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Ask the expert - A guide for brides | Bridal Elegance Boutique
A guide to choosing your wedding dress by Award Winning NI Bridal Boutique Bridal Elegance, Larne. Includes an update on wedding dress shopping during the current covid 19 restrictions .
When a girl get’s engaged, finding the perfect dress is probably the number one thing you will want to do. Most of us have been dreaming about this moment since we were kids. That’s why we’ve teamed up with Lauren from Bridal Elegance Boutique in Larne to answer a few questions.
Unfortunately, Covid-19 & the current restrictions on close contact retail has changed wedding dress shopping a little so we have updated this blog post, at the end, to include some current advice if you’re planning your wedding here in Northern Ireland during the pandemic.
Lauren worked in retail since she left school, in different roles such as customer assistant, supervisor and management. She took a break from it all and worked in community care before working night-shifts in a local nursing home after she had her middle child. It was when she was expecting her third child, that her and her mum Hilary opened the boutique.
When Lauren was getting married herself and looking for her own dress, she found the process quite stressful and she never had that amazing experience which everyone tells you about. In the three bridal shops she went to, there wasn’t much variation between styles. The consultants came into the changing room with you to put you in the dress (she hated this part, standing in your underwear in front of a stranger isn’t very nice), and the overall process was quite serious due to the lack of atmosphere in the shop. Lauren’s mum Hilary had been hiring formal and bridesmaids dress part time, and then the bridal shop in Larne closed down the year after Lauren got married. They both saw the opportunity to open a bridal boutique offering brides a relaxing and friendly atmosphere, to make their wedding dress shopping a memorable, stress free experience. Something you wouldn’t get in every other boutique.
Lauren’s top tip for choosing the right dress is to be open minded - try on dresses you think you don’t like on the hanger and styles that you haven’t thought of. Nine times out of ten, brides buy a dress that is totally different to what they had in mind. She would also recommend bringing only one or two of the people you are closest to. (e.g. mum or sister) Too many opinions can make finding your perfect dress a nightmare.
Lauren would recommend wearing a good nude, strapless bra and if you want to, shape wear to your fitting. Underwear can make a huge difference to the fit and look of a dress. Bring shoes with the height of heel you want to wear on the day. Heels can help your posture and it will let your consultant see if the dress needs shortened.
In normal circumstances, Brides should start looking for their dress 12-18 months before their wedding. Dresses can take up to six months to be made and arrive in store. Your alterations usually start eight weeks before your wedding. Lauren’s favourite style of dress would be the A line. It’s a classic shape and looks great on most people.
Covid Update from Bridal Elegance
With covid putting restrictions on everything in life at the minute, shopping for your wedding dress seems an impossible task. Although you can’t visit boutiques to see and try on all the gorgeous dresses, you can use this time to do some research on styles you like and wedding boutiques you would like to visit.
We recommend using Pinterest to create a board of wedding dress styles that you like, you can also screen shot dresses from boutique websites and add them to a folder on your phone, When you do visit a boutique these images can give your bridal consultant a good idea of the look you are going for. But remember to stay open minded, if a dress looks terrible on the hanger you can bet it will look absolutely amazing on and your bridal consultant will know exactly what will suit you.
At Bridal Elegance we are offering Brides virtual appointments during lockdown. This is another really good way of seeing styles and getting to know us before you book your Bridal appointment. Its very informal and we can add your mum and bridesmaids to the appointment as well so you can all see the dresses and have a wee drink while chatting all things Bridal.
If you are on tight time scale a virtual appointment is definitely beneficial for you. We have a large off the peg range we can show you and we will keep a list of the dresses that you like. As soon as we can re open you will get the first available appointment.
We still recommend looking for your dress at least 12 months before your wedding date although ideally 18 months! Although this sounds like a long time, it really isn't! Wedding dresses can take up to 6 months to be made and arrive in store for you, you also have to allow 2 months before your wedding date for alterations. That's an 8 month process! Throw into the mix covid restrictions/lockdowns and now Brexit causing complications with deliveries that 8 months could turn into 10 months or more. It really is a good idea to start looking at dresses as soon as possible and don't be scared to commit to your dress even if it is a year and half/ 2 years until your wedding. Dress styles do not change that fast so you wont be missing out.
Samantha & John // Whistledown Hotel Wedding Photographer
April 2019 - Mayobridge Chapel & The Whistledown Hotel
I had a fabulous day at Sammy & John’s wedding back in April. I love going back down to Warrenpoint as I grew up in Newry. It was lovely meeting up with John again as he was the best man at his own best man, Conor’s wedding a couple of years ago, a day I thoroughly enjoyed being apart of. One of the highlights of the day was getting to photograph Sammy & John with their treasured horses, they are absolutely stunning. The wedding team at The Whistledown Hotel did a fabulous job with the decor, it was so elegant - definitely Instagram worthy! Luckily the weather was on our side for some of the day, allowing us to get some lovely photographs at Donaghaguy Lake.
Bride & Bridesmaids dresses - Elody Bride
Suits - Louis Boyd Menswear
Makeup - Therese McDonald Makeup
Hair - Classique Hair Salon
Flowers - Fortfield Flowers by Genevieve
Cake - The Wee Cake Shop
Rings - Joseph Rea
Band - The Housem8s
DJ - Supplied by Michael Magill Entertainments
Venue - The Whistledown Hotel
Venue Styling - Whistledown Hotel Wedding Team
Videography - Paul Johnston Wedding Videography
Photography - Caroline Smyth Photography
If you’re planning a Whistledown Hotel Wedding, I’d love to hear from you. Click here to get in touch
Make sure to follow my beautiful Weddings on Instagram
Orla & Steven // Larchfield Estate Wedding Photographer
October 2018 - Larchfield Estate
I was so excited to photograph Orla & Steven’s wedding, especially when I heard about all the fabulous suppliers they had booked to help create their dream wedding. I had been wanting to photograph some of my ‘bucket list’ wedding venue’s this year so I ran a competition a little while ago over on my facebook page - Orla & Steven were the lucky winners! Larchfield is somewhere where I had really wanted to photograph as it’s just the right mix of classy and elegant yet very ‘natural’ and photogenic. The decor is just stunning and there are so many nice areas and gardens to photograph in.
Orla’s dress is from designer, ‘Daughters of Simone’, and she was able to buy it locally at the amazing Archive 12. It was a beautiful two piece outfit which worked so nicely with the hint of mustard and foliage bouquet’s on the day.
When asking Orla & Steven for their most memorable part from their day, they agreed it would be when they sat down in the room for their evening meal and looking around at all the people they love sitting in one room laughing and talking together. If they were to give any advice to other couples it would be book additional coverage with your photographer to stay longer to capture the evening party & first dance
Have a look below to see a selection of photographs from their day and which wedding vendors they used;
Bridal Gown - Archive 12
Hair - Joanne Cooke (JMC award winning house of Hair and Beauty)
Make-up - Molly Cooke (JMC award winning house of Hair and Beauty)
Florist - The Rosehip and Berry Floral Studio
Venue - Larchfield Estate
Photography - Caroline Smyth Photography
Band - Top of the Popz
If you’re planning a Larchfield Wedding, I’d love to hear from you. Click here to get in touch
Make sure to follow my beautiful Weddings on Instagram
Ask the expert - A guide for brides // Catherine Hamilton, Soprano & Harpist
Next in our ‘ask the expert - a guide for brides’ series is Catherine Hamilton, from Larne.
When it comes to music, I couldn’t recommend anyone else but Catherine. If you’ve heard her sing along with the harp, you’ll know what I mean. She’s just amazing.
Catherine was brought up in a musical family and studied at Garron Tower before going on to study a degree in Music, at Queen’s University, Belfast. She started off playing the violin, followed by piano, and then she branched into the harp. Although, she focused mainly on her voice at University. Catherine started singing at events and was asked to do so at weddings as well. This is now a full time career for her, as well as being a singing teacher. Catherine would say she “found a gap in the market with the harp and soprano.”
When deciding on your wedding music Catherine would say to think outside the box. It can be nice to go for an old song which everybody will know and traditional is timeless - people will always love Pachelbel’s Canon in D. You should walk down the aisle to your favourite song as that’s the most important one. If a song isn’t that appropriate for a wedding, I can always change a few words!
A lot of people assume that musicians charge at lot for what they do but you get what you pay for. Catherine and her parents have paid a lot of money over the years to train and her instruments are also expensive. She is constantly investing in new equipment and puts a lot of time into learning new songs. It’s not also a case of just ‘turning up,’ there’s the set up time beforehand, soundcheck and then packing everything away again once it’s over.
Although Catherine has been singing at weddings for quite a few years now, she still doesn’t know what she would walk down the aisle too. These would be some of her favourite wedding songs;
Feel’s like home (her favourite to sing)
Tale as old as time (favourite instrumental)
Anything - James Horner
Your song - Elton John (her favourite song)
Catherine really enjoys quirky songs at the minute for walking out. Some of her favourites would be You’re the one that I want (Grease) and I wanna grow old with you (The Wedding Singer).
Click here to get in touch with Catherine if you’d like some fabulous music for your special day!
Lauren & Martin // Ballygally Castle Wedding Photographer
September 2018 - St MacNissi’s Chapel & Ballygally Castle Hotel
What a beautiful summer wedding. Lauren has been a customer of mine for a while now and I was delighted when she asked me to capture her and Martin’s special day. So many happy memories were made that day - especially for their two little ones.
I always love it when bride’s say their reception is in Ballygally Castle - it’s amazing how such a stunning wedding venue is right on our doorstep. The pale pinks and purples were absolutely gorgeous for time of year and they blended in so nicely with the flowers in bloom at the gardens. The weather really was good to us, the light in the afternoon was beautiful and added a really nice ‘glow’ to the photographs.
Have a look below to see some of their photographs and which wedding vendors they used!
Dresses - Perfect Day
Suits - Red Groomswear
Makeup - Savage Beauty
Hair - Karen McCullough Hair
Cars - David Andrews
Cake - Gemma’s Cakes
Flowers - Cherry Blossom Flowers
Stationery - Darling Stationery
Photography - Caroline Smyth Photography
Video - Timeless Productions NI
Music - Anthem Band
