Wedding dress boutique

[derbygirl23]

Hello - I was just wondering if anyone had any experience starting up a wedding dress boutique and what it entails. I believe I have enough funding to start, and a possible location but if anyone had any tips or advice that would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

Not my sector specifically, although I do work in the wedding industry. My understanding is that things are very up in the air at the moment due to Brexit and the impact it's having on the import of dresses. It's causing a huge increase in costs. I don't know much more than that, but if you've not looked into this already it may be worth investigating.

Best of luck! All the boutique owners I know adore their jobs (perhaps not so much this year due to the additional complications of covid/brexit, but under normal circumstances!

@INVUURAQT thanks for the tip, hadn’t thought of the implications of importing in these times. Definitely something to think about.

I'm not a shop, but I do work with bridal customers. My best advice is to sort out your suppliers as a priority. Find your market - what can you offer that other local bridal shops don't? You don't say if you've run a business before, but if not, I'd suggest you speak to your local business gateway, see what advice they can give you. The mentorship programmes are fantastic. If you're an experienced business owner, then for bridal I would advise suppliers, staff and outworkers (eg seamstress for alterations) are essential, before you even open. Good luck.

@HaroldMeeker thank you for the advice - not a business owner so just trying to do as much research as I can at this stage.

Have thought about having a permanent seamstress to work full time to ensure availability but not sure where to find one. More research for me I guess!