Your Wedding Dress Should Tell Your Story: Chelsea’s TUBO Bespoke Bridal Look
I have always loved the richness of Nigerian weddings, the colour, the heritage, the joy. It’s one of the reasons I started creating bespoke pieces. Because your wedding day isn’t just a ceremony. It’s a story. And your dress should be part of that story, personal, meaningful, and completely you.
Too often, bridalwear is treated like a checklist: “something white, something formal, something timeless.” But timeless doesn’t have to mean stiff. Your wedding dress can be as fluid as your personality, as bold as your love story, and as rooted as the culture you hold dear.
When Chelsea came to us for her bespoke dress, she wanted exactly that, a look that honoured her Igbo heritage while feeling like an extension of herself. Her brief was both simple and poetic: soft shades of blush pink that would melt into her skin like pomade, and rich cultural symbolism woven into every detail.
We found our starting point in a piece of home. Chelsea’s Enugu roots are tied to the tradition of freshly tapped palm wine, a drink as iconic as the celebrations it fuels. We met with a palm wine tapper in her village, who shared an old story: a bird once hatched on a palm tree, and from the spot where the egg cracked, water began to flow. That water became the palm wine that has graced gatherings for generations.
This legend became the visual language of her dress.
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The palm trees stood tall along the fabric, telling the story of growth and rootedness.
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The calabash caught droplets of palm wine, a symbol of celebration and abundance.
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Two birds perched at the back of her gown, echoing the origin tale and a marriage built in partnership.
And then came the most intimate detail. With the help of her stylist and our wardrobe manager, Chelsea’s husband found a way to add his own love note to the design. At the hem of her wrapper, part of the dress itself, we hand-beaded a message in Igbo.
When she saw it for the first time, she read the words aloud, smiling: “Mwabweze’s wife. I love you scatter.”
It’s the kind of detail that lives long after the day is done. The kind you’ll show your children. The kind that makes a dress more than couture, it makes it an heirloom.
For me, that’s the magic of bespoke. It’s not about chasing trends; it’s about creating a piece of you, in fabric, form, and feeling.
Because your wedding dress should never just be beautiful. It should be yours.
Chelsea reminded us that a wedding dress can carry culture. That in the right hands, fashion can remember.
If you're a bride dreaming of something that feels just as intentional, whether you're based in Lagos, London, or Enugu, we’d love to bring your vision to life.