In 1891 the Duchess of Teck announced that the wedding dress of her daughter (Princess May) and those of the bridesmaids’ would be entirely of British manufacture. In 1892 Arthur Silver’s design ‘Lily of the Valley’ was woven for Princess May’s wedding dress for her intended marriage to the Duke of Clarence. When he died less than 6 weeks before the wedding the silk was never re-used.

When Princess May’s marriage to the Duke’s brother, the Duke of York, was planned for 6 July 1893, Arthur Silver’s design studio – The Silver Studio – was again approached to design the fabric.

The Silver Studio day books (archived now at MoDa) illustrate a group of 15 designs headed ‘The May Silks’ – it was one of these that was used for Princess May’s wedding dress. The design features a rose, shamrock and thistle with May blossoms and true lovers knots.

In March 1893 following a visit by the Duchess and Princess May (with Thomas Wardle, the President of the Silk Association) to Warner & Sons’ factory at Hollybush Gardens in London it was announced that the firm had been commissioned to weave the wedding dress silk; it was to be woven in the finest white silk with silver-thread by Albert Parchment. Other designs from the Silver Studio were woven for dresses for Princess May’s wedding trousseau.