Leighton Buzzard bride's dramatic 'fiery rainbow' wedding dress makes colourful magazine splash

When she was sweet 16, former Cedars Upper School student Sophie Baczynski saw a dip-dyed dress in a magazine and vowed that was exactly what she wanted to wear on her wedding day.

"It looked like a fiery rainbow, she recalls. "It was just so in your face."

Eleven years later her dream came true. Sophie - an events co-ordinator with Lymphoma Action in Aylesbury - was engaged to childhood sweetheart James Sweeting, a marketing executive with Little Star Media in Milton Keynes.

"We met at Cedars when we were 14," she smiles. "We became close when we were 17 and got together when we were 21."

James proposed in August 2019 when the couple were in Morocco. But the wedding was postponed three times because of the pandemic.

Sophie had found the dress of her dreams with sufficient tulle in the skirt to take the airbrush dying. But she couldn't find anyone with the skill to do it. So she decided to contact Bride magazine for help.

"They pointed me in the direction of Felicity Westmacott and I knew straight away she was the person to customise the dress for me," Sophie says. "I'd done some research about how airbrushing works and I thought layers of bright yellow, orange, red, purple and blue would achieve the look I had in mind.

"Felicity had the dress for two weeks and when she posted it back it was even better than I expected."

Maid of honour Mel thought it was great idea but Sophie's mum and sister were apprehensive at the beginning.

Sophie says: "They thought I might go off the idea, or ruin the dress, making it an expensive mistake. But as soon as they saw the real thing, they both loved it and supported my decision."

When she and James finally tied the knot in September at Notley Tythe Barn in Long Crendon, the colour theme matched her dress - the flowers were rustic and vibrant, in shades of yellow, red and purple with complementary tones of blue and orange.

And the beautiful photographs of the childhood sweethearts' special day made a stunning splash on Bride magazine website.

James says the highlight of the occasion was walking into the wedding breakfast as Mr and Mrs Sweeting. We suspect that dramatic dress came a close second.

The couple have settled into their first home on St Andrews Street and are looking forward to their delayed honeymoon in Mauritius soon.