Bridalwear Shop

The only thing I can say is that existing bridal boutiques are struggling. The reason is that prospective brides comes into the shop, try on the gowns, then buy cheap imitations of them over the internet.

Have a look at www.bridesaware.co.uk for some horror stories.

Unfortunately most brides won't read the warnings, don't care or just can't tell the difference between the real thing and a poor copy so this will be your biggest problem if you open.

Sorry I know this is not what you want to hear - you want positive stuff - but something you need to be very aware of before going further.

I would take the time to do your research, where we live it is saturated in bridal shops to be honest. Also lots of brides on a budget are going to department stores who are getting better at budget ranges, or they want the princess treatment so expect a bridal salon to be just that. Holding stock is expensive also. Also many suppliers will not supply more than one boutique within a certain radius fo each other. Probably not the best time to consider opening a bridal shop. If they arenone where you are thinking of opening you need to ask why? do your research first before investing. You will also need to be able to sew, or know a very good seamstress, as brides will expect you to adjust dresses etc and do alterations.

The shops I speak to seem to be struggling at the moment. In spite of this I see lots of new ones opening, Can't help but think they will struggle.

I have one friend with a tailor's shop and another with a dress shop. Both are hit with the recession. The tailor gets people coming in asking him to do measurements so they can order of the net.

chocolatecookie said:

Hi deniser

Thanks for your reply and words of warning. This will certainly give me something to think about. Can I ask, do you have any experience of the bridal trade, I would be pleased to hear from you with any experiences you have had.

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I am in the wedding business but not a bridal boutique - i don't sell wedding dresses.

Have a look at these businesses for sale:

http://uk.businessesforsale.com/uk/search/Bridal-Wear-Shops-for-sale

The net profit for many of them is extraordinarily low, even where the turnover is a bit higher. Not many appear to make business sense.

Hi Chocolatecookie

The market is saturated at the moment but that dosn't mean you could not succeed. You just need to make sure you differentiate yourself. The main threat (as mentioned by another poster) is the increase of cheap copies from China, this is mostly affecting the low to mid end sector of the market as most off the peg dresses are produced in China or America anyway. I don't know what your plans are but if you were to stock mi/high end designers the chinese copies will become much less of an issue, as if a bride has a higher budget she is much less likely to prioritise price over experience, and will not risk not being happy with the dress.

You will need to check with the designers you are interested in about their exclusivity clauses, these tend to be in the 20 - 25 mile range, but this is not so much of a problem as research shows a mid-high end bride would travel between 60-90 minutes to a dress shop that offered the right dress and experience, so you should be able to find somewhere that would work, the main thing is finding a premises and location that represents your brand, i.e if your going mid/high end probably not next to a kebab shop or Tesco! If your good at marketing, a secondary location would be fine also.

I read this quote from a trade report "you either need to go primark or prada in this climate", the polarised ends of the market are holding up, its the mid-range thats feeling the brunt.

Also, in response to another members post, if customers want the princess treatment, then give it to them! If other shops arn't providing that for customers in your area then thats your niche...regardless of whether a customer buys, every interaction you have in a walking talking marketing channel. Even if they don't find a dress they like, they will recommend you due to the experience they recieved.

Finally, the costs of running a bridal boutique are high, you need to look into ways of making the books work. Some of the highest costs come from rent/rates and sample stock so look into location, it dosn't need to be primary or have a high foot flow, and check which suppliers make you re-order once a year or twice a year and how many.

People will always get married but customer expectations change, just match up your offering to current expectations then you will be fine.

Have you been successful in starting up a bridal boutique in the North East chocolatecookie?

Customer service everytime. I would brand around it. My wife and my sister had an awful time trying to find wedding dresses. Had some rude, disinterested experiences.

And they all chatter about it to each other. Word of mouth is key! Newcastle is a small enough city that word of mouth advertising in this field is crucial.

Go above and beyond with customer service, and your brides will do your advertising for you - for free!

Not sure if any ones suggested this already, but I've always wondered why there's no bridal shops selling second hand bridal wear? Do they exist?

It's just it seems obvious to me (but im not married so perhaps im missing the point) I read that 45% of marriages end in divorce, and one in five divorces had a previous marriage ending in divorce too (so thats A LOT of unwanted wedding dresses) and thats not to mention all of those successful marriages that simply just dont want to keep their dress or can't afford to keep it. And they only get worn once (in theory) so surely they should be in "as new" condition most of the time.

You could even create a "cash for wedding dresses" website (like gotgoldgetcash.co.uk do for unwanted gold) and offer people money for their old wedding dresses - thats your cheap supply chain sorted - then do local advertising, viral marketing, social media marketing via a facebook page (modern word of mouth) and I'm sure you'd get a fair bit of stock. Then create a website/or physical store whereby you then sell the cheap dresses you've been buying.

It would offer people who want to sell their dresses an alternative to eBay/charity shops, and it would also offer people struggling to afford a new dress a new cheaper way to buy wedding dresses - they still get the nice service, and I imagine you could tailor/alter the ones who come in-store too.

Does this already exist? Or is it a horrendous idea? Like I say, I'm not married - but I do know people who have wedding dresses hanging on the back of bedroom doors or in a box in the loft.

ps. if it is an idea with legs, then www.honeymoonsover.co.uk is available to register

Many years ago I started a wedding dress agency - I sold worn-once wedding dresses on behalf of people who would rather have the cash; I didn't pay for any of them, the owners just got a percentage of the sale price once the dress was sold. It was OK but I was running it from home in between running a full time job, looking after 2 young kids and undergoing treatment for cancer so it wasn't the best time for me to do it!
This was back in the 1980s when the economy was not much unlike it is today. Vintage dresses didn't have the appeal they would have now so that would be an additional attraction that I didn't have then.
THe advantages to 2nd hand were that they invariably came with all the accessories (tiaras, jewellery, bridesmaid dresses etc) that you'd need although sizing was problematic unless you can do the alterations yourself or know someone competent who can.
Storage was a problem as many of the dresses were very big (as I said, it was the 80s!) and of course there was no internet so advertising was expensive and there was no real way of getting to potential customers without spending a great deal of money to do.
I think it's still a great idea and would work much better now than it did then without high street premises.

Hi, this is the first time i'm posting on this site so first of all i hope i'm doing this right!

I am also considering opening a new bridal boutique, although I am in the very very early stages of planning and as of yet haven't even decided on what kind of area I would want to open it. I'm only 22 and have absolutely no experience running a business, but I do have nearly 7 years experience working in bridalwear, in two different stores in different locations in the UK. The advice I would personally give to anyone thinking about going into bridal is to try and get a job in a bridal shop just as a sales assistant first to try and get a feel of the job. It is not as lovely as you may think! Over the years i've had more than my fair share of bridezillas, nightmare mother of the brides, 'princess' brides who want EVERYTHING, but on a shoestring budget and even nightmare bridesmaids who believe their opinion is more important than the brides. It is mentally exhausting and very hard work, not to mention physically tiring-the dresses weigh an absolute ton! There also isn't a huge amount of money in it, while you can be successful, I think it's rare to see anyone make millions from their shops.

All of that said, I love my job. I love the challenges, the dresses and the looks on the girls faces when you find them their perfect dress. So if you think you have the passion for it then definitely go for it, I just wanted to let you know the dark side of bridal haha.

I'm also looking for advice, although in a way i'm unsure what to ask?! I know i want to open a bridal store but have NO idea of how to go about it? Was thinking of doing a course on ICS which helps with the basics of starting your own business, if anyone has experience with these kinds of courses? Any advice or pointers are welcome, and if anyone would like to know more about what it's like working in bridal please feel free to ask me, i'd like to help if i can

Know a lady with a dress agency

The one thing she sales really doesn't sell is second hand wedding dresses

Don't know why?

Homshaw said:

Know a lady with a dress agency

The one thing she sales really doesn't sell is second hand wedding dresses

Don't know why?

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I think because fashions change so quickly. By the time a bride would get round to sellng her dress, it would be outdated.

deniser said:

I think because fashions change so quickly. By the time a bride would get round to sellng her dress, it would be outdated.

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I don't think it's so much to do with the fashions, bridal tends to only change slightly from season to season. I think it's more that brides don't want a second hand dress, they want a princess experience which comes from having their very own dress.

BethE said:

I don't think it's so much to do with the fashions, bridal tends to only change slightly from season to season. I think it's more that brides don't want a second hand dress, they want a princess experience which comes from having their very own dress.

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The lady with the shop thought the same but I'm a bloke I can't equate to such things.