Bridal By Design

For five years, Courtney Slye, a fashion designer, has been churning out a fabulous dresses with her own unique stamp of style

A dress can be more than just a dress. A dress can be a wedding gown. It can be an engagement dress. It can be a sweet 16 party dress. It can be an 'Oscars' dress. It can land you on the best or worst dressed list. And for any event, Courtney Warren Slye, Tylerite and fashion designer, understands all the components of a great dress. For five years she has been churning out fabulous dresses with her own unique stamp of style. Her line original line, Cooper by Courtney, now includes her newest endeavor – Cooper by Courtney Bridal.

Courtney's love of fashion took root at an early age. She began drawing random outfits for fun when she was in first grade. “I drew mens', women's and kids' clothes, bathing suits, etc. They were hilarious,” Slye remembered. When she entered college, she knew she wanted to peruse a career in fashion. “I knew I wanted to do women's contemporary or evening dresses,” she said. At 23, after graduating from Texas Tech with a degree in apparel design and manufacturing, and some retail experience at Neiman Marcus, she decided at 23 to start her own line.

In the beginning, she sewed her own samples to sell at market. Her fiancé (now her husband) helped set up the business/financial aspects of the company. “I started pretty much 6 months after graduation. I started in March and had my first collection in stores by May and June. So, it was a really quick process,” she confessed. For her first collection she focused on creating things she loved.

“Well, I am definitely a Texas girl and love color. So, my first collection was pretty. I did teal, royal blue and bright purple and just some really great, solid pieces,” she reminisced. Originally, the line consisted of dresses that could be worn to weddings, cocktail parties and special events. With time, she added casual pieces for clients that love her designs and want to wear them for everyday, not just special occasions. Just some of the 200 boutiques nation-wide that carry her line include: That Girl's Boutique in Longview, Spinout in Tyler, and Krimson & Klover in Dallas.

Courtney prides her line on fabulous, colorful clothes that are designed and made in Texas. She also keeps personal relationships with all the boutiques that sell her creations. Her husband still helps manage the financial portion of the business so Courtney can focus on the creative aspects of the company and raise their 18-month-old son.

Cooper by Courtney Bridal is another exciting new leaf of the company. Courtney loves to wear her own creations, and she wanted to design her own dress when she walked down the aisle. “After I got engaged, I decided I wanted to do my own wedding dress,” she said. “I had never done a wedding dress. I had not done bridesmaids dresses either. But I definitely knew it was something I had always wanted to do. I had eight bridesmaids and I actually (designed) all eight dresses differently.”

The bridesmaids and wedding dresses were so popular, people began requesting Courtney design their wedding and bridal dresses. Perhaps her favorite aspect of the bridal line is working with brides on the perfect dress for their special day. For a short while her dresses were available through Bella Bridesmaid, but Courtney missed working personally with each bride and creating truly custom gowns and dresses. So, she returned to the 100 percent custom approach and personally works with each client to achieve the perfect dress. Word of mouth referrals are enough to keep her busy, but she also has a website showcasing her bridal designs for potential clients. Her bridal couture dresses are also starting to get press in the bridal industry. The Knot Magazine; D Magazine; and Style Me Pretty, a wedding blog, have all recently featured bridal designs of Cooper by Courtney.

The style and design of the bridal line all incorporate Courtney's style: modern, fun, flirty and stylish yet subtle. “I think that's why people like them. It's not your typical bridesmaids dresses. They're very modern,” Courtney explained.

In addition to collaborating with brides to design a perfect wedding dress, she also works with the bridal party to accommodate all body types, shapes and sizes. This poses the greatest challenge: outfitting eight bridesmaids that are all shaped differently. Each bride gets to choose different styles for each bridesmaid, without trying to fit every girl in the same dress.

Another obstacle Courtney encounters is the bride who has been looking for the perfect dress without success, which Courtney says can be especially frustrating. “You know what you want and it's just not there. This gives them the opportunity to pick exactly what they want and feel like they had so much to do with it. It's like, 'I designed this dress and it's for my wedding and it looks great,'” she said. “I think that's fun for the bride to do.”

In addition to designing exactly what you envision or custom designing a dress for your body, there is another huge benefit to a Cooper by Courtney Bridal dress: time. Rule-of-thumb recommends brides allow 6 months for the wedding dress to be ordered, fitted and ready. What if you don't have that much time? What if you don't want to wait that long? Courtney says her dresses typically take two months total and are custom-fitted, minimizing any alterations. She says if the bride can make quick decisions, the dresses are done that much sooner.

Every bride should have the perfect wedding dress that they envision. And Courtney steers brides in the right direction, then she designs what they have dreamed about. “I feel like it's a way for them to find exactly what they are looking for. And it's great price wise,” she revealed. Short bridesmaids dresses range from $155 to $175 and long bridesmaids gowns start at $200.
Custom wedding gowns are hard to average a typical price because Courtney says they are 100 percent custom and it depends on the design. But, if you have a vision for your special day, she can design it. “They can look back and say, 'Oh my gosh! I helped design my wedding dress. I helped design my bridesmaids dresses. It was exactly what I wanted them to be!”