It’s been another fab February in-store with many new Brides, Groom’s, Bridesmaids & Mums shopping with us. We can’t thank you enough for all of the amazing feedback that we receive, it really is a total pleasure to be at our customer’s service.
Just today I received an e-mail from a Bride who signed off with "Thank you so much for your help with this – I am so deeply impressed by the service and excellent level of customer care at Abigail’s Collection and am so glad to be buying these dresses with you”.
Many of you know that we try to provide the ultimate in customer services since we sincerely believe that shopping for your wedding attire should be a special and memorable experience. We’re often told that it is the little things that the team do that make a difference and it seems that a panel of industry professionals agree because once again we’ve reached the finals in the British Bridal Exhibition’s Bridal Buyer Awards! Yipeeeeee!!! Yes indeed – we’ve made it into the top six in the country for this most prestigious (and national) bridal shop Customer Services award. We are very excited about the evening which takes place in Harrogate, March 14th so pleeeeeeease keep everything crossed for us!
Four of us are attending the awards evening and by day we shall be touring the bridal trade show buying gorgeous dresses, blingtastic accessories, stunning shoes, dashing menswear and sophisticated Mother of the Bride/Groom outfits. The British bridal Exhibition is our main trade show and it is always such a highlight and a great opportunity to catch up with the newest bridal in trends and industry colleagues. It shall be a sober (and flat shoed) affair for me since I am now (drum roll please) proudly 5 months pregnant! Some of you will know this is our third pregnancy and that it has been a very sad and tricky journey but now Rob and I are so excited and feel very blessed that finally we are to become Parents at long last. It’s a girl and she is kicking away as I type! Maternity leave for me shall begin in June and so in anticipation of a little time off Abigail’s Collection has another full time member of the team whose name is ‘Ashleigh Carter’.
Ashleigh has really got off to a flying start with her years of bridal experience and simply cannot believe how mega busy our shop is and how very many customer recommendations we proudly receive! With new staff in mind, training has been a hot subject for the Managers at Abigail’s Collection & The Groom’s Room and last week the whole team were treated to yet another full on day’s training session!!! Poor Josh and Charlie were literally ‘tested’ to the max by Rob in the Groom’s Room. He now feels confident that when the Boys are let loose suggesting one of our four hundred neckwear colour options for our groom’s Room Customers they are less likely to only suggest blue and have been persuaded that green, purple, red, silver, pink and ivory are also great despite them not being Ipswich and Chelsea kit colours!
Meanwhile, the girls were subject to a catalogue of mini training sessions by Kirsty and I. The less said about the underwear training and my (not very well thought out) offer to be the model for the girls to demonstrate bra measuring the better! Put it this way I need to get some decent well fitting underwear and should perhaps in future think twice before offering to reveal all! Well it’s Friday evening and I am looking forward to celebrating my 6 year wedding anniversary with Rob tomorrow evening. After a late finish at the shop tomorrow we shall be eagerly preparing for the Braxted Park open day on Sunday but will find the time to have a (in my case) very small glass of champagne and a romantic dinner. I am secretly hoping he has found the time to buy me a bouquet of my wedding flowers which are ivory roses. Rob, I am sure, is secretly hoping I won't make him sit through our wedding DVD, again!? Oh dear, how wrong he is...tissues anyone?
Have a lovely weekend.