Abigail's Collection

Woodhall Manor in Suffolk is such a divine wedding venue…. Bedrooms that you literally don’t want to leave, beautifully manicured grounds and stunning rooms in which to celebrate.

It’s been a while since I visited Woodhall Manor, my colleagues attended the last few fayres held there and despite it being Sunday  I’ll be honest I was really looking forward to my day of work talking shop and being with Brides in planning mode at such a fab venue!

I managed to bag myself a spot right next to a beautifully sunlit window so after setting up I was able to stand in the sunshine n’ chat to prospective customers.

I enjoyed laughing with one Bride who clearly enjoys being in control of the wedding day plans and her Groom’s wardrobe, she’s a self confessed control freak (a very likeable one I must add) … And she’ll definitely be visiting The Groom’s Room WITH her husband to be to help choose his Menswear hire suits, I can’t wait to welcome them in-store they were a lovely couple and have a fabulous wedding theme planned (I LOVED the colour theme … Shhhh, I couldn’t possibly say).

Another family were teasing each other about who gets which bedroom at Woodhall Manor! I was asked my opinion on if the Father of The Bride had priority over the Mother of the Groom in terms of room choice!?! I didn’t dare suggest they share especially not in earshot of respective other halves, lol.  Well who knows who will win that one …

And later I was in awe of a new Mum all glammed up, wedding files at the ready and carrying a 2 week old baby boy! … I think it took me about 6 weeks to even get dressed after giving birth never mind leave the house!?! Planning a hair wash was tough enough never mind a wedding, fairplay to that un-phased and clever lady, they have a lot to celebrate that’s for sure!

A tad embarrassing were my attempts to enthusiastically tell a rather handsome Groom and his beautiful fiance all about our stunning made to measure suit and shirt service… I missed the ‘r’ out of shirt … They booked in despite my embarrassing tongue tie situation, I haven’t told Rob about my new promo patter, I may not incase I’m sacked.

All in all the day was really lovely – Brides and Grooms planned, families chattered and little flower girls giggled and I realised how lucky I  am to so often be a part of such an incredible journey made by so many!

Thanks to all of the Woodhall Manor staff, a lovely day had by all, see you again sometime soon and we look forward to looking after Woodhall Manor’s Brides, Grooms, Mums and Bridesmaids!

We’re just coming back to land from Harrogate, literally!!!  No we didn’t skyrocket there  but it has been a brilliantly exciting few days …. Rob, Kate, Emma and I have just returned from the British Bridal Exhibition .  We popped there to view the latest bridal trends on the catwalks, socialise with industry friends oh and to see if we could bag our second big Bridal Buyer award!!!  And guess what??? Yep! We only blimmin’ well went there and did it!  We are soooooooooo proud to have won the UK’s Best Menswear Retailer for 2013.  We are literally buzzing!!  These awards are the Oscars of the industry so to have won another is such a fabulous achievement. We’re extremely proud of The Groom’s Room team; alongside the girls Rob and Tom work extremely hard to provide a Menswear service second to none and now it’s official our Menswear Service is the Best in the UK!!  Huge thanks to of our amazing customers, our business is what it is because of you and you’re the ones that we are here to look after, thank you for all of the feedback and endless reccomendations! Next big thanks to our Menswear Partner ‘Peter Posh’ who work tirelessly to help us provide our Grooms with a fantastic range of extremely smart, well fitted and fashionable suits.  Finally a special mention and thank you to my amazing Husband and Business Partner Rob, I’m so proud, well done Darling…. Ok Ok yes, enough of the dribbly thank yous…

Awards aside, we were also there to see the bridal preview catwalk which showcases a number of Designer’s latest creations.  Models paraded their way down the stage in some beautiful designs many of which featured pretty straps and high necklines, sequined lace and (most pleasingly) a nod toward more fuller (A-line) skirts.  I was thrilled to see fitted lace combined with satin (rather than just full lace) and pretty slinky chiffons too…. All in all quite gorgeous!  We then visited our favouite Designers including White Rose, Intuzuri and Mark Lesley who had some STUNNING new creations!

So during our stay, and in between slurping celebratory champagne, we  kept our eyes peeled for some new bridal beauties.  We walked the halls checking out all of the latest that the best in bridal has to offer.  I think it was my most exciting buying trip!! Basically (without giving ‘too much’ (lol) ‘anything’ away) we’ve bought some very very very exciting new bridal labels!!  We were looking for sensational lace, some new gorgeous slinky destination styles, a few ultra blingy Princesss numbers and one or two styles that were just that little bit different and my goodness have we found some stunning wedding dresses or what!!  I can honestly say that this will be ‘Abigail’s strongest bridal Collection yet …. I’ve just gotta keep the staff out of them, even Rob’s threatening to try a few on he liked them so much !!!

Hi everyone, well it’s been a fantabulously busy start to the Year which is why this blog is a little later than it should be (sorry Folks)!  First off HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all, how are you?  How was Christmas?  We all had a great Christmas break, the staff loved having a few weeks off but clearly they love their jobs sooooo much that they were desperate to get back to it asap (lol, wink wink Guys) ….  Christmas seems like an age ago doesn’t it?  Here’s a picture of us at our Christmas do… lol after several glasses of fizz that is!

Well New Year has bought with it lots of very lovely new things to Abigail’s Collection & The Groom’s Room… We’ve just literally started unpacking a sensational collection of jewellery from Richards Designs a collection of totally gorgeous pearl and diamante jewellery and some gorgeous new shoes from Rainbow Club.  The Girls and I went nuts over the diamante shoe clips, they’re totally gorgeous – such a great invention.  They literally transform a shoe and can be worn again after the big day too!!  Priced at only £25 per pair of shoe clips we think they are blinking (or should I say blinging?) gorgeous and certainly don’t brake the bank!

In addition to our newest accessory recruits for our beautiful accessory stying room we’re thrilled to have added even more stunning wedding dresses to our collection in our bridal rooms!  No matter if it’s lace, satin, chiffon or silk we have some new and absolutely exquisite designs in-store for our beautiful Brides to try!  Which reminds me we have some very exciting expansion news coming soon, a new department on its way to Abigail’s Collection ….

Rob in the Groom’s room has been dancing around in excitement over our new menswear website and the arrival of his new hire waistcoat colour options and suit fabrics!  Most popular so far with our Grooms have been the three piece Burford suit closely followed by the new slim cut dark grey mohair three piece suit.  Rob has also expanded on our made to measure suit Suppliers and is going crazy for the fantastic range of colours and styles now available to our Gents!!  Pick up the phone if you want more info or check out a whizzy and ultra stylish new Menswear website at  www.thegroomsroomessexco.uk a bit smart don’t you think?  Groom’s suit hire prices are from just £85 per Gent and yes of course, we do offer a competitive Groom goes free deal too.

Last week we heard from a Groom called Andy who married his lovely Wife Claire at Hylands House in June 2012.  He was delighted to get in touch and tell us that after votes had been counted they had won the ‘Wedding of the Year’ title in’ An Essex Wedding’ magazine and was saying thank you for the suits that we provided, you can see some of his wedding photos on our facebook page!  We think that the Gents looked fab and certainly didn’t let Claire down (who we think absolutely shone) on the day.  Massive congrats to you both… Andy says he feels kinda famous! …. And we agree you guys should, it looks like a celeb style wedding that’s for sure!!

And talking of congratulations we’ve done it again!!!  Yep, we’ve made it to the finals of yet another amazing awards competition… it’s THE Bridal Buyer awards held at The British Bridal Exhibition in March and we’re in the final for not one but two categories; ‘Best Bridal Retailer UK’ and ‘Best Menswear Retailer UK’ it’s yet another huge achievement for the team.  To say I’m proud is a total understatement, we’re up against some really fantastic competition so it will be interesting to see if we can win our sixteenth awards title!!!  Winners announced in March!

Well that’s it for now, have a great day, I’m off to play Snow Angels with my 18month old Arabella …. Try it sometime, just don’t eat the yellow stuff, lol!… yuck… x x x

So he popped the question! …. Whoop whoop!  Finally, after a series of nervous family introductions (cringe) a joint bank account, a shopping trip to Ikea (love their meatballs) and a few of your not so subtle hints during ‘Don’t tell the Bride’ he did it!  He got down on bended knee, bedazzled you with engagement bling and asked you to marry him!!  You said ‘yes’ and you’re now officially able to introduce him to everyone as your ‘Fiancé’….  Let the wedding planning fun begin ….

I’m not going to lie.  I’ve been a Bride myself and on reflection it’s fair to say I probably verged on being a bit of a Bridezilla.  Yep, I had mood boards (and moods) fabric swatches, count down planners, spreadsheets and meeting agendas.  I was extremely well organised and had a non-negotiable and very definite ‘idea’ of how I wanted things to be on my wedding day.

So, inevitably, as a ‘has been bridezilla’ and now (a-hem) award winning bridal boutique owner I do genuinely appreciate that wedding planning and shopping to find ‘the one’ can sometimes be a tad stressful.  BUT, and yes I am shouting a little here Ladies, in some cases wedding dress shopping is as stressful as you allow it to be and I do believe that with a little bridal dress shop research and some forward planning an enjoyable journey to destination ‘wedding dress purchase’ could be just around the corner….

My own first dress shopping experience (before my life as a bridal shop owner)was a tad disappointing. I’d been dreaming of swishing effortlessly in an ivory cloud of sparkly gorgeousness, feeling amazing and wowing the shop staff!  Instead in the first dress I felt fat and frumpy in a gown that didn’t fit or suit me.  A puffy veil was plonked lopsidedly onto my head by a less than interested Assistant and I was farcically told that I looked amazing!  Stupidly I had agreed to try on gowns in a bridal shop that smelt of chips (am sure Ambi Purr don’t do a fish n’ chips scented plug in now do they?).  It wasn’t ideal and the whole situation could have been avoided by doing a little boutique research and visiting the professional and friendly bridal shops that did appeal … simples.

Here’s a few more tips to help you on your way before you embark upon the shopping trip of a lifetime; First of all put that wedding planning calendar to good use and book some appointments, the best wedding shops often get booked in advance.  Know that the service that you receive in bridal shops within your area will vary; some will work exclusively by private appointment and some will operate on a ‘walk in’ basis where there are multiple changing rooms available.  Some may offer refreshments but some may not, take each shop as you find them and enjoy the colourful variation that is the bridal shop industry.  I personally think it’s a great idea to print a selection of dress pictures that you like but equally do remember to be guided by the dress shop Consultants who should advise what will suit your body shape and style of wedding.  Don’t be tempted by replica internet dress purchases (more often than not it ends badly) and when considering who to take along with you to the boutiques keep numbers to a minimum so that the majority of your friends and family will be wowed by you as a bride on your actual wedding day and not before.

I loved my wedding day.  I mean I really loved my wedding day!  I drank waaay too much but thank goodness so did most of my Guests! ….. Hilariously I kept blaming the slightly slippy floor for my falling over and at the end of the evening I had hurt my coccyx and I almost couldn’t travel on my honeymoon!!  Actually that wasn’t the only blip -  My Brothers were late for the ceremony and followed me down the aisle! Then Rob (Hubby) promised to be faithful to himself during our vows (nerves apparently)….  But blips aside my wedding day was amazing and actually there were no Bridezilla moments at all.  You know when they say ‘enjoy every moment – it whizzes by’, well it certainly does so do make sure that (like me) in between glasses of bubbles you enjoy the moment, enjoy your new husband and enjoy the wonderful event that is your big and very special day.

So now girls it’s your duty to go forth and enjoy your wedding dress shopping …. Try on a variety of exquisite bridal creations; embrace the lace, revel in the attention, strike a pose in a slim fitting fishtail, admire the meringues, try on a huge tulle number and above all else don’t get your tiara in a twist over anything minor like I did, just have fun and good luck finding the wedding dress of your dreams …. We’ll look forward to seeing you in-store sometime soon x

Well September’s been an exciting month!  We’ve been really busy at Abigail’s Collection & The Groom’s Room and have tonnes of exciting news snippets to share with you…. Are you sitting comfortably?

First of all, (whoop whoop!!) Did you hear that we won yet another award for our Customer Services?  We were totally thrilled to beat off sooooo many amazing companies and win the Essex Business Excellence award for Customer Services!  We’re mega passionate about delivering a great service and to be nominated for this award (again) was fabulous but to win was totally amazing!  You can check us out on this mini film where we’re being interviewed about one minute into the film  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oFXTBJf0e4&feature=share  This fabulous award now takes pride and place in our reception.  We’re asked time and again if we have enough wall space for our awards!  The answer ‘s ‘yes, lol’ proudly we have them across two walls now!

So this month once again was ‘The British Bridal Exhibition’ which is where we do our buying and it takes place in Harrogate.  So Sarah, Rob, Kirsty and I headed off to the show to choose some STUNNING new dresses, a new shoe collection, some new beautiful hair bling and a few new fabulous Mother of the Bride hats and outfits!  Oh and also some gorgeous new bridesmaid dresses. Rob had a peek at some very dapper suit and waistcoat styles that we’ll be offering our Grooms from Spring including a very smart new lightweight biscuit suit too.  It was a great show and the four of us enjoyed some well earnt relaxation including a very posh breakfast at Betty’s (yum) after which we walked the exhibition halls and looked at lots and lots of Designers, so much so that our feet really really ached (ouch)!  We attended a very posh Ball (Oooo) and then drove home exhausted (Zzzz) ….. Much fun was had by all but we had to take it a little easy because (drum roll please …… drrrrrrrrrmmmmm) … Kirsty is expecting a Baby Boy in February! Massive congratulations to K and husband David – we’re really going to miss Kirsty.  The team and I really hope that she may come back after her maternity leave.  Kirsty; THANK YOU.  We shall miss you.  Oh and my advice; sleep now whilst you can!

So inevitably we have a few staff changes but we’re extremely delighted to welcome our latest member ‘Katie’ to the team.  Katie is soooo lovely!  Bright, bubbly, friendly and professional.  Not only that she always looks effortlessly gorgeous, so much so that Williams & Griffin is grateful and my wallet a little lighter; yes I had to buy some new dresses to try and keep up, my husband still doesn’t quite understand!!   So anyway welcome aboard Katie, thrilled to have you on the team!

Whilst we’re talking ‘staff’ big congratulations to Groom’s Room Assistant Tom who impressed us with some fabulous A-level results, he’s a charming Chap, and bright as a button to boot!  Well done Tom and good luck with the studies and keep up all the hard work in The Groom’s Room, our Customers love ya!

So what new fabulous products have we got to shout about? Well; we have a fantastic new shoe collection in our vintage accessories room, shoes start at £45 and there’s a gorgeous selection, these shoes are ultra stylish, affordable and your feet will last all day in them!  Don’t risk a cheap high street pair they may look good but before you know it your feet will ache more than you can bare and then you’ll be in bare feet and tripping up over your dress … not a good look for a stylish bride!  We’ve also received a delivery of stunning diamante and pearl hair pieces, divine finishing touches for our vintage themed Brides and some gorgeous new diamante jewellery too all housed in our fabulous finishing touches accessories room.

We were soooooo excited about the new dress designs by Intuzuri.  Here’s a flip book link to have a nosey .  The Intuzuri brand is stunning there are some beautiful designs heading our way Ladies and are so excited about the 2013 collection.  Another dress designer we’re excited about is White Rose and we’ve chosen some absolutely  beautiful lace designs, cannot wait to have them on our rails, we’ve really embraced the lace, it’s been a huge story this year and is set to continue next!

Emma Brooks (Emma Brooks Make Up) is a fellow Tollesbury Lass, Mum to gorgeous little Matilda (who’s just a few months older than my Arabella).  Emma’s great fun to be around, basically in truth she’s a little bit nutty like me but most importantly she’s a blimmin’ brilliant (MAC trained) make-up artist who specialises in wedding day make-up so I couldn’t very well say no when she asked if we would get involved with a fab photo shoot which took place at Pontland’s Park Hotel near Chelmsford.  Emma popped round one evening to chat through what was needed and as usual was full of boundless enthusiasm for the photo shoot and promo vid she was helping to plan.  We drank a few glasses of vino and in between general chit chat we discussed the vintage styling that she wanted for the Pontland’s Park shoot, it all sounded rather fun and although I often decline photo-shoot dress loan requests I was really pleased to be involved with this one.

Pontland’s Park Hotel near Chelmsford was a great location for the shoot, thank you soooooo much to the staff there.  It’s a delightful three star family run hotel set in the Essex countryside. Our shoot took place in a really swish room (bridal suite) and then in the grounds of the hotel itself.  We all agreed it was the perfect setting for the crew and models, many thanks to Pontlands for letting us all take over!

As the day approached I was really delighted to be invited along to dress the girls who were the models for the day.  I thought they did a great job especially to put up with me corseting, pinning, pruning, adjusting and well, just generally getting in the way!

Their stunning hair do’s were styled by Tina Crossley (Beautiful Hair by Tina Crossley) and with over 20 years in her field there’s certainly a thing or two I think Tina could teach most hair stylists including ‘Toni’ and his Big Brother ‘Guy’, lol …. Tina carefully curled and twirled, pinned n’ sprayed and then added our gorgeously blingy finishing touch hair accessories whilst Emma lightly air based n’ air brushed before stylishly making up the girls.  Between Tina and Emma (plus a bit of dressing from me) our three natural beauties transformed into an ultra stunning mock bridal party all ready for the lights, camera and action! I thought that they looked stunning and sat back enviously thinking how slim, young and beautiful they looked, then I just thought ‘oh well’ and ate another chocolate cornflake cake ……. ha ha I’d love to take a little more credit but in truth and all jokes aside the crew and Tina and Emma did all of the hard work, a tremendous job infact and the girls really did look amazing!!

Our bridal model Olivia wore one of our stunning 50’s inspired vintage ivory gowns, it’s style
 no2156 designed by Mark Lesley (£899).  We decided the bridesmaid’s models (Alice and Jorjia) would look amazing in fabulous full length, pleated bodice and off shoulder Alfred Angelo satin dresses.  They were style no’s 7050 and 7168 and priced at £199.  The vibrancy of the violet bridesmaids gowns worked really well both in the setting and on the girls, they all looked gorgeous and I think they all enjoyed being styled and made up to perfection, there were certainly a few laughs along the way…..
MASSIVE thanks to Sally Parkinson who took these superb images.  Sally was a delight to work with, she knows what she’s doing behind a camera and shot some cracking images thanks so much Sally, the pictures are beautiful! Next to thank is Bridgette and her Hubby from Colbridge Videography  a lovely couple now busy producing Emma & Tina’s promo vid. And finally thanks to Carole Johnson Wedding Flowers who created the most wonderful bouquets – again stunning work!

So there you have it, another day at the office and this time I was in photo shoot mode!  Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with these Guys if you’re planning a wedding, they’re a great bunch to work with and am sure you’ll agree the results of everyone’s efforts are fabuloso!!! Thanks for a fun day Ladies, look forward to seeing you all soon x x

A tough job but someone’s gotta do it ….I’m just back from the amazing White Gallery bridal trade exhibition! It’s where the finest in bridal design launch their much anticipated collections. White Gallery is in it’s third year and as usual it was a fabulous three days and leading bridal designers delivered in breath-taking style….. Aside from owning a bridal shop I’m also a columnist for the leading industry trade publication ‘Bridal Buyer’ (the Bridal Shop owner’s Bible) which means I’m lucky enough to attend these incredible catwalk shows.

This year the highly acclaimed Ian Stuart launched ‘Supernova’ yet another charismatic collection of sumptuous bridal creations! Ian Stuart’s unconventional dress silhouettes are this year lovingly created in pretty pastels and warm honey tones; my catwalk faves included Glitterati, Oasis and Carmen – totally awesome gowns all with individual personalities and masses of jaw dropping wow factor! The backdrop to Ian’s show was as almost as stunning as his gowns and I loved watching the finale of enchanting dresses during which I clapped (with much gusto I might add) along to the Mary Poppin’s song ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’…. And it was a sensationally supercalifragilisticexpialidocious show and my hands went numb from trying to time my enthusiastic claps to the beat!

Another crowd pleaser was the wonderful Stephanie Allin who has taken inspiration from Marrakech in the 70’s for her 2013 ‘Night and Day’ collection. Another stunning range, the show opened with a gorgeous 50’s style gown called ‘Masquerade’ the model swayed and sashayed down the catwalk to the upbeat feel good tune ‘Holly Valance’s Kiss Kiss’, it looked awesome and felt exciting! I fell in love with ‘Honour’; an exquisite full length lace gown with a beautiful vintage coloured dusty rose sash. And then ‘Sapphire’ stopped me in my tracks – the choice for an adventurous Bride maybe, with it’s pretty peplum styled top and tapered trouser this look totally oozed alternative bridal glamour.

Alan Hannah’s ‘High Society’ collection was also a total delight! As usual a group of gorgeously classic, elegant and sophisticated looking bridal gowns were paraded down the runway to a fantastic selection of tunes including an on trend and all atmospheric Florence and The Machine track. Again vintage lace and cool fifties glamour burst forth from this ulta stylish collection! I adored almost every dress and particularly loved the styling, models wore gorgeous head scarves and oversized Jackie Onassis shades to accompany the beautiful flirty fifties dresses which all looked totally divine!

And finally the British Talents preview fashion show was a wonderful mix of stylish, adventurous, elegant and daring… A bit like a family bag of revels really; sooooo many that you love and only one or two that you’d rather avoid!! With so many stunning dresses to choose from the 2013 season of designer bridal fashion in the UK is another exciting one! The vintage glamour trend is certainly set to continue as Designers delight, surprise and captivate our bridal hearts! One thing is for sure; there are some very very gorgeous designs heading in the direction of designer bridal stores up and down the country (N.B Please see Designers websites for nearest stockists of Ian Stuart, Stephanie Allin and Alan Hannah).

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….