British-Filipino Designer Cabrini Roy Marries in a Collection of Her Own Creation

For her intimate wedding in the French countryside, designer Cabrini Roy stitched her own love story into 17 custom looks, each piece a reflection of heritage, faith, and devotion.

Cabrini Roy had been sketching wedding dresses since she was nine years old. “I’ve always wanted to be a designer,” she says now, looking back on the years she spent imagining silhouettes for a day that felt impossibly far away. When the moment finally arrived, she decided it would be her own hands that brought those sketches to life. Over the course of a week-long celebration in the French countryside, she created seventeen custom looks, not only for herself, but for her bridesmaids, her sister, and even her husband. “It felt like it had to be me,” she explains. “Each piece held such a meaning. It was a labor of love.”

Roy, a British-Filipina designer based in London, met her husband through a mutual friend at the London College of Fashion. “His childhood best friend turned out to be my best friend,” she says. “We were friends first before anything happened, which was really nice, because that became the foundation of our relationship.” They would spend eight years together before marrying, most of their twenties marked by the steady rhythm of their bond. He proposed in Boracay, flying both their families to the Philippines. “That was really special,” she says. “It was a point we called home.”

When they began planning the wedding, the couple looked outward and inward at once: outward to the South of France, whose landscape inspired the setting, and inward to the Philippines, whose heritage they wove through every detail. “We wanted it to feel romantic and timeless, but also to have our culture in it,” Roy says. Her sister-in-law handled the decorations, and together they threaded Philippine flowers such as santan into the welcome party, grounding the French chateau in tropical memory. The guest list was limited to fifty. “It was intimate, and that was really important to us.”

Faith was the quiet core of the week. The night before, the couple hosted a worship gathering led by a friend. They placed God at the center of both ceremony and celebration. “That was what mattered most to us,” Roy says. “We really wanted people to encounter Him in that sense.”

But it was the clothes that became her great undertaking. For the welcome party, Roy reimagined the Filipiniana with her own sculptural language. “I wanted something my Lolo would recognise, but with my personal twist,” she says. She sourced Italian silk for the bodice and adorned it with embroidery appliqués in the shape of sampaguita blossoms. The corsetry was inspired by 1920s lingerie, structured but romantic, its butterfly sleeves a nod to tradition. The ensemble took three weeks, and she kept it secret from her guests. “On the day, no one knew I had made it myself. When they found out, it felt surreal—like a dream come true.”

Her husband’s look was no less personal. The Barong Tagalog was commissioned in Lumban, Laguna, from a seamstress Roy found on Facebook. Together, the couple sketched the design: the Philippine sun, palm trees, a guardian angel at the hem, and five figures at the back, embroidered on piña fabric. “It was perfect for us,” she says. “It felt like bringing home to the South of France.”

For the wedding day itself, Roy sought timelessness. The gown, cut from Italian silk cotton, featured a wide waistband, a sweetheart neckline, a softly architectural corset, and a pleated skirt that moved in the heat of the French summer. She finished it with a cathedral-length lace veil. “I wanted something I could pass down through generations,” she says. “I didn’t want embellishment. I wanted the focus to be the fabric, the structure, the history in the waistline.” It took two months to bring the design from sample to final.

Then there were the eleven bridesmaids. “I still think back and wonder how I did it,” Roy admits. With only measurements and, in some cases, a single fitting, she created a set of corseted gowns in stretch satin with elasticated waists for adjustability. Many of the women tried on their dresses for the first time on the wedding day. “There was no plan B,” she laughs. “I thought, this ain’t gonna fit…but it did.” She allowed for individuality: subtle variations in design, rose detailing for her younger siblings as junior bridesmaids, and a dramatic draped sleeve look for her sister, the maid of honor. “It was my love letter to her,” Roy says, “a thank-you for coordinating the wedding.”

Accessories carried family history. Her mother gifted her earrings for the day, while her shoes, a pair of vintage Jimmy Choos, were discovered in a secondhand shop just before the wedding, in her exact size. “They were meant to be,” she says. Makeup and hair were handled not by professionals but by her sister and two best friends. “I wanted to do it myself, but they refused. It made the morning so relaxed. It felt like us, just girls together.”

The festivities stretched across the week: a pizza-truck welcome party and worship night on Tuesday, the wedding on Wednesday, a poolside recovery barbecue on Thursday that turned into a sports day of volleyball, badminton, and tennis, and wine-tasting on Friday. Rain had threatened to derail the outdoor ceremony, but by the afternoon the skies cleared. “Someone above was definitely looking after this wedding,” Roy says.

The reception was candlelit and unhurried. A violinist played modern songs requested by the guests, who were surprised to hear their choices reimagined. Family and friends gave speeches, including the childhood friend who had introduced the couple. Her sister delivered what Roy calls the tearjerker, “the one that got everyone crying.” The evening moved into dancing and cake, but what stayed with her was the sense of intimacy. “It felt like we were just having dinner with our loved ones,” she says. “Only it was our wedding.”

Looking back, Roy sees both the beauty and the difficulty in taking on so much herself. “You doubt yourself a lot, whether it’s good enough, whether it’s right. But you have to believe in your vision. Give yourself time, and grace for the mistakes. Be organised. Have timelines for everyone, the photographer, the videographer, the bridesmaids. That’s what made it work.” She pauses, thinking of the hours spent behind her sewing machine, sometimes even in France just before the celebrations began. “It was half a year of my life,” she says. “But it was a labor of love. And it was worth it.”

Photography: Dean Snushall Photo
Video: Andrius Meliunas
Content Creators: Sophie Reijnen, Kaja Nagel
Hair/MUA: Camille Roy, Janet Amrani, Vicc Ninal
Decor: Gerlinde Velarde
Location: Chateau Fengari, Bordeaux