Abigail's Collection

Well I don’t know about you but I’ve been waiting for some sunshine!  I am soooooo relieved that it’s officially Spring and that Summer is coming.  The evening’s are getting lighter for longer and the days are warming up which means Summer is on it’s way so I need to get to the gym or weightwatchers and fast!  8 months post baby and my body is still far from ready for a bikini!

Maybe I should stop indulging in wine and chocolate, they’re my weakness, but then aren’t they everyones?………….  So whilst we’re talking ‘weaknesses’; Kirsty and I just enjoyed our usual March buying trip to the British Bridal Exhibition in Harrogate.  We bought some STUNNING bridal dresses, some delightful new bridesmaids dresses, some ultra smart men’s waistcoats and some rather gorgeous Mother of the Bride outfits as well as lots of gorgeous bling for our Accessories department!  The catwalk show was fab and the runway was awash with volume, ruffles, layers, full wow factor Princess tulle and elegant sleek lace styles, it’s such an exciting time in the world of bridal fashion with Designers becoming more daring and creative, there is something for everyone and really anything goes in terms of shape!  The vintage theme still dominates and interestingly we saw a few gently muted shades of peach and grey creeping into some bridal designs (am not so sure that grey will ever be the new ivory myself, just looks like they need a jolly good wash).

This year I proudly joined the Judging panel for the Bridal Buyer Awards.  As a business you may know that we ourselves love to compete and have won many many titles (14 actually, Oooooo check us out) but this year I decided to take a backseat and actually it was both an honour and a thrill to be involved in that way.  I spent a marathon 14 hours assessing the entrants before making my reccomendations and although it was much harder than I thought it would be I thouroughly enjoyed the challenge.

In addition to the awards and the buying Kirsty and I very much enjoyed mingling with industry friends including the Wedding Ideas’s magazine teamhttp://www.weddingideasmag.com/.  Headed up by the gorgeous Rachel (sadly not in this cute pic) this team are amazing; they’re vibrant, energetic, vicacious, charismatic and ? well?  …. blimmin gorgeous really!  So if you haven’t subscribed yet then I suggest you hurry up and do so, quite simply it’s the best bridal mini mag and jam packed with wedding ideas – fuller than a Sumo in a leotard!!?!  Lol… where an earth did that analagy come from, must be thinking of me and a summer bikini again!??

New in-store to us and for the forthcoming season are the beautiful Intuzuri gowns, due with us in just a few weeks these dresses feature exquisite crystal beading.  The collection ranges from beautiful luxurious classic designs, to more modern styles. Including one-shoulder dresses, three-dimensional flower appliqués and semi-transparent hand beading. Using only the finest of detail and hand finishing techniques, this is a range that we know our Brides will LOVE!  We cannot wait to receive the rest of the collection.  Please visit http://www.intuzuri.com/ for more gorgeous dress pictures or their facebook page to chat with other Brides and the staff at Intuzuri too.

Also new in-store for us is the delightful Laura!  Our latest part timer Laura is bubbly friendly and fab!  Laura has a passion for anything fabric related and her background in costume construction and alteration will stand her (and our brides in goodstead), welcome to the madhouse Laura!!!  Enjoy the Easter sunshine everybody x x

HAPPY NEW YEAR everybody!!! So how was your 2011? I hope that it was wonderful and if it wasn’t, well, I sincerely hope that 2012 will bring happier times for you.  I’m actually sorry to see 2011 go, I’ve been blessed with a fabulous year and am ultra excited about the year ahead!  As I type this on New Year’s Day 2012 our baby Arabella (now 5 months) is bouncing in her Jumperoo (wow, what a great invention that is), the doggie is snoozing on my foot (going slightly numb – my foot, not the doggie), my Darling husband is putting our clean washing away (yes, he is an Angel) and I’m lucky enough to be able to reflect on a great year and all that the team and I have been able to achieve!!  So here’s a run down of the year’s business highlights.  Are you sitting comfortably? There’s quite a few:

January got off to a flying start within our 2400 sq ft of Bride n’ Groom gorgeousness and we enjoyed one of our busiest months ever, infact it was our best January in 6 years!!! February was a totally loved up month, a bit Disneyesque as we fell for the new collection of Disney Princess themed Alfred Angelos that arrived in-store.  Media wise we were interviewed and featured in Colchester Circle’s ‘Love is in the air’ and also launched our first in-store formal team training day, it was just superb (well done Guys).  March was utterly fabulous!!!  We won our biggest and best award yet!  Kirsty (Our BRILLIANT Shop Manager), Rob and I attended the British Bridal Exhibition and on behalf of the team were crowned with the UK title ‘Best Customer Services Team’.  One word to sum it up?  MAGINIFICANT! (Such an incredible achievement.  So proud!).

In April we welcomed Spring with a delightfully cute Easter themed window that featured mini fluffy chicks on a big hay bail which was (hilariously and prematurely) evicted from the window as a result of Rob’s acute hay-fever! (Whoops, yes, I forgot, so funny, poor Rob).  And so, although slightly earlier than anticipated, Kirsty created a sensational Royal Window in anticipation of THE long awaited Royal wedding dress and boy oh boy did Kate Middleton look absolutely gorgeous or what??

In May we welcomed Sarah (gorgeous, happy and ultra friendly) and it was another great media month for us!  Proudly I featured in Woman & Home magazine in their ‘New Directions’ section alongside several exceptionally talented and inspiring Business Woman.  In addition, we were selected by ‘An Essex Wedding Magazine’ for a feature on ‘Elite Wedding Dress Shops in Essex’ another proud article for all to read – We were spotlighted as the shop delivering the best and most personal VIP style of wedding dress shopping!!  (Thank you so much to the ‘An Essex Wedding’ for contacting us).

In June I was invited by Bridal Buyer (leading industry trade publication) to become their new Columnist after more than 2 and a half yrs of writing for Attire, (another excellent trade mag).  Bridal Buyer has such an influential voice and is seen as the bible of our industry, so as you can imagine I love being their Columnist – Great fun, except when I get writers block 10 words into a 1000 word piece, lol.

In July our world literally stood stool (and finally so did I) when I gave birth to my darling Daughter Arabella Grace Neill!  A long awaited and cherished baby girl.  There are no words that can describe how much she means to Rob and I and how much she is loved! An arduous journey to parenthood but well worth it….

In August we welcomed the newest of our fantastic bridal dress labels to our rails ‘D’zage’.  Modern, stylish and affordable the gorgeous ‘D’zage’ dresses are absolutely fabulous and we were delighted to see them on our Brides!  In September the lovely Amanda (customer driven, ultra professional and hard working) held the fort for us as some of us attended the British Bridal Exhibition at Harrogate where we once again were blinded by the bling, tempted by the tiaras and dazzled by the dresses.  There, we brought the new seasons dresses and literally danced our socks off at the RBA dinner and awards dance!  Well done to our wedding dress designers Mark Lesley and our accessories company Richards for being voted as the best – we voted for you because we LOVE your designs!

October was yet another fantastic month, we always love October.  It’s always buzzing right after the our fab local Charter Hall wedding fayre!  This time I was asked to help write The Gazette’s Wedding Show guide and Planner which I LOVED doing, (thank you to the Gazette for inviting me to play such a big part in such a great wedding publication).

In November we welcomed Tom (smart, friendly and quietly professional) to the Groom’s Room and Jessica (soooo well mannered, mega kind and beautifully smiley) as receptionist and it was another incredible month for awards!! We did the double (‘again’- says I proudly smiling like a Cheshire cat) and won two at The Colchester & District’s Business awards; Growing Business and Customer Services, two titles that we won back in 2009 and two titles that mean a great deal to us, many thanks to the gang for all of their hard work in helping me put our submissions together and of course to Springlands and CCL for awarding us.  AND also (drum roll please drrrrrrrrm …. drrrrrrm) …. We won the regional titles for Best Menswear Supplier and Best Bridal Retailer for the East of England in the 2012 Wedding Industry Awards!! – This is all with thanks to our incredible customers who voted for us and to the judges who assessed us.  We were up against some exceptional companies and were totally thrilled to win in not just one but in both of the categories!  I’ll be honest after whoooping and cheering in disbelief I literally nearly cried!!

So lastly in December we occasionally spent time drinking mulled wine and eating mince pies with Customers and then on the 17th we finished the year with our staff Christmas do!  We celebrated with a wonderful night out which included Secret Santa gifts, a yummy meal and drinks and Kirsty’s amazing handmade crackers.  There was a lotta laughs and a lotta love and just generally a great team spirit and everyone was excited about the long Christmas break ahead.

Finally, I was invited to sit on the judging panel for the British Bridal Buyer awards which are held in March!  Such a huge responsibility and a total honour, thank you Bridal Buyer for the opportunity.  After a marathon 13 hour judging session and several hours of research during the Christmas break I was able to submit my recommendations, can’t wait for the glittering do…..

So there you have it, my 2011 business highlights in a nutshell…… And now a few thank you’s - First to all of our wonderful Customers, for all of the customer feedback and suggestions that you have for us, we love looking after you,  we love our business and (all) unanimously strive to provide you with a VIP shopping experience and be the very best at what we do!!! Secondly a huge THANK YOU to all of my team, especially to Kirsty, Sarah and Amanda for managing the shop so well this year, to Anne who works so hard steaming and cleaning behind the scenes and to Jessica and Tom our fab newbies, welcome aboard …. Finally to my adorable Husband Rob; The Groom’s Room Boss, my Business Partner and Best Friend without whom it would all be an awful lot harder, much of it impossible and either way certainly a lot less fun!!  Here’s to a fabulous 2011 and to an equally brilliant 2012!!!

Wow!!! Just 34 days to Christmas!!! I know this because @OfficialSanta just tweeted it.  I’ve tweeted him to ask if we can postpone it a tad, as usual I’m not sure I’m going to be ready in time – where does the time go? If you find out please let me know!!  So, Autumn is well and truly here and Winter’s is on on it’s way.  Have you seen this month’s Autumn themed window?  We’ve used bronze leaves and emerald green outfits and suspended the Men’s canes for extra charm!  I love window dressing. Big thanks to Janette Hampton who popped her head in to tell us how much she looks forward to seeing what we do next and that our wedding dress shop window is always the best in town!  Thanks so much Janette, we certainly do try!

I’m all excited about Christmas.  As usual we’ll celebrate the Christmas season in style and this year store closure is from Sat December 17th to Tues Jan 3rd.  Together the team, Rob and I will enjoy dinner and cocktails somewhere fab in town:  Kirsty’s going to make us AMAZING luxury cracker presents again, I’ll probably do another randomly weird Christmas lucky dip and Rob will, as usual, buy another rubbish Secret Santa gift for one of us! Lol, lucky lucky lucky!!  Are you starting to get ready for Christmas?  Well as you may know it’s mine and Rob’s first with our new arrival – our little Daughter Arabella so we’re feeling very excited indeed.  She’s doing really well, 18 weeks and we’re into giggling, weaning and teething!

Behind the scenes at the shop we’ve enjoyed another  fantastic team building training session during which we popped open a bottle of Cava and scoffed far too many cupcakes!  We all did presentations about working with our Brides & Grooms (well done everyone) they were really fantastic, we LOVED Amanda’s clever recipe style presentation and Sarah’s was ….. (how shall we say?) ….. pretty damn reem too!! Here’s a quick pic of our training in action.  All of the staff pride theirselves on being professional and knowledgeable and the formal training sessions that we do together throughout the year ensures that our customers receive first class customer service and a totally memorable VIP style shopping experience.  Next year the managment are attending a number of formal external training sessions and we hope to roll out what’s learnt to the others when we return, I’m really excited but then if you know me you’ll know it doesn’t take a lot!

This month we received yet more amazing cards and photo’s from our wonderful customers, we absolutely LOVE to see the finished results and want to thank everyone for taking the time to send them in, recently we were sent this one from Rosie and Richard who enjoyed an amazing wedding day and honeymoon in the Seychelles followed by a UK church blessing and party, now that’s what I call a wedding!! How lucky are they?  A destination wedding in the Seychelles AND a UK wedding celebration too; here’s one of their beautiful pics for you to see, many congratulations once again from us all.  Also a big shout out to Emily Vote who popped in to show us her beautiful wedding album.  I’m back after maternity leave and was so pleased to be there when she came in.  The pics were totally gorgeous Emily, we can’t wait to get them onto our gallery, you looked totally divine x x

Since I’ve returned it’s been mega busy in-store, I really missed the buzz of the shop and it feels so great to be back!  Awards season is well underway and as competitively as ever we’ve been busy preparing our submissions and appealing for customer’s votes!  You may have spotted that we love entering for awards (local, national and industry based) mainly because it gives us the chance to be tested against other amazing businesses, you see we really enjoy being put through our paces, we strive to be the best business that we can and the interviews, field visits and assessments really do challenge us!  Proudly we’re in the finals for three Colchester & District business awards this year, winners announced on Friday this week and (BREAKING NEWS) …. we’re confirmed Finalists in the 2012 Wedding Industry Awards too, winner is announced in Jan! So all in all we’re very proud, very excited and extremely grateful to all of our customers that have voted for us, THANK YOU so very much!  Watch this space for results – we have our t0es, legs and fingers all well and truly crossed that’s for sure….

Always a highlight in the business calendar; once again it was time to brave the A1 traffic, bombard our favourite boutique style Harrogate Hotel and shop till we drop for wedding dresses and bling galore!!  With thanks to our Ashleigh we set off armed with brilliantly organised files and this time it was real girlie road trip with myself, Ashleigh, Kirsty and Sarah attending.  Amanda and Charlie held the fort at work and survived an (as usual) very busy Tuesday… thanks Guys, great job!

Having only recently welcomed our baby girl Arabella into the world – I decided I could only tear myself away for one night and two days and so it was a real mission getting to see all of our lovely suppliers in such a short space of time!  The girls and I had a great time however and brought some GORGEOUS new styles for 2012!  The highlight of the buying trip for me (in terms of dresses) were the Alfred Angelo Disney bridal dresses, with 8 new fab styles launched for the beautiful iconic Princesses.  We were very impressed with the new designs and were thoroughly Disney’d by the time we left the Alfred Angelo stand! They even had their own Prince Charming giving out flashing jelly rings, it was a bit tongue in cheek and we all agreed that our Rob or Cheeky Charlie would have made an equally great Prince Charming!  So be aware Boys, if we do any Disney in-store promotions you know what we’ll be asking you to dress up as …. We’re very excited to have ordered the range of matching Disney bridesmaids and mega cute flowergirl dresses too, they’ll be in-store from January!  And also hot off the Alfred Angelo press is that they will be releasing a ‘Twighlight / Bella’ wedding dress in November as the film is released, we don’t know what it will look like but are fairly  intrigued to see if it is anything like the movie character’s dress … don’t worry girls, if it’s gorgeous we’ll get it, if it isn’t we wont!      

Other dress collections that really stood out for us were the ever lovely White Rose, Mon Cheri and Mark Lesley labels.  In amongst the many new dresses that we have brought we’ve chosen some very striking fitted silk options, a few multi layered romantic organza numbers, some show stopping pick up taffeta’s, a gorgeous twinkly lace column dress and a couple of cheeky swinging short styles too!  We wish that we had enjoyed more time shopping for accessories but we were so busy dashing from dress stand to dress stand that we only managed to select from our top Suppliers; as usual Kirsty made a bee line for the big feather fascinators, she always looks enviably good in them, no matter how big or outrageous! New for the coming season will be some on trend ‘hatinaters’ so watch this space for new designs Ladies.  

During the British Bridal Exhibition some of the Designers showcase their best designs in an ultra professional and exciting bridal preview fashion show which we always attend and as usual loved! The girls and I sat sipping bubbly and munching on chocolates as the models paraded the latest!! We took bets on who might fall over (jokes aside, no one did, they never do) and sat right infront of the confetti cannon which made us all literally jump out of our seats at the end of the show and if that didn’t draw enough attention to us we were then showered in a huge quantity of chunky red confetti!    

Commercially speaking a few mainstream dress designers seemed to have really branched out with their designs becoming increasingly more adventurous.  The signature styling that the likes of Justin Alexander, Veromia, and Ellis have become predictably known for seems to have diluted a little.  I find this rather exciting because rather than just offering one kind of look these bridal dress designers seem to offer so much more within their collections now – it’s an exciting time in bridal fashion where literally anything goes which means that 2012 brides really will be totally spoilt for choice.    

My husband Rob was home with our new baby Daughter Arabella so I popped to check out our menswear designer’s range on his behalf… they’ve launched some very smart new mini diamond patterned waistcoat designs and a strong but neat masculine striped pattern for 2012, we’re looking forward to receiving these in-store and know they’ll be a real hit with our 2012 Groom’s Room gents!  Also new for 2012 is their new charcoal grey suit, a great option to compliment many wedding themes and a particularly fab option for on trend vintage styled weddings that will continue to be popular going forward into 2012.

I really missed Rob on our BBEH buying trip but he did an amazing job (thank you Darling) staying home and looking after our little Arabella who has become cheekier, cuter and chunkier in just the two days!! Talking of which I must dash… I have a date with my Daughter at the nappy changing station …Oooo yes! ….. wish me luck!!

It’s been a fabulously exciting time both in-store (and out) with lots of new things happening! I’m currently on maternity leave and just about coming back down to earth after celebrating the arrival of my beautiful baby girl Arabella Grace Neill, finally after a long and rather arduous journey to motherhood I’m a proud Mummy to a little bundle born July 14th who has literally rocked mine and Rob’s world! She’s stolen our hearts, oh and our sleep! And yes, I’ve been a walking zombie most days but thoroughly enjoying and embracing my challenging new role as ‘Mummy’!

Our fabulous team at work have been holding the fort beautifully! A massive thank you to each and every one of them and a special mention to Charlie and all of the girls who was kept very busy looking after the Menswear department whilst Rob had a little time with us at home too. Well done team, you’re all shining stars and we are really proud of you all!

…. More staff stuff; You may know our A-team of girlies headed up by Kirsty includes the lovely Ashleigh, Amanda and Anne, well we’re delighted to formally welcome our newest member of the team Sarah Miles. Sarah’s bright and bubbly personality is a real hit with the Customers.  She sure knows her bridal dresses and already has helped many of our ladies create absolutely stunning wedding day looks already!! We’re excited for Sarah as she attends an awards do soon and hopes to receive a ‘Best Actress’ title! Although not professionally trained Sarah’s enjoyed a dedicated and serious acting hobby since she was little… Good Luck Sarah Lovie Daaarling, we all hope that you win!

Ooooo la la! Frock talk; We’re delighted to announce the arrival of our newest label ‘D’zage‘ by leading bridal designer Veromia, these dresses are stylish and elegant and the best bit… they’re at fantastically good prices so that even Brides on a budget can really shine! (£649+). So, now in-store we’re thrilled to be able to offer something for everyone from lace to silk, fitted to full, for brides with a modest budget to those who want a designer dress for a designer day! Our fuller figure (girls with curves) collection and shorter length bridal dresses have been going down a storm too! We’re over the moon with the response and feedback that we receive about our wedding dress collection; three different Brides have recently said to us that not only is our wedding dress selection the best in Colchester but they feel the best in Essex!!!

Finally, our VIP style Mother of the Bride department has a stunning new line of ivory and black embroidered silk separates with gorgeous hats, bags and fascinators available to compliment. We’ve embraced the colour theme this season by creating a black and white window display which looks gorge even if I do say so myself!!  Thanks to Kirsty & Co for this gorgeous creation, we’ve had lots of Brides ask where we found the white wicker hearts … they were spotted in Perrywood Garden Centre in Tiptree where they often have lots of silk flowers and cute wedding day table inspiring goodies!  It’s definitely worth a visit if you fancy a nosey at a fab garden centre and lots of pretty things so head out to see them and grab yourself some wedding day inspiration just like I do for the wedding window displays that we create.

As I type this, I am sitting and (sort of) bouncing on a gigantic blue plastic birthing ball, it’s proving tricky…. I’ve fallen off twice and the laptop isn’t balancing too well!! You see I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of our baby girl! Now just one day over my actual due date and I’ve decided to throw myself into some creative writing in order to keep my mind off well, erm, things!!  Please forgive any jumpy typo’s this is a little harder than I thought.  Oh and if this blog ends mid sentence then it’s because labour’s kicked off and I’ve gone to get some towels… Oooooo gosh, what a thought, mid blog!!!

Unbelievably the black and white image (right) is of me taken during a very special ‘bump bouidoir’ photo shoot taken by the ‘For Your Eyes Only’ team based in Chelmsford, Essex.  I hummed and harr’d about whether it was a tad too much info to include my semi naked bump on here and then decided that it was the best way to illustrate the sheer magical talent and brilliance of this special photographic team that I’m going to tell you about; you see if I can look this good at 8 months pregnant then trust me, there is hope for us all, pregnant or not!!!

So last month I announced this, my latest compulsary task …. ”Right girls (authoritative tone) you’re going to get your kit off for the camera!! I’d like us to start promoting this photographic team to our brides and as with all of our reccomended partners, there’s no way we can do so unless we’ve experienced it for ourselves.  So; it’s kit off, say cheese and it’ll be fine!” Poor Amanda turned a lighter shade of grey and probably wondered why she ever accepted our job offer, Ashleigh tried to look keen and bravely exclaimed ‘bring … it … on!’ and Kirsty screamed ‘OMG! No way! I feel like a sixty year old trying to break out of a 25 year old’s body!! I, meanwhile was thinking about the collection of massive pants that I own and wondering if perhaps now was the time to purchase something a bit less granny like!

On the basis we were lucky enough to be invited to experience these fabulous boudoir photo shoots, we talked it through and accepted the invitation with gusto and set off to the gorgeous ‘For Your Eye’s Only’ studio based in Chelmsford in Essex.  Tara, Alex and the all female team at FYEO specialise in in full body makeover portraits and aim to create beautiful, sexy portraits which are designed to celebrate every body shape and age.  Together the team create tastefully sexy, mysteriously arty portraits to capture your more private side!  Amanda, Kirsty, Ashleigh and I headed to the studio ready to (nervously) bare all for the camera and let me tell you …. the day was AMAZING the FYEO team were AMAZING and the photo results of us were all totally AMAZING!!  Actually it felt as though it was more than just a photo shoot, it was actually much more of an experiencel – it was (genuinely) an esteem building and body confidence boosting experience – a day that we shall all never forget. 

The FYEO team do an amazing job at making you feel safe and secure, and after a fab makeover and private photo shoot with lots of direction and help we all agreed there is little need to feel scared or nervous, it was actually great fun once we got started.  I genuinely think that every woman should experience a private photo shoot like this at whatever age!  I’ve got some beautiful images celebrating my long awaited pregnancy and the girls have some absolutely stunning images of them looking totally sensational in their underwear.

Some of you already know that we have the FYEO gift boxes in-store for sale and that we think that Brides should consider having a photo shoot and album put together as a special gift for the Groom.  Can you imagine just how surprised and made up he would be, if,  the eve before the wedding he opens up a picture or album of you looking glamorously gorgeous and hot hot hot!! I should stress that these photographic boudoir experiences are designed for women of any age and any shape and actually not just for Brides - they’re a once in a lifetime experience and I for one am thrilled I took the plunge… Contact us for more info about these fantastic boudoir sessions or visit the FYEO website for more information.  Huge thanks once again to Alex, Tara and all of the Girls we can’t wait to see the finished results from our Customer’s shoots and just know that they will love their time with you just as we did x x

Last weekend Battersea Evolution in London played host to the second ‘White Gallery’ designer bridal trade exhibition where  over 40 top end international wedding dress designers exhibited over three days including Ian Stuart, Stephanie Allin, Ritva Westenius, Lusan Mandongus, Sassi Holford, Alan Hannah, Ugo Zaldi and Jesus Peiro. 

Designers proudly paraded their newest and finest during private invitation only catwalk shows and Sunday was a chance for ‘New talents’ to showcase their designs and make their first mark on the designer bridalwear scene.  Names for Retailers to watch out for include The Vintage Wedding Dress Company; beautiful vintage gowns based on silhouettes of the past and a contemporary yet vintage collection from new kid on the block Sanyukta Shrestha. 

Matthew Williamson also launched a bridal collection. A household name some will associate with Debenhams, his debut collection featured short hand beaded shifts with fluted sleeves and long silk tulle gowns embellished with feathers.  There was some disappointment that he wasn’t there in person. His bridal designs were fashion forward and edgy with Grecian and Bo-ho flavours.

The vibe at The White Gallery bridal trade expo was most definitely ‘Designer’ with champagne and cupcakes to entice potential UK and International stockists onto stands and the general feeling amongst exhibitors was that the show was a big success and a better choice than last year’s Saatchi Gallery location.  The champagne bar buzzed with upmarket retailers and proved to be a hit for those wanting to network, compare notes on the latest trends or simply people watch – champagne flute in hand. 

Overall, designer bridal trends continue with a strong vintage flavour.  Dresses featured lashings of lace in an abundance of fitted styles.  Delicate embroidery and opulent embellishment featured throughout the slinkies and there were plenty of fifties inspired short n’ stylish dresses with generous puff petticoats and Audrey necklines. Straps are definitely in and those who chose to show off statement pieces did so with generously gathered dupion silk, elaborate waterfall ruffles and slashed layers of organza and tulle.

One or two bridal designers maximised on retailers visiting London for White Gallery including Suzanne Neville who launched her stunning 2012 collection at the Tower of London.  There was also the first ‘Venue Bridal‘ – another mini bridal exhibition.  A collaborative effort by a group of mainstream designers at the Pestana Hotel located in close proximity to the White Gallery. A complimentary horse & carriage and mini bus service ran for retailers wishing to visit Sincerity, Justin Alexander, Mark Lesley, Romantica of Devon, Jasmine and Demetrios at the Pestana.  The hosts generously provided complimentary canapés and refreshments whilst retailers browsed and yet another lace ‘Kate’ replica was launched, much like the Alfred Angelo version but this time by Justin Alexander.

So London was the place to be for industry bridal professionals to see the latest in bridal …..  Well done and thanks White Gallery, we’ll see you there next year!

Our lovely Mother of the Bride department has seen a flurry of activity this month with stylish May Mums ordering their gorgeous silk Mother of the Bride (and Groom) outfits from us for their Summer and Autumn weddings.  We are LOVING the finishing touches including the handmade feather fascinators, hats and dyed shoes and bags to match!  Yesterday in our office I saw the most divine black & white feather fascinator with contrasting trim and exquisite jet black and silver sparkly crystal spray! I practically ran off with it!!! I think the Mother of the Bride who’ll be wearing that will be thrilled, it’s a fabulous statement piece, totally stunning and I want one too!

Sometimes I don’t know who gets the most excited about their outfits, the Bride, the Bridesmaids, the Mums or us???!! Talking of excited we want to say a special thank you to a Bride called Sam who gathered her troops and joined us during their lovely girlie day out last week. Sam is from Colchester, Mum (Lorraine) from Ipswich, her friends (three gorgeous Bridesmaids, Su, Olivia and Jo) live in Chelmsford and (I think) the Aunts and Grandma were from a mix of London and Maldon!!  So basically from all around Essex, Suffolk and London!!!  The girls had been told that we were THE wedding dress shop in Colchester to visit and although she had intended to perhaps visit more bridal shops in Essex after reading our customer testimonials and seeing our customer services awards she decided that she was on a wedding dress shop mission and wanted to buy her bridal dress, bridesmaid dresses and get Mum kitted out all in one hit and all with us at Abigail’s Collection!! So 4 and a half hours later, several glasses of wine, lots of squash and virtually a whole box of Celebrations chocolates we were thrilled to have co-ordinated an amazing look for all of them!  This wedding party is going to look absolutely sensational, even if we do say so ourselves! We cant wait to see the pictures and will proudly share them with you on facebook and in our customer gallery.

We’re often told by our customers that they really enjoy the convenience (and reassurance) of shopping under one roof and love being able to co-ordinate their desired wedding colour theme and style throughout the wedding bridal party.  Our Menswear department is called The Groom’s Room and Rob and Charlie do an amazing job of co-ordinating the look for the Boys.  Only sometimes do they have to assist with difficult decisions between our Brides and Groom’s where, say; the Bride is really keen on pink and the Groom prefers blue!! It can be a bit of a minefield but often Rob suggests a  fab compromise or a colour combo that they hadn’t considered which they then love!  We’re yet to have an in-house argument so well done Boys keep up the good work!! Which reminds me if you would like us to assist you in the Groom’s Room for a summer 2011 wedding date, please do get booked in fast, we are almost at capacity …. have a great week everybody, catch up soon x

So have you come back to earth after celebrating the wonderful Royal Wedding? Naturally we’ve enjoyed the extra bank holiday and the glorious April sunshine, apparently it’s been one of the hottest recorded Aprils in history!! Oooo la la bikinitastic bridal weather or what??

I was so excited about the wedding on Friday I was literally glued to the TV screen before attending our village’s ‘Royal Party in the Park’.  And what a wedding!! Prince William looked soooo handsome and she looked beautiful.  One thing’s for sure it’s clear they are a couple in love! I Oooo’d and arrr’d as he told her she looked beautiful as she arrived at the the top of the aisle and had to laugh when it was confirmed that he’d turned to Kate’s Father and said ‘this was suppose to be a small family affair’. I love his down to earth sense of humour and think they make a wonderful couple. 

So did you love the dress? Well I thought Kate looked totally divine in her stunning Sarah Burton (House of McQueen) designer dress.  Some friends and industry professionals have criticised her choice suggesting that it was too understated but I disagree. I think that the dress was very ‘her’; very elegant, very classic and totally romantic! I loved the high sculpted neckline and full length Chantilly lace sleeves, it was such a feminine look and the 2m 70 train was beautiful, all in all I felt the design had a very graceful impact without being OTT.  

When a Bride buys a wedding dress in-store with us (whomever she is) we believe that it it should make her feel totally fabulous, a million dollars! (read our ‘shopping for your wedding dress’ advice page for some top tips).  You see we believe that the final selection of a wedding dress is a very personal thing.  It has to be a style that reflects the Bride that they want to be and in many cases the person that they are. And that’s why I really think that the dress Kate shone in was so right for her.  I would have been really surprised if she had stepped out of the car in a huge statement bridal gown elaborately adorned in swarovski crystal with a tulle skirt large enough to impress a ‘My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding’ Bride! It just wouldn’t have been Kate.

As many of you know, we’ve got lots of Kate style accessories to tempt Bride’s who want to recreat her timeless bridal look. From lace bolero’s to diamante tiara’s and stunning lace edge veils, we have it all! Just call 01206 574575 and request an appointment in our vintage style accessories room and experience our award winning VIP style customer service for yourself.

Did you see our fabulous royal window prediction yet? A big well done to the Abigail’s Collection girls who cleverly dressed our window Kate in a long lace edged veil and elegant sweetheart Mon Cheri bridal dress and long lace sleeved bolero, the window went in the day before and was soooo close to Kate’s look!  The skirt wasn’t quite as full as McQueen’s box pleated style but I think the girls predicted Kate’s look just beautifully!! Well done ladies! We’ve had many customers admire our take on the Queen (shown here in our gorgeous royal blue Mother of the Bride outfit) with a union jack yorkie doggie at her feet. A cute touch we thought and the best bit is he doesn’t need walking or feeding and never ever wees indoors!!!

Other news updates; Amanda, Ashleigh, Kirsty & I are having gorgeous boudoir (and bump piccies)  taken by the FYEO (For Your Eyes Only) team at their Chelmsford studio.  It’s an overdue acceptance but finally we’re going to be trialling it for our Brides! Some of us are keener than others, lol, but we’re all looking forward to our girlie day out and although a little nervous we can’t wait for our makeover and pro photo shoot so watch this space to see if we’re brave enough to share any of our sexy pics.  Have a lovely May and to those of you in wedding countdown mode, enjoy it all, try not to stress and if there is anything at all we can help you with (attire related or not), remember we are only a phone call away x

Okay so you don’t quite need to get the violins out yet but the last few weeks have been particularly tiring for us, we’ve been busy bee’s buying new wedding dress and Menswear collections.  It’s all been exciting and fabulous daaaarling but tiring!  We had an absolute  ball at the British Bridal Exhibition but our fun packed three day trip to Harrogate was pretty exhausting straight after a busy Saturday in-store and then (with no day off) it was straight into another busy week and an even busier Saturday (see the trend here?) at which point Kirsty and I managed to bag a lift with my Beloved Husband Rob (a.k.a ‘Fuelled by Red Bull Rob’) to Gatwick airport where we hopped onto a plane to Madrid.  Sounding glamorous?  Er no!  It’s not…. Exhausting ‘yes’, glam ‘no’.

Kirsty & I arrived at our hotel just after 12am Sunday morning after getting thoroughly lost at Madrid airport.  A warning to anyone that may fly in there, depending at which terminal you arrive, it’s very confusing and finding your luggage and the exit is a tad complicated!  In our case it involved a great deal of walking in circles around shops, several escalators, a few lifts, a Spanish information desk and a 20 minute train ride to another terminal!  We were so tired it was hard to see the funny side and, put it this way, after arriving at the hotel and being told our rooms hadn’t been booked correctly for us (grrrrr) our heads hit the pillow that night with a massive thud!!  Tiring journey’s aside we were up bright and early the next morning, alarms weren’t required as hotel luggage trolleys did that just brilliantly!!  Kirsty & I enthusiastically slurped more than our quota of coffee (lush) and ate several Spanish pastries each for brekkie (yum).

We were really looking forward to the Catwalk shows that day and were there to see the 2012 San Patrick by Pronovias wedding dress collection and have a little nosey at their occasion wear too.  106 BEAUTIFUL (but very slim) bridal dress models paraded the latest up and down the catwalks.  We fought for a front seat space and although Kirsty’s suggestion of me laying mid catwalk with one hand on head and other holding 6 month pregnant belly was a good one, we opted for no fuss, third row seat selection and craftily left our bags on the seats in front so no one sat there and obscured our view, besides; falling over on the way to the ladies had drawn plenty enough attention for me for one day!!?!  So the show began and the wedding dresses were absolutely stunning as usual.  San Patrick appeals to the designer Bride who wants an up market designer look for around £1500.  Vintage Spanish lace, slashed, tired and layered tulle and elaborate ruffles, pleats and gathers of chiffon were in abundance.

One shoulder straps are thematic throughout and the fishtail style was strong again but this time with even more dramatic volume at the tail.  The romantic Grecian trend is also set to continue with generous floats of soft cascading chiffon.  Lots of dresses were beautiful and we brought a gorgeous 2012 collection that we predict our Brides will simply love. The occasion wear collection featured strong shades of blue and pink as well as baby tone pastels of pink, lilac and coral.  Neutral mink and beige tones featured too and we loved the continuation of the grecian floaty trend in occasion wear but were also equally impressed by the shorter, snappier multi layered strapless looks.  Kirsty and I spent time deciding which of the many dresses we would go for, I found one that was a bit of an ‘Abi’ dress with a v neck and floaty sleeves (I hate my arms!?) and Kirsty found several she loved and one for Tess (her best friend) that we b0th agreed she would look divine in! All in all the show was a huge success, inspirational and exciting – it was well worth the traveling – It’s just a good job we weren’t shopping for us, am not sure we’d have managed all the bags home!!!