A positive approach to wedding dress shopping. Let those good thoughts shine through!!

Thought for the day: I wanted to share this quote to ask all our brides to stop and think about what it says before they come to look for their wedding dress.....

I've observed over the years how wedding dress shopping seems to bring out a lot of insecurities in brides. Maybe it's my background in psychology - I'm always people watching and analysing their behaviour! 

It seems to be a getting rarer these days for a bride to go through a whole appointment without saying at least one thing negative about herself.  Brides are very much aware that they will be the centre of attention on the big day and when they start trying on dresses it seems that a lot of ladies put themselves under a lot of pressure to be perfect.  The appointment starts and when the dresses go on,  I start to hear all the bad words come out!!!  The 'Negative B' words as I call them. Comments about their bellies, bingo wings, back fat, boobs, broad shoulders, bones sticking out, bulges, birthmarks, big hips, blemished skin. You name it, I've heard it!!  (and a few 'F words too - basically, any body part prefixed with the word 'Fat')  

Worse still when the 'helpers' they bring mention these things (see my blog on 'Choosing your helpers wisely!)  It can end up being a recipe for disaster. So remember, when you come shopping, try to leave the negativity behind.  It's hard for a bride to be in a positive frame of mind when she keeps putting herself down.  Every single bride who comes in to try on dresses is beautiful in her own way - and remember that the person who is marrying you loves you the way you are!!  A positive attitude will be your best friend and any negativity you bring with you (or get thrown at you by an unhelpful entourage) will only drag you down and make you feel deflated, making the whole wedding dress shopping experience turn into a chore.   

Focus on the positives and don't be too hard on yourself.  Step back and look at the whole picture if you need to, and remember what the most important thing is.  You want to feel beautiful and special on your wedding day.   You want to see your partners face light up when he sees you walk down the aisle. You're not trying to get on the front cover of Vogue magazine!!  And you're not trying to compete with those models in the wedding magazines who you see as picture-perfect (and whose images are almost certainly photo-shopped!).  I've been to those photoshoots and have witnessed the entourage of hairdressers and make-up artists and the number of shots it takes to get that perfect picture.  It's not portraying the reality of being a bride on her wedding day, so don't even go there! 

I find it so refreshing when a bride comes in for a consultation and doesn't spend the duration of the appointment criticising herself, focusing on finding a wedding dress that she feels beautiful in instead of pointing out her perceived flaws.  Very few of us are catwalk models, but we can (and will!) all look beautiful on our wedding day if we let our beauty shine through!! Get yourself in the 'zone' before you set out to try dresses on - enjoy the experience of finding your wedding dress, make the most of your assets, relax, enjoy yourself, and let yourself shine! 

Christmas/New Year Opening hours

Tues 23rd Dec - Open 10am - 3pm

Wed 24th Dec  - CLOSED

Thur 25th Dec - CLOSED

Fri 26th Dec - CLOSED

Sat 27th Dec - Open 9.30am - 5.30pm

Sun and Mon (Closed as usual) 

Tue 30th Dec - Open 10am - 5pm

Wed 31st Dec - CLOSED

Thur 1st Jan - CLOSED
Fri 2nd Jan - CLOSED

Saturday onwards - Business as usual

Remember, we do consultations by appointment only, so make sure you book in in advance!!

Happy Christmas everyone, and Best wishes for 2015!! 

An organised bride is a less stressed bride - when should I get my wedding dress?

At recent wedding exhibitions, I have been asked the following question by loads of brides.  'When should I order my dress?'   As a rule, we tell our customers that they should have orders for wedding dresses in 6 to 7 months before the wedding (at the very latest!!! order earlier if you possibly can!)  and 5 months for bridesmaids - stick to that rule and you shouldn't go wrong.  

We always allow a ‘cushion’ of at least 6 weeks between the quoted delivery date and the bride’s wedding.   I like all orders to be in a good bit before the wedding to allow adequate time for a relaxed run-up to the big day for getting things like alterations carried out and accessories picked, so whilst the company are not actually quoting us the full 6 or 7 months, this is the guideline which keeps stressful timescales at bay!

If you can , get ordered a good 8 or 9 months or more in advance.  The earlier you get in your dresses, the sooner you can relax and get organised.  No bride wants to be be getting anxious over how close to her wedding that her order is going to arrive.  Organising a wedding can be stressful enough without having to worry about how close to your wedding your dress will arrive.  And as a busy shop owner, it is a worry that I can do without as I get stressed out over deliveries too!!!!! (especially when they arrive later than what I was expecting)  I often get brides who keep putting it off as they are losing weight, but don't forget, you can always go out looking a year before, and if you find your dress, you can still put a deposit down to secure it and get measured 7 months before the big day to give you a chance to start on your weight loss regime. The dress can always be taken in if you lose any additional weight.  Better to do that than to leave it a couple of months before the wedding and miss out on the dress that you really wanted. My heart sinks when a bride makes an appointment and tells me her wedding is only a few months away as I know she will be limited in her choice of dress.  Every bride should have the liberty of choosing any dress in any size in any colour that we can get.  The more organised you are, the more choice you will have.

In sum, my advice is 'be prepared and get organised!!'  Get out at least a year before your wedding if you can – the earlier you get out the more relaxed the whole experience will be and you won't be feeling pressure to 'panic buy'   Most brides coming to our shop for the first time have over a year until their big day. 

Our entire Essence of Australia range and some of our Maggie Sottero dresses can also be got on rush cuts (additional fees apply to most of these) so if you have left it a bit late, we won't turn you away - we always have options available including the option of buying off the peg (although your choices will be more limited).   Many of our bridesmaid dresses can also be got on a rush cut so don't fret about that either if you have left that task a bit late.    

And one last tip – only go shopping when you feel you are ready to buy..  Our stock is forever evolving.  New dresses coming… dresses being discontinued… dresses being bought off the peg.  So if you do decide to go shopping early, NEVER assume that you will be able to come back and revisit a dress in the future as it may no longer be in the shop or it may be discontinued. This is something I find happens all the time (and I often get grief from brides to be about it!)  so wait until you are ready to go shopping, as opposed to saying ‘Let’s go out for ideas and revisit those ideas in 6 months time or next year’.   It's a bit like you saying that you want to buy a house in 18 months time.  You wouldn't go visiting estate agents or arranging house viewings until you were ready to make a move.  You might have a nosy at websites to get ideas, but you wouldn't throw your energy into house-hunting until the time was right to act on making a purchase.

 And if you do go out early and find ‘the one’, then STOP LOOKING at wedding dresses!! Get it ordered, and when it comes in,  put it away when it comes in and don’t let it lose its magic by looking at it too much!  I get loads of brides visiting my shop who tell me that they have a dress at home that they have went off.  Wedding dresses are too expensive to buy and not wear, so don't fall into that category and be disciplined to tick the box as 'done' when you decide on the one.

Happy (stress free) shopping.x x   Ciara

Your wedding shoes - choose wisely!!

I've been very quiet on here these days, mainly because I've been very busy on the shop floor, and in particular with fittings.  It's that time of the year again where the pins are out and I am constantly adjusting bodices to get the perfect fit and getting that dress hem just right.  And the topic of the day is the your hem and your wedding shoes.  I am forever nagging at my brides to have their shoes with them at each at every fitting so that we can get the hem just right.  A wedding dress hem should be ever so slightly off the ground so that when you walk, it gently kisses the ground.  If the dress is straight, you should be able to just about see the tips of your toes when you walk, and the number one rule is that you should be able to walk elegantly.  You shouldn't need to be continually kicking out the hem of your dress like the ministry of silly walks - you should glide gracefully along the ground without fear of tripping on your hem.

Which brings me to the point of choosing your shoes wisely.  Not all brides wear dainty satin bridal shoes.  Some tall brides wear pumps.  We've had a few recently with gorgeous ankle boots.  I've had a few who have chosen not to go down the traditional route - be it with blue polkadot shoes, red patent stilettos or pink ribbon tied peep-toes.  I even had one who wore trainers the whole day which we decorated with ribbons and diamantes for her.  But whatever shoes you choose, bear in mind that you will be wearing them for at least 14 hours (in most cases), so make sure they are comfortable!!!!  You should be able to dance the night away in them - not be crippled within an hour and sticking plasters on your blisters by the time you arrive to your reception.  

Brides often have this great idea.  They tell me that they will put up with the pain of incredibly uncomfortable shoes because they look fabulous, and have this ingenious plan of changing into flat shoes when they get to the hotel.   What they fail to realise is that the moment they change into their flats, the dress will then be too long, and all that work which is often involved in getting that hem just right will have been futile.  The bride has to walk around hoisting up her hem all day, and if she forgets to do this she will be tripping on her dress.  Not so elegant looking..... especially if she falls flat on her face!!  And if her dress fabric is of a delicate nature, the front of the dress can be very easily ripped (I should know as I have had to repair several after the big day when girls have discarded their shoes!!!)

I'm not telling our brides to buy ugly or overly sensible shoes on their big day.  Just to put a little thought into how long they will be wearing them for.  I'm sure we all have at least one pair of fab killer heels in our wardrobe that we like to bring out every now and again for a night out (or as one bride told described them 'car-to-bar' shoes) but we certainly wouldn't want to crippled with pain wearing them on our wedding day... especially considering that they will be hidden for most of the day (unless you are wearing a short dress) and no one will even get to admire them.  

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If you are worried that you won't be able to cope with your shoes all day, have a back-up pair which are the same height.  Perhaps a pair of comfy wedges would be worth considering?  Even if they don't match your dress - if it's 10pm at night and your feet are sore, you'll be glad of them!!  Don't end up like the girls on the outside of this pictures, hoisting your dress around... or worse still, the middle girl, landing flat on your face!! Ouch!!!!!!!!!

oh... and don't forget a few essentials for your emergency kit - plasters and gel pads are a must, just in case you can't leave the dance floor and those shoes need a little helping hand in the comfort department!!!!!