It’s time for another one of our gorgeous brides to tell you about their shopping experience and special day. Today it’s the turn of the lovely Vicky, who got married in August 2022. We first met Vicky in November 2021, with her lovely bridal party. With a dress very much in mind, let see if she went for her…
Why did you choose to come to us?
We got engaged in 2019 and then COVID happened so we didn’t rush to make any plans. Vicki's opened in 2021 and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect for me! I always knew I wanted to shop local for our wedding as much as possible, not only for convenience, but also to support smaller local businesses as much as I could. I was drawn to the boutique from the start, being quite newly engaged and it was exciting to have something new and fresh in the town; I knew I had to at least take a look. I followed the boutique on Instagram and watched as the shop came together and they added dress designers etc. I also loved the idea of it being a small family run business, and hoped that meant the experience of shopping there would be a very special, personalised experience, which was absolutely what I got!
What surprised you most about wedding dress shopping?
I think the biggest surprise for me was that I found “the one” almost immediately and I was very decisive about it. I had followed the boutique on Instagram pretty much from the start, I think, and as soon as I saw the dresses in the Kelsey Rose range I knew that was my designer. I only shopped at Vicki's and it was so much fun, stress-free and easy, Megan and her mum put me at ease right away.
How did you know it was the one?
I had seen pictures of Aurora on Vicki's Instagram early on in my search and viewed it in more detail on the Kelsey Rose website. Even though at that point I was still open to looking at more dresses, Aurora was the one that I came back to EVERY SINGLE TIME! And then when it came to my dress shopping appointment, I obviously picked out Aurora myself to try on but was fully open to trying other shapes/styles/designers which my bridal party picked for me.
A couple of the other dresses did come close, but in the end when I put Aurora on (I kept her till last!) I just knew. I felt so comfortable and beautiful in her, even though she hadn’t been fitted for me at that point.
Vicky went with the lovely Aurora by Kelsey Rose, teamed with a lovely elegant jewellery and sparkly clip.
Tell us about your wedding?
Our wedding was beautiful. Totally informal, chilled, fun and full of love. Exactly what we had both wished for. We said from the start we didn’t want anything overly formal-the important things for us were having all our family and friends there, a quick ceremony to get the official bit done, then a big party! No sit down meal or speeches. We held it at Little Silver and used their twilight package. Our ceremony was at 17.30, we made it as short and concise as possible and then we had the rest of the evening to dance and party! I also did as much as I could myself (I love organising parties and doing craft etc) so we did table centres and a few other bits ourselves including a crisp wall, recycled photo frame hanging in a tree for selfies and photos of loved ones no longer with us.
What was your best bit of your day?
I can’t name just one best part-the whole day was incredible and I think I went through every single emotion!
-I loved watching everyone arrive from where I was getting ready in the bridal suite with my bridesmaids.
-I loved walking up the aisle with my brothers by my side and the look on my wife-to-be’s face-we both cried a bit at this point!
-I loved standing in the gazebo in the garden of the venue holding hands with Cath, my wife-to-be, and even though there were around 60-70 guests, it felt like it was just the two of us as we went through the ceremony.
-I loved how the whole day felt so full of love and we were surrounded by people who were genuinely happy for us and happy to be able to share the day with us.
-I loved dancing the night away.
-I loved when our nephew (aged 11) took the microphone and made a speech-lots of tears then, bless his heart!
What words of advice do you have for Brides-to-be before choosing their dress?
I would say definitely follow a few boutiques on the socials - you get a feel straight away for what they are like/how they are run/an idea of price ranges etc and of course will get a glimpse at loads of different designers/styles/dresses so you can start to narrow down what you think you want.
Try a few different dresses on, even ones that you wouldn’t normally consider for yourself (that’s something I liked about Vicki's- they asked my bridal party to each pick a dress for me to try, which took me totally out of my comfort zone but was really useful) but ultimately go with your gut and go with a dress or style you feel totally 100% comfortable and special in.
Vicky and Cath's twilight wedding just sounded like the perfect day, and was everything they wanted it to be. And yes, for Vicky it was love at first site with Aurora and she looked stunning, didn't she?