You may have seen my Insta Stories a couple of months ago when I revisited the The Wedding Shop, the bridal boutique where I discovered my own DREAM wedding dress…
Having just undergone a stylish new revamp, I thought it was the perfect time to stop by and show you, bridal babe, the amazing service, reputation and amazing array of brands that the store has to offer. Not only does the The Wedding Shop offer four floors of wedding-worthy attire (for you, your maids and the Mother of the Bride), but every appointment, every fitting and every interaction is everything you could want when it comes to buying that dream dress.
I caught up with owner, Nicola Garton to chat further to her about the history of the family owned store and their latest new arrivals…
#1 Tell us a little more about the history of The Wedding Shop. When did it first open? When did you take over the business?
“The Wedding Shop is a family business. My parents opened the original shop back in 1980 at the bottom of Colchester East Street. We then moved to St. Johns Street in 1989. I took over running the shop in 1996, and in that year we also won the Wedding & Home Magazine ‘Wedding Shop of the Year’ Award. In 1998 the shop was getting busier and busier and we started to stock more and more designers so we brought the shop next door which became home to our bridesmaids dresses and our new mother of the bride department. In 2012 we made the big move to the High Street and put all of our departments back together under one roof to create our bridal department store. Lastly in December 2017 we underwent our refurbishment, bringing the store right up to date with our modern luxury decor.”
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| 1980 – Les & Jean Coverdale opened The Wedding Shop at the bottom of Colchester’s East Street (Image sourced from The Wedding Shop) |
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| 1981 – Michael and Jean Coverdale outside the shop on the shop’s first anniversary. (Image sourced from The Wedding Shop) |
#2 Tell us a little more about the designers you stock…
“We stock a variety of designers that are situated all over the world: Pronovias, who are based in Barcelona bring a combination of beautiful Spanish lace and ground breaking bridal gown designs. The cutting edge Jesus Peiro are completely created in Spain and the amazing design team there allow our brides to choose a bespoke gown. Jenny Packham is a world renowned English bridal and eveningwear designer (second to none with the beautiful beaded gowns). Ronald Joyce is designed by Veni Infantino who has been a firm favourite with not only her bridal designs but also her fabulous occasionwear. The dresses range from simple elegant crepe to fabulous ballgowns with 3D appliqués. Essence of Australia and Stella York are sister companies. They bring a new world design concepts that all our brides adore. Suzanne Neville gowns have beautifully structured bodices, exquisitely cut skirts and amazing luxury fabrics, and finally, Mori Lee designs are always evolving and this season sees amazing new fabrics and modern detailing.”
#3 What’s makes The Wedding Shop different from other bridal boutiques? Why should brides be booking an appointment with you?
“The Wedding Shop has so much to offer all under one roof. We have a huge variety of choice in every department and the space and light gives a calm, relaxing and memorable experience.
The expertise of every member of our team is second to none and we want every bride to have had an amazing experience as well as finding the dress of their dreams. Brides should book with us because its like visiting a London store but right on their doorstep. An experience they may not find elsewhere.”
#4 What’s important to The Wedding Shop when it comes to the bridal appointment? How do you make brides feel special?
“We like to give every bride a warm welcome to instantly put them at ease. We like to get to know our brides so we can find them a dress that reflects their personality. We also like to find out all about their wedding to help their dress fit in perfectly with the day. The most important thing for us in a bridal appointment is to listen and understand what the brides needs are. To ensure that she tries the styles that she is looking for but feels confident enough to try dresses that we may suggest.”
#5 Do you hold events are the boutique that brides and their bridal party can come to?
“We have events throughout the year. We have various trunk shows where our designers send us new design dresses for the weekend that our brides can try on and order. We also have concept weekends where we receive dresses that haven’t even been picked for collections yet! Our brides get to try these dresses on and give their feedback to the designers. They may even end up purchasing a dress that doesn’t go into a collection and therefore they have a wedding dress that no-one else will ever have! We also have designers and members of their design team come to the shop and help our brides find their dream dress. This is a great opportunity for brides to meet the people who created their perfect dress.”
#6 What’s NEW at The Wedding Shop?
“Jesus Piero is the most recent addition to our Wedding Shop design family. We are also very fortunate to have new dresses coming in regularly throughout the year from all of our designers. This keeps us up to date with with the latest fashion in the bridal world and helps us stock exactly what our brides are looking for.
Our brides and their bridal teams are also absolutely loving the revamp and the lux lounge feel that we have achieved with it. It’s so lovely for brides who purchased their dress before the refit to come back for their fittings and see the new shop, all of their feedback has been amazing and everyone is loving the navy and rose gold colour scheme (which has been very popular for wedding colour schemes recently too). Our new brides are also loving the the shops makeover, instantly feeling at home which makes their experience even more enjoyable.”
#7 And finally, how can brides get in touch?
Our email address is info@theweddingshop.co.uk
Our phone number is 01206 767359
There is also a ‘Contact us’ section on our website – just click HERE.
Click here to discover more from The Wedding Shop
