For as long as she can remember, Jenna Mulligan has been imagining her wedding dress. And now, her stylish creation could see her winning the Wedding Journal’s Young Designer of the Year competition; but she needs your votes!

The 23 year old from Enniskillen has just graduated with a BA HONS in Textile Art, Design and Fashion and a commendation in the Industry, from the University of Ulster, Belfast.

Her wedding dress design is a fitted silhouette to the knee with lace top and open scalloped back, consisting of French leavers lace, Vienne silk, silk chiffon and tulle (bottom right).

Her final collection includes four outfits, styled on her “classy” muse Jessica Chastain (whom Jenna almost met when Chastain stayed at the Lough Erne Resort during filming in Fermanagh in April).

Following a foundation art degree, Jenna opted for interior design but soon changed to fashion design, realising that’s where her true talents lay. She then began her Textile Art, Design and Fashion degree, which included a placement in Douglas and Grahame Ltd Carrickfergus.

This was “quite challenging,” Jenna recalls. “It was tough. You were thrown in at the deep end but it opened my eyes to the reality of the fashion industry.” On one particularity scary day, both head designers were away, leaving Jenna in charge of the entire shirt department.

“For example I had to place an order for thousands of ties and one wrong digit would have cost the company a lot of money.” She adds: “It wised me up to the real world.” The former St. Fancheas and Mount Lourdes pupil chose religious iconography for one of her main themes in final year. This was inspired by a trip to Paris. “The stain glass windows in the Notre Dame really caught my eye as well as the dome inside the Sacré-Coeur with its gold and royal blues,” Jenna recalls.

Throughout her final year, her tutors would email possible competitions for the students to enter. One of these was The Golden Egg Fashion Innovation competition in Galway, a contest for fashion designers and fashion students from fashion colleges throughout Ireland, where she was one of three finalists in the college section.

Jenna was surprised to be chosen as a finalist for the Wedding Journal Young Designer of the year award because she had created her mood board at the last minute, as she was tired after a busy final year. However, she is now delighted with how far she has come.

Currently working in the Lough Erne Resort, the talented Jenna hopes to find a buyer for her bespoke designs, whilst keeping an eye out for possible designer jobs.

To vote for Jenna, log onto www.thewedding journalshow.com and click on young designer.