North West Wedding Accessory Designer 2017!

I won!!!

And I haven't stopped smiling since the announcement was made at a glittering awards event at Mitton Hall in Lancashire on Tuesday November 8th!

As usual, The Wedding Industry Awards pulled out all the stops for their annual awards bash...

Mitton Hall was awash with wedding loveliness, as the industry's finest turned out, resplendent in gorgeous gowns, and sassy suits, to enjoy cocktails, canapes, and wedding chat, ahead of the nerve wracking awards announcements.

Each category was hotly contested, with the region's best battling it out for those coveted Wedding Industry Awards pins and trophies.

The unveiling of the winners was met with whoops, high fives, tears, hugs, and exuberant on stage antics (yes, that's you Fun Time Frankies - winner of the Best Wedding Band).

This award means A LOT, being as it is, one of the few that is awarded on the basis of specific feedback from brides who have used your service in the last 12 months. And having won my category in 2016, I really felt that it was a high bar that I needed to reach to do the same again this year.

The rush of excitement, and emotion I felt when the winner of North West Wedding Industry Awards, Wedding Accessory Designer of 2017 was announced as Glorious Tiaras, meant I don't really remember going up on to the stage to collect my award, but the pictures show that I did!!!

I really am so very grateful to all the Glorious brides who voted for me. It's now on to the national Wedding Industry Awards ceremony in London on January 12th 2017, where one amazing accessory designer will be crowned the best in the land, but for now, I've got some Glorious accessories to make for next year's brides...

Thanks for your thanks!

Ask any of my friends and family and they'll tell you I'm all about the Summer! Long evenings spent pottering around my garden; walking the dog; sitting outside the local for a drink with friends; lapping up whatever warmth comes our way. I don't do the dark, cold, and wet that come with the Winter months. Not easily anyway. So, it used to be, before launching Glorious Tiaras 3 years ago, that I would welcome Autumn and it's vibrant colours with an edge of melancholy at the thought of the dark months ahead.

How that's changed in recent times!

Why?

Because after the rush of summer orders, summer weddings and Glorious summer brides, come the pictures sent to me, by my brides, of them wearing their Glorious accessories on their amazing wedding days! Those pictures never fail to make me feel a warm glow, and really do brighten up the dullest of days!

Image courtesy of Chelsea Shoesmith Photography

Then there are my brides reviews of my work. All reviews are important to me and my business. It's through knowing what I did well; what my brides appreciated about my service; and what is sometimes left unsaid, that I can develop plans to continue to improve what Glorious Tiaras offers to brides. And above all, knowing that one of my brides has taken the time out of her busy, post wedding schedule, to write a review, send a card, or an email, leaves me with the best of feelings about what I do.

Reviews are amazing tools. They reassure future Glorious brides that I am good at what I do, that I'm friendly, approachable, knowledgeable, helpful, and that Glorious accessories are exactly that - Glorious!

I use those valuable reviews on social media, when I'm entering awards, and as a tool to help me plan for my business, so when they pop up in my inbox, I can't help but feel happy.

Autumn is also the time when I work on new designs for the following year's collections. Spending time gathering inspiration, settling on a theme, sketching, and trying out new ideas, before finally getting to work on designs that are going to bring my brides looks to life next year, is a joyous and exciting time.

So, far from dreading the shortening of days, the changing colours, the need to throw on a few extra layers, I say 'bring it on'! Bring on the brides, the reviews, and the plans for the fresh 2016 wedding season.