After an exciting Saturday, full of appointments and seeing our wonderful brides-to-be, say yes to their dresses, Team Adella set off early Sunday morning, ready to hit the road to Bridal Week Harrogate. Our trip up was full of laughter, excitement, and a few snoozes in the back from Maddy and Darcy!

However, after a four-and-a-half-hour drive, we arrived. We parked the car at our beautiful weekend home, dropped our bags, and made our way to the Harrogate Convention Centre to begin a weekend full of bubbles, buying and brides.

We arrived and headed straight to the ‘Bubbles Bar,’ where, after a glass of prosecco to toast the weekend, we began our tour of the convention. Beautiful laces, tulle skirts that wouldn’t have looked out of place in a fairytale, and delicate veils, filled the centre.

We completed an initial browse and then headed to the Allure Bridals Fashion Runway Show to admire the new Madison James collection. We certainly were not disappointed, and discussing the dresses we loved, imagined our brides’ excitement in seeing them for the first time in our Ketteringham Hall showroom. With this in mind, we were delighted to place our first order of the weekend.

Soon after chatting to the team at Madison James, we took a stroll back to the main convention centre to discover more beautiful dresses, where we signed a new designer. We know that our discerning brides will fall in love with these new dresses, just as much as we did!

Completing our first day, we were treated to a wonderful runway show in the evening, showcasing designers’ latest collections. In the elegant Royal Hall, we watched in awe as the models took to the catwalk. After an evening viewing fashion forward and more traditional styles, we walked back to our weekend home, all ready to rest, making sure that we were ready and refreshed for the following day.

Monday morning saw our day begin back in the Royal Hall, greeted with fresh orange juice and pastries, where we heard from Wendy Rivera, founder of “Do You Speak Bride?” Wendy shared her knowledge and expertise on how to deliver an unforgettable experience for our brides, creating for them a forever memory. 

We then made our way to the Jesus Peiro stand, to see the team we speak to so regularly. Jesus Peiro dresses can already be found at Adella Bridal, and we are delighted to be introducing their new collection into our showroom very soon. We love the array of fabrics Jesus Peiro apply to their dresses and learned more about the design process. Adella Bridal owner, Amy Marlow-King wore one of their very special designs for her own wedding in August 2022.

We took the opportunity to speak with all the designers exhibiting at the conference, with the Adella Bridal team immersing themselves in understanding the emerging bridal trends. It is an essential part of the experience and service we offer, enabling us to advise on current trends, new and upcoming designers, high-fashion options, as well as the more traditional styles available to our brides. Make sure to read our separate upcoming bridal trends article to learn more.

As another jam-packed day drew to a close, we made our way to Lucia, serving hand-crafted Italian food and beautiful bespoke cocktails, to celebrate a successful weekend of discovering dreamy dresses and to develop our plans for launching these to our beautiful brides.

Suddenly, our final day was upon us, and before heading back for a final browse to appoint more new designers to our collection, we had breakfast at Bettys. After indulging in some treats to bring back home, Maddy and Darcy found themselves trying on dresses, and the team was lucky enough to meet David Emanuel, Royal couturier, most famously known for designing, with his then-wife Elizabeth Emanuel, the wedding dress worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1981.

David was so pleased to see the two youngest members of team Adella, trying on the show-stopping dresses, that he personally asked them to model a number of dresses! It was a special moment, shared with Amy and Donna, and certainly ended our, already exciting and successful weekend, on a high note.

Having spent three days surrounded by the most exquisite wedding dresses and accessories, we reluctantly packed up the car and made our way back to Norfolk, buzzing with ideas and inspiration for our brides. We are now looking forward to a new season, working with our brides to find the wedding dress of their dreams to complete their special day.