Finished today, for a photo shoot tomorrow

I love designing pieces for styled photo shoots. These accessories aren't designed for anyone in particular, so it's my chance to design with freedom, and really push the boat out with new techniques.

I knew that I wanted a particularly opulent piece for an up and coming styled wedding shoot at a Cheshire period country house, and had been building mood boards of patterns, and mosaics, like those found in the temples my husband and I visited when on an extended honeymoon through India, Nepal, Malaysia and Indonesia some years ago! I also wanted a piece that would catch the light in the same way that those mirrored mosaics do.

Sketching, tracing, placing and hand stitching for the finished piece, was a slow, but magical process, as I watched the design come to life, and I can't wait to share pictures from the styled wedding shoot, with our 'bride' wearing this headpiece.

A happy coincidence in my Cheshire studio today as I completed four Sofia Swarovski crystal hair pins, for four lucky bridesmaids, at the exact moment that the rare February sun broke through the clouds and started to shine through my window.

I couldn't bear to waste the moment, so took this short footage of the bridesmaid's hair pins bouncing the light around!

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...

A wonderful woodland wedding shoot

I love being involved in a styled wedding shoot, especially when all I have to do is turn up on the day, meet lots of nice wedding industry people, and do a few refreshment runs!

So, I was delighted to be asked by Becca, of Knutsford plus size bridal boutique Edith & Winston, to provide some of my Glorious hair accessories for her Heaton House Farm shoot.

I've admired Edith & Winston's product shoots featuring the uber glamorous model, Georgina Horne, for a few months, and am very proud to be a Heaton House Farm recommended supplier, so this shoot was set up to be a joy before I'd even boxed up the accessories.

On the day, the hits just kept coming....

Super talented photographer Stephen McGowan, also turned out to be a good laugh (always a bonus),  make up artist Kerry Baker, was a riot! And models Nancy Whittington-Coates and Nic Pollard were top lasses to talk tattoos and hair pieces with.

The shoot made the most of the beautiful natural environment, including the lush English woodland and breath taking Peak District views that surround Heaton House Farm; complimented by beautiful floral arrangements from Knutsford Bloom and strings of romantic festoon lights from Love Lights the Way

AND we had an owl!!! Can't believe how chilled out Eric the owl was, surrounded by lights, lenses, dresses & models, but he was just like "meh, wedding shoot, medding shoot..."!

I cannot wait to see the final edit for this shoot, but if recent form is anything to go by - Stephen McGowan Photography has just been voted as the 15th best wedding photographer in the UK by Your Perfect Wedding Photographer, whilst a stunning collaboration between Stephen McGowan and Edith & Winston has been featured on the cover of Pretty Pear Bride magazine - the results are going to be well worth waiting for.

Hair band or hair comb?

The Sofia headpiece was one of my 2015 best sellers. Hand crafted using Swarovski crystal navettes, the version of Sofia filmed in this short video was designed using crisp, white pearls, and set on an ivory satin wrapped hair band. Our bands can be wrapped in a choice of ivory, chestnut or black ribbon, to blend in with your hair colour. This way the band is disguised with the emphasis being solely on the accessory itself.

I'm often asked if I could set this design on a hair comb, and whilst I could, I would advise against an accessory of this size and weight being set on a comb, as it would take some serious scaffolding from your hair dresser to hold it securely in place! What I do recommend for brides who love the versatility of a headpiece set on a comb, and who adore Sofia, is that they opt for a slightly scaled down version of the Sofia headpiece. A smaller version, using smaller navettes, has just as much impact, without the risk of her ending up on the dance floor after an energetic first dance!

http://www.glorioustiaras.co.uk/wedding-accessory-tiara-sofia

Real bride Laura wears Sofia

Real bride Laura wears Sofia

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.

Hello! Magazine Hair Inspiration

So I'm pretty certain that I, personally, will never make it on to the pages of Hello! Magazine, but I'm chuffed to pieces to see that my Sofia bridal comb, as styled by the very talented Gemma of Dollface Make Up Studio, has!

Hair by Dollface Make Up Studio
www.dollfacemakeupstudio.co.uk

Under the title: The best wedding hair inspiration on instagram; our Sofia comb makes it into the top 10, dressing up this relaxed, romantic, low bun, as styled by the Dollface team at their Cheshire salon.

This style is the perfect choice for a more informal, pretty, boho bride look, channelling that iconic Kelly Clarkson wedding look.

Dollface Make Up Studio, based in Congleton, Cheshire, are an official stockist of Glorious bridal hair accessories, and can offer bridal hair and make up trials using our accessories to inspire you lovely brides-to-be.

We think it very apt that the Sofia bridal accessory just happens to be named after one of the most glamorous Hello! worthy celebrities of all time, Sofia Loren!