The key thing to remember is to start from scratch. Empty your entire shop window, clean every nook and cranny and perhaps give it a fresh coat of paint if the walls or window frame are looking a bit tired. It is really important that you are strict with yourself and start with a blank canvas. Even if you don’t think so, anything that you have had in your shop for more than six months will be looking tired and outdated. But don’t worry you don’t have to go out and buy hundreds of new styles, you don’t need much to fill a shop window. Think less is more. Note: if you have some of our veils that you think need a bit of a perk up then our refresh offer is still running and definitely worth taking advantage of. Click here for details.

Now comes the fun bit – decoration. Depending on your shop size, one or two dresses should be enough. make this the centre piece for every day shop windows (i.e. ones when there are no special offers on, no special events etc.) as it is probably the largest item you sell and so can be seen from a distance. Then you can add the attendants’ outfits, if you have them, and accessories. A little staged wedding party is popular and can be quite cute.

These old pictures are from a BBEH that we attended a few years ago!

Using boxes covered in fabric or wrapping paper to raise some items is also effective and relatively inexpensive. Symmetry is also pleasing to the eye, so try balancing the tall and small items through the window. For example have your wedding gown in the centre of the window, with two bridesmaids’ mannequins each side, and then a tall thin cupboard on the far left and far right hand sides for balance. Ikea have very affordable cupboards like this one which are good for displaying tiaras and jewellery and other smaller items.

Creating cohesion in your shop window is also important. You are the experts on which of your gowns goes with which accessories, so put those together as you would if you were dressing a bride. This way not only is the whole shop window more show-stopping,  but a bride is more likely to walk in a buy the entire ensemble! Also try and keep it cohesive in terms of style, rather than trying to cater to everyone’s tastes. So if you are going to do vintage, for example, do it well and make sure that everything falls into that category. You’re never going to be able to cover everyone’s tastes and a stunning shop window with traditional style ‘white wedding’ bridal wear will look much better than a mix of items, even if that person likes everything pink!

Once you’ve got all of your products in place, then you can add the finishing touches. large bows, sparkling crystals hung by invisible thread, lots of lights (spotlights which you change the direction of are great), flowers, or whatever else takes your fancy! The same rules apply though – keep it cohesive and balanced and remember less is more. A general rule is that garments should be centre stage, but you can put out lots of tiaras, shoes, veils and jewellery around them – you are not just restricted to one set. Also, don’t forget to pin a veil to your bride mannequin as this will finish off the bridal look.

If you look carefully in this old picture you can see the headdresses hanging from the top of the stand above the table!

Click here to see more advice on spring cleaning your shop. If you need any other help with your shop window display then please call or email us and we’ll be happy to help.

This blog is devoted to the history of our visits to BBEH, which is the biggest and best event in the bridal wear calendar. We are pleased to be celebarting our 25th anniversary this year, making this show extra special for us and our customers.

Although we haven’t always had the size of stands that we have now, we have always tried to make them look beautiful, to show our products off to their greatest potential, as well as creating a memorable experience for those that visit us.

We attended our first show in 1991 when we branched out from floristry into floral headdresses. Some of you may remember that most exhibitors showed in the hotels rather than in the Harrogate International Centre, and we had a window bay of the dining room in the St George Hotel. We were very happy to move into the exhibition centre which improved the look and feel of the show, creating an altogether more professional atmosphere. In March of 1991, founder Elaine brought her son Ben to the show who was just 4 months old and apparently attracted many people onto the stand! Now he is working as a milliner in the company and claims that his first job here was in sales!

Since we moved to Hall M in the exhibition centre, we have stayed put as we love the light and bright atmosphere that it lends. We have expanded as space around us has come available, moving from 8sq m to around 180sq m! We have found that the show has improved over the years with the quality of the items on display much higher than in the early 90s.

We consider ourselves veterans of the show as we have attended so many, and we take the whole process very seriously from the design of the stands to the appearance of ourselves. We bet you won’t have noticed the hidden ‘cupboard’ we have behind one of our stands, which we use as an area where staff can rest when they are tired. We love that our exhibition team work so well together as well as having fun at the show and we make sure that we look after them as best we can.

We absolutely love meeting old and new customers alike and we are genuinely proud of the work we do and the products that we make. We hope that you enjoy coming to see us too!

Richard Designs will be exhibiting at the BBEH on stands M33, M28, M29 and M30.

Other blogs in the BBEH series:
How the new collection is shaping up…[...read more]
Our hat in BBEH prize draw…[...read more]

Inspired by the shape of a tiara we feel proud that this commemorative logo reflects the qualities that have kept us successful for quarter of a century; a modern and innovative company, but one that at heart is a solid British manufacturer.

We were also pleased in the last couple of weeks to be featured on bridalbuyer.com, the industry news portal. You can read the article in full by clicking here; ‘Leading accessories supplier celebrates its quarter century as an innovator’.

We are furiously working to prepare even more 25^th Anniversary highlights at both the Moda show and the British Bridal Exhibition, Harrogate.

Why did you change the focus of the business?

Brides used to bring veils in to attach to floral headdresses, which were then delivered on the wedding day to the bride’s house with the wedding flowers. We started getting lots of requests for adjustments to veils we were given. Brides couldn’t get veils they wanted because manufacturers did not generally offer shops a made-to-order service; that is when we realised there was a gap in the market.

How did you go about changing the focus of the business?

After making a few samples and showing them to shops, there was an overwhelming response; being able to offer different colours, sizes and designs made the Richard Designs veil label very popular. Because our focus was on modern designs and the service was good, demand grew and grew. Our first BBEH was at this time, in March 1991, we’ve only missed two since then – so that makes 37 so far I think! Once we had established the veil side of the business we started to get a lot of requests for silk hats, which veils were attached to in the early to mid 1990s. We spent a lot of time researching and developing unique styles and materials before launching our own range of hats.

What was your inspiration?

To be able to fulfil the need for made-to-order items which brides wanted but they couldn’t get. To make the perfect wedding accessories; weddings are so important to people and such happy occasions, so contributing in our own way to that is really wonderful.

Was there a defining moment when you knew that you had created something unique and special?

When we first made the hats, we went to Harrogate, September 1992 I think it was. We took 5 riding hats, they were totally different from what else was on offer at the show and they sold so well that when we returned home we had to immediately expand and take on our first temporary premises. It really was a cottage industry at that time – and we’ve got the picture of our first premises to prove it!

This is the cottage we rented on a temporary basis and it started things really moving for us, we stayed for just a year as we outgrew the tiny space very quickly. That’s when we first hired staff, they were Amanda Gillett, Sandra Lester and Christine Stimpson and they still work with us today.

What is your abiding memory of the 1990s for Richard Designs?

Style-wise it was big fluffy dresses, puffy sleeves and 3 tier, heavily embroidered veils. Hats were great and we pressed 100 – 150 a week in the mid 1990s. When they started to go out of fashion, that’s when tiaras started to come in. They were all gold – no one wanted silver, not like today. Gold with clear or AB crystals, white or ivory pearls was what people wanted.
On the business side it was just a phenomenal time of growth, in 1995 we moved to Lancaster Way Business Park and that was a big moment for us. To give you an idea, although we’ve expanded our floorspace by around 40%, we’re still in the same place. We were like peas rattling round in a pod for the first couple of years!

Thank you for your time Elaine.
Thank you!

With thanks to Stevies Gowns for the use of pictures.

Richard Designs was established in 1985 as specialist in bridal floristry. You can see below one of the earliest designs, a beautiful floral bouquet.

The business sold directly to brides (something we don’t do now!) and was complete with a showroom for brides to choose the perfect flowers for their wedding.

The 80s were certainly an interesting time for fashion and we have dug out this photograph from the archives of one of the first head dresses that we made.

In the early years, the business grew and established itself locally as providing great quality flora for wedding days, a history we are very proud of. In the next blog we’ll be looking at how the company diversified into the manufacture of veils, tiaras, hoop underskirts, bridal jewellery and occasion wear as well as revealing a sneak peek at what you can expect from our 25^th anniversary celebrations…