sealed when, on Christmas Day, my husband opened a picture scrap-book, lovingly created by yours-truly in the style of ‘Our Adventure Book’ from Disney’s ‘Up” to catalogue our 20 years as ‘us’. The final page detailed our upcoming Vegas vow-renewal in April 2024, to be held outside Caesar’s Palace… with Elvis, the king, presiding over the ceremony.

Needless to say, my husband (who is already the luckiest man alive, finding himself blissfully wedded to me for the last 10 years) was overcome with joy at the prospect of celebrating our love and marriage, once again… or perhaps he could be more aptly described as my long-suffering better-half, forced to accept his fate as my partner in crime with the understanding that this Vegas trip was just another ‘typical-bloody-Audrey’ stunt.

As an Artist, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do something creative with my OG dress. My first instinct was to ‘trash-the-gown’, flinging vibrant paint colors at the pristine white canvas, but then I had a thought, remembering the beautiful flower mural that I had recently seen at Houston International airport; why ‘trash’ when I can transform?

I set about gathering inspiration and source material to inform the floral design that I planned to adorn my dress with. I’d been inspired by the ombre effect I’d seen used by some other dress artists, but I also wanted to add intricate, over-sized florals, layered with a loose, graffiti-style ombre treatment. The final embellishments came from embroidery applique flowers, hand-stitched in a cascading pattern, with a few butterflies gracefully sitting on petals that floated across the buttons and back.

And indeed they did; from England, Australia and Ireland. I built a perfect little wedding-vow renewal; afternoon tea in the Metropolitan suite at The Flamingo Hotel. Vows under the pagoda at Caesar’s Palace whilst being serenaded by the Elvis from Katy Perry’s ‘waking up in Vegas’ music video; Rockin’ Rolland, as he is known to his friends. He was absolutely brilliant, performing an array of Elvis tributes, as well as sharing beautiful words about my husband and I’s marriage and family.

As the sun set, it was off the Venetian to party in our private karaoke room with a reprise on-screen performance from Rockin’ Roland as we all belted out ‘get up and shake the glitter off your clothes now’… and did the dress fit? Well, if you’re happy enough to ignore some quite conspicuous back-cleavage, you’d agree, I looked-an-absolute-smasher.

Looking for more inspiration for your wedding or renewal? Check out our Real Wedding Inspiration section.