We spent months looking forward to it and it had finally arrived… Rachel Southwood and I packed up the car and set off to North Yorkshire for the British Bridal Exhibition Harrogate. As we arrived the sun was shining on row upon row of sparkly new wedding dresses, preparing for their spring debut! The rest of the team joined us as we set off to find out this season’s top bridal trends! Lace was seen on almost every stand with the royal wedding still making a huge impact on bridal fashion. We also saw a lot of back detail with daring backless gowns and pretty back detailing. Ruffling was also a big hit and we fell in love with the 50’s inspired tea length gowns. To be bang on trend this season, Ellis Bridals offers a gorgeous tea length, vintage-inspired gown, which has it all! For bridesmaids, pastel colours are this season’s must-have. I love the idea of mixing your maids in a selection of pretty pastel colours to give your wedding that soft vintage feel.
Sunday night arrived and we all headed up to the legendary BISCO (Bridal Industry Suppliers Disco), which is sponsored by Wedding Ideas. We mingled with industry friends and were entertained by the fantastic Tony as Robbie tribute act. We also celebrated with the cream of the industry at the BBEH awards on Monday, where Ellis Bridals scooped best manufacturer, Ian Stuart won best occasionwear and Justin Alexander landed the Dress of the Year. Any excuse to slip on my beautiful Enzoani gown and Olivier Laudus jewels! We snuck away for some well deserved sleep but celebrations went on well into the night…
We just can’t get enough of the show season and with one day to catch up and re pack my bag and give the dog a kiss, I headed off to Birmingham NEC for the National Wedding Show. We were armed with 4,000 copies of the latest issue of Wedding Ideas and ready to meet our lovely readers. Thousands of brides came through the doors and aisles were packed with girls searching for the latest trends and discounts. We love having the opportunity to meet our readers and to find out what they love about the magazine. We also met with some of the other exhibitors to find out what they were offering at the show.
Pippa does National Wedding Show, featuring Julieann Beads and Shropshire Petals
My week finished catching up with the team at Herd HQ, the May issue is looking fantastic and we are making the final changes to the exciting new website – definitely one to watch! I had lunch with my friend Martin Jenkins from the fabulous Sassi Holford and Kate Sherford and he gave me some very exciting news. Yes ladies, Sassi Holford is to launch a brand new Occasion wear collection! I saw Sassi in one of her own creations at the Wedding Ideas Awards and it was absolutely beautiful so I cant wait to see the rest of the collection! I head off to the sunny islands of Thailand next week for a family wedding and I aim to find out what this beautiful country has to offer for UK couples who are planning a wedding or honeymoon in the sun! Catch you on the other side…
Also, don’t forget to come back Monday and we’ll have the fab video of the BBEH!
With love,
Pippa x
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