Supplier Spotlight: Frances Day Bridal

I recently had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Julia Kellam, the founder of Frances Day Bridal, Nottinghamshire's newest bridal boutique.

Previously known as The White Room, Frances Day Bridal has a highly curated bridalwear collection for the fashion conscious bride. Julia's background is in fashion design and she is committed to making sure that brides feel special and enjoy a memorable experience when visiting her boutique.

What inspired you to start your business?

I wanted to give the brides of Nottinghamshire and the East Midlands a relaxed and comfortable space to come, browse and try on wedding dresses in a private and friendly environment.  

Having a background in fashion design, I am able to sketch out bespoke design changes and customisations for my brides.

What do you enjoy most about your business?

I love meeting new people and helping them discover their bridal style.

Being given a challenge of a bespoke design alteration is super exciting and a task that my seamstress and I work hand in hand to  execute.

What has been the best moment of your business so far?

In August 2016 I took over The White Room in Southwell and in December closed the boutique for a refurb and re-brand. Although it was a mad Christmas of hands on renovating, the re-launch has been such an exciting time. The reactions that I have had to the new boutique have been so positive which is such a fab thing.

The outstanding best moment for me though is when one of our brides sends us pictures of her Wedding day surrounded by all her friends, family and of course her Husband in her dress that we helped to create for her. That is such a rewarding feeling.

Describe a  ‘Typical day in the life of Frances Day Bridal’?

There really isn’t a typical day so far other than my 9am and 5pm routine of candle lighting, plant positioning and dress-hanging-perfecting which seems to all in all take up the first half an hour of any day! What can I say… I love candles!

My days are so varied with appointment requests, marketing, planning, steaming, alterations, website maintaining, the boring admin side of running a business and the best part of my job, the appointments!  I love researching ways to make FDB better and give my clients an even better experience. I really believe that the experience of buying your dress is so important and should be fun and enjoyable.

What are you most excited about in your business plans for the next few months?

Over the next 2-3 months we have a super busy diary with Designer Trunk Shows which for myself and Frances Day will be a first.

A trunk show is when the designers send a large selection of collection dresses that we do not already stock for our brides to try on over a weekend. Any orders placed over the weekend will receive a 10% discount on their order and obviously have the luxury of even more choice!

In February we have Augusta Jones and Enzoani Trunk shows followed by Raimon Bundo and Suzanne Neville in March.

At the end of March we are also holding an accessories evening where you can ‘Meet the Designer’ behind our Miss Clemmie Bridal Accessories range. Clemmie will be on hand to sketch out any bespoke designs for our brides.

Thank you Julia!

Pop over to the Frances Day Bridal website to find out more about the fabulous bridal collections available and for more details on the forthcoming designer trunk shows. You can also follow FDB on Instagram and Facebook.

Until next time,

Val x

Credits: All photography in this post is by Pear and Bear Photography.

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