We have a new sister-shop that sells the best in wedding accessories.

The shop www.weddingaccessories.co.uk will be featuring many beautiful designs from the Sofia Felini range of tiaras, necklaces, earrings, hair pins and hairvines. Later there will be a lot of other super exciting accessories added to make the rest of your wedding easy to plan for.

Here’s an example of one of the lovely pieces available from the site:

THe site should be fully operational by early – mid November, so if you are trying to buy and things don’t go smoothly, it’ll only be teething problems at the moment. We have been assured that everything will be completely finished by the middle of the month.

There are some lovely designs on the site that should suit most brides. Of course, if you can’t find exactly what you’re looking for, or want something truly unique then Michele is able to design something for you in Swarovski crystals or with freshwater pearls etc. Book an appointment through our main site at: www.societybrides.com

Well, it’s finally happened!

We are now in our new purpose built studio and open for business as usual.

Don’t forget, it’s strictly by appointment only.

Our new address is: 7 Sandown Road, Christchurch, Dorset, BH23 3HG

Telephone is the same as before: 01202 478396

Won’t be long now, and we will be moving to our new studio!

We’ll keep you informed on our main website and on the blog as to when this is going to be.

At the moment, it’s looking like the second or third week in June, but it may be a little before if we can.

In the mean time, just for you info-hungry brides out there, here’s an article that Michele wrote a while ago about Tweenage bridesmaids and the problems they can present to both a bride and a bridalwear designer: ‘ Designers of Wedding dresses and the problem with Tweenie Bridesmaids.’

For a number of years Michele has been running a successful wedding dress label designed for sunny locations. Well at last, we have made the label much more affordable by making set sizes.

O.K. this does mean that you won’t get the full Society Brides couture treatment, but it does mean you’ll be able to get married in style without it costing so much that the cost eats into your honeymoon budget.

Beach wedding dresses are hard to find these days, but Sunkissed Brides ticks many of the boxes required for the classic ‘travel to an exotic location’ wedding.

The great thing about the dresses is that they have been designed  with travel in mind.

In other words, they are suitcase-friendly. Whilst it might be tempting to wear a silk dress for a destination wedding, man-made satins, chiffons and other fabrics will travel better without as much creasing.

There is also a sale on at the moment with a massive 20% saving.

If you are worried about how to choose a size, then just follow the simple instructions on the Sizing page.

Here you will be shown a chart with the various measuring points on the body, plus a scale of sizes that will easily lead you to the right choice.

As with any dresses purchased on the net, you will probably need to have a few size adjustments made by a skilled seamstress or a keen home sewer. There is an option to order extra length if required at no extra cost.

Of course, it is possible to buy Sunkissed dresses at Society Brides, but they are priced completely differently to allow for the dress being made as a bespoke garment.

As time goes on, we hope to add a number of accessories to the on-line store that will enhance the big day.

Now and again we take a look at what is being said about Society Brides around the web and blogosphere. Here are a few quotes from some of the forums and review sites we found:

“I just had a thought, Society Brides in Christchurch is also amazing. Michelle, the owner, also designs, and her creations are just breathtaking. Worth a drive over. I have heard from several of my brides, that her customer service is just mind blowing.” Teri M – Hitched.co.uk Forum

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“Hey,I’m not married yet (in fact I don’t even have my dress, but if I did…) but if your a ******* bride, have the money (insurance payout?) and time -  I can recommend Society Brides in Christchurch? I’ve been there a couple of times for dress fittings and michelle is fab. She’s really booked up but may be able to pull something out the bag. If not, she’d def. be able to recommend someone.”
DG – YouandYourWedding.co.uk Forum.

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“The Best by Far
We visited all the shops in and around Dorset and Hampshire, as well as a few more in London and none of them came close to Society Brides. The owner, Michele was by far the most knowlegable about fashion and design out of all the shops we’d been to. The service we received was fantastic. They couldn’t do enough for us, and all the time we felt that we were in safe hands. Highly recommended.” C T – xomreviews.com

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“Fab Service
I recently got my dress from Society Brides in Christchurch. They were all superbly helpful and friendly that the whole experience was a complete pleasure. Their main designer Michelle Keffen spent a lot of time with us when she designed my dress and was sooo professional. I can’t put in to words how helpful they were and how happy I was with their service.” R H – xomreviews.com

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“I couldn’t agree more. When we visited them they were fantastic. The staff were all really friendly and it felt genuine. The designer we saw was superb and after a short conversation seemed to know exactly what we wanted. Certainly better than all the other shops we visited in the South including the whole of London.” MandaJ – sherriffratings.com

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“There’s a shop in dorset that has its own range of dresses for beach weddings, and they are gorgeous, so lightweight and well made. go to www.societybrides.com and have a look at their sunkissed range. i think they do some mailorder, but if you can get in to the shop you should, the service is impecable. i tried on ‘fji’. its stunning, especially if you have time to work on your tan before the wedding. hope this helps.” Lindz – Youandyourwedding.co.uk

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” I have been to bridal stores all over Bournemouth and Sociey Brides stands out way above the rest. With staff that really looked after both myself and my mother.. cups of tea and lots of smiles.. they have a beautiful studio and huge range of dresses all kept like they are new. A big plus for me was also that there prices all include alterations and however may fitting you need! They really are amazing! “

10/10 – Kelly C. touchbournemouth.com

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“I also got my dress in the Bournemouth area from Society Brides and their service has been fantastic. The dress I wanted was the top half of one dress and the bottom half of another, because they have a designer on site who owns the shop this was no issue and it mean’t I got something no one else has. There service has always been fantastic, offered drinks, good sense of humours and they do seem to really care. I would definitely recommend them.
I did go to one shop in Southampton called ******** **** and in comparison the service was terrible I had booked and appointment and the lady was serving myself and someone else at the same time!!! I did quite like a dress there but due to the poor service it would have concerned me too much to ever purchase one from them.” Kerry2011 – You and yourwedding.co.uk forum

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“Hello, I also had bad experiences in ********* and ***** ***** in Boscombe when I was looking for my dress and ********* ** ***** in Southampton when I was looking for my bridesmaids. I really don’t understand how they would think that bad customer service will translate into sales??!! By contrast, ******** in Bournemouth where I finally found my dress and Society Brides in Christchurch where I am buying my bridesmaid dresses couldn’t have been more different – really lovely experiences where nothing was too much trouble and you get a sense that they genuinely love the job that they do – with the end result that they got my custom. Both these shops come highly recommended by me!” Emma Lou – Youandyourwedding.co.uk Forums

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We’d just like to say thanks for all the votes of confidence and while we are at it thanks to all those who send us cards and gifts after the wedding.

We enjoy our line of work and love helping brides (and grooms) feel the best they can on their wedding day…appreciative comments are the icing on the cake.

David & Michele

Those who visit us regularly will have probably noticed that we have a new look main wedding website.

We’ve opted for a darker look to the site that will match with our Society Guys mens hire section.

The on-line shop will be back soon. We are still in the process of stocking it and building the new interfaces. As you can probably imagine, we have to be careful with this to avoid any security issues. The store will feature a lot more headpieces than before as well as loads of Swarovski crystal jewellery, so should be worth waiting for.

Regular followers of life here at Society Brides HQ, will already know that Swarovski crystals and adornments feature heavily in many of the designer wedding dresses and of course jewellery.

Michele Keffen and her team will design and make your Swarovski jewellery to perfectly compliment your wedding attire.

One of the main problems a bride faces when looking for jewellery is colour matching to her overall theme, bridesmaids and skin tones.

The beauty of Swarovski is the enormous range of colours that are available. These are carefully woven into necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, hair combs and tiaras.

This design service has been a terrific hit with many brides, bridesmaids and mothers of the bride over the last few seasons.

We are also currently adding to our off the shelf designs for those who are not quite sure what they want.

Yes, it’s really true, there is an opportunity to be the winning bidder for the  bespoke, couture made dress of your dreams.

Starting this Tuesday 1st April (not an April Fool’s joke we promise) radio station 2CR FM are running charity auctions to provide help for children local to the Dorset and West Hampshire areas.

Here is a link to 2CR’s main page where you can listen on-line:  2crfm.co.uk

There are lots of other goodies on offer. The dress is only part of a larger wedding package and there is lots of other valuable stuff to bid for.

If I had a pound for every bride who’s called us asking for help with her dress bought on Ebay this year I’d probably be discussing early retirement.

Once again the British desire to find a bargain has sent many brides running towards internet auction sites looking for an imported designer dress.

The trouble is, for many brides this is ending in misery. All too often the dress that arrives is nothing more than a cheap copy of a designer dress and often features cheap satin and ‘crystals’ that melt when the dress is cleaned.

I don’t blame someone for trying to get something cheaper and shopping around in general. We actively recommend that a bride searches as many shops as possible to find the perfect dress.

There is an old saying that rueful bargain hunters often end up quoting after receiving their dress ‘you really don’t get something for nothing’, or the other old favourite ‘you get what you pay for’.

Occasionally it is possible to strike gold in the bargain stakes, but don’t forget that the dress will probably not fit you without some alterations. To have a dress altered professionally may cost a few hundred pounds depending on it’s complexity.

It is normally at this stage that we get a visit from a bride with dress carrier in hand wondering ‘if anything can be done?’. In truth the answer is sometimes ‘Yes’ and sThis year,  sometimes ‘No’.

I think for the first time there have been one or two that we couldn’t factor in to our schedule for alterations. We hate turning brides away, but with lots of prior commitment, sometimes we have no choice.

In conclusion, the whole ‘buy a dress on Ebay’ process really is a lottery. If you have plenty of time you might investigate the auction option, but if things are getting close remember that there is no guarantee that the dress will even arrive on time.  This year alone we have had a number of brides who simply didn’t ever get the dress despite a huge amount of correspondence with the sellers.  Weigh carefully the costs of alterations that will be needed and who you will be able to get to do them.

Of course, there is another way – use a UK shop or designer!

DAK

Here’s a sneaky peek at some of the new collection. It has a retro Hollywood glamour feel to it. Designer chic at it’s best.

Click on the pic to visit the slide show.

The collection will be available on the main website  soon with a bit more information about the individual dresses or if you can’t wait, call for an appointment on 01202 478396.