Thursday 19 March 2015

The Little Pearl Bridal Boutique - Opening Night!

Well what can I say…the launch of the boutique has been everything I had hoped for and more!  We had a little launch party a few days before we opened and it was so great to see so many family, friends and industry friends come along and support our launch.  We even took a booking from a bride-to-be on the night which was just lovely.  It was the perfect evening, lots of fizz, thank you’s and being able to show everyone around.  We had the fabulous Hayley Baxter come along and take some gorgeous shots of the boutique.  I can’t believe it is now very real!!






Opening on Valentine’s Day was great too! Such an appropriate day of the year.  Despite being a little nervous ahead of the appointments we had booked in, I loved every minute of it.  Everyone had such nice things to say when they walked in and saw the boutique and what we stock.  It certainly is a proud moment and is comforting to know the decisions I’ve made along the way on design, style, what to stock, have been the right ones!

There has certainly been a lot of pressure to get bookings in the diary for when we opened!  Thankfully we have received such lovely enquiries that we had full Saturday appointments for the first 3 weeks of opening.  Nothing, however, goes without a hitch though, and typically after the boys being back at nursery we get hit by illness!! Thankfully running your own business does allow me to be flexible sometimes so it hasn’t been too bad.  Having a very supportive family has helped immensely!  

Obviously I have been gearing myself up for this for a while now - getting to know our designers, the gowns, the accessories, what can and can’t be done to suit different brides.  It is totally different putting it into practice though, but I have found my stride and I’m surprised how much my memory has absorbed!!  Our brides and their families are obviously what makes it all worthwhile and listening to their stories about planning their wedding is just such an honour.  To then have had two brides-to-be find their perfect gowns and become #PearlsGirls in our first two weeks of opening has just been amazing.  I can’t wait to see them again and share this special journey!  We have lots more appointments in the diary and I’m busy planning an exciting event for May time.  Plus we are attending lots of fab wedding fairs in April, so we are looking forward to a busy few months!

The grand finale of our gown designers here at The Little Pearl is the divine, Sassi Holford.  Here is a bit more information about the gowns and the fabulous Sassi herself.


Sassi Holford has been designing bridal gowns for nearly 30 years and truly is at the top of the bridal industry!  She is completely self taught and has royal acclaim from having the honour of dressing Autumn Kelly, who married Princess Anne’s son Peter Philips.


Sassi is known for designing and making classic, English wedding gowns with a contemporary edge. The finished result of every bride’s gowns is exquisite lines, sumptuous fabrics and a cut that echo the bride’s own style. All of Sassi's gowns are handmade in England by her first class team of talented cutters, seamstresses and hand beaders.  


I have had the pleasure meeting Sassi and her team.  The workrooms are amazing and a true testament to Sassi and her team’s hard work and vision.  We are so proud to be exclusive stockists of Sassi’s collection!





Love,

Diana xx