Meet our Supplier of the Month: Trousseaux Bridal

Each month we like to get to know a supplier even better and bring you snippets of all sorts of things that you wouldn't know about them from their page. This month our supplier of the month is Trousseaux Bridal , a bridal studio located in the heart of Old Town, Swindon.  They know that finding that perfect gown that takes peoples' breaths away can be stressful and daunting, so they offer you a relaxed environment with a team of dedicated and experienced consultants. 

Their aim is to make your gown buying experience a memorable occasion that becomes a step in your personal journey to your wedding day. They are committed to making you feel confident, comfortable and right at home in your journey to finding your 'This is the ONE'!

Let's hear what Vicki & Kendra of Trouseaux Bridal had to say when we quizzed them...

Photo credit: Jody Sutton Photography

- Who runs Trousseaux and how did you start out in business?

Trousseaux is run by Vicki and Kendra – a mother and daughter team.

Vicki – I used to be the PA to a Head Teacher of a large Secondary School in Newbury but wanted to start doing something different. I have always dreamed of having my own bridal shop, and when the opportunity arose as the studio was for sale, my husband and I decided to purchase Trousseaux in October 2015.

Kendra - My mum is the owner, so I worked at Trousseaux part time while I was in 6th Form and I absolutely loved it! I really wasn't enjoying 6th Form, and so my mum asked if I wanted to work full time with her here at Trousseaux, and the rest is history! It's the best thing I ever did! Now I wake up every day excited to go into work!

- What’s the best bit about your job?

Vicki - When a bride sees how good she looks and accepts her body. As women we all struggle with loving ourselves and our bodies, and there's always something we want to change - whether it be bigger boobs, a smaller waist, a rounder bum, there's always something that we want to have that we don't. So when a bride comes in and puts herself down and doesn't love herself, and then tries on dresses and suddenly realises "my bum looks amazing in this" or "my waist looks tiny in this", they can finally see how beautiful they are and become accepting of themselves. It's a really special moment that all our brides go through, and being able to say we've helped them to get to that place makes all the hard parts of this job so worth it.

Kendra - Too many to choose from! One would definitely be the girls I work with. They are absolutely amazing, and we all feel like family here. Whenever I'm feeling down I know as soon as I get into work I'll feel so much better because they'll be there to cheer me up and make me laugh! Although I would have to say that my all-time favourite part of the job is the moment when a bride realises that she looks beautiful and finally finds love for herself and her body! There’s something so special about being able to say that you’ve helped make someone feel so amazing about themselves and helped give them some confidence.

Photo credit: Jody Sutton Photography

- What would people be surprised to learn about you and / or your work?

One thing that always seems to shock people is that all of us (Vicki, Kendra, Natalie and Millie) aren’t related, just Vicki and Kendra! Everyone thinks that Vicki is mum to everyone who works here. We think it’s because we’re all so close that we seem like we’re one big family.

Another thing is that it’s not all pretty dresses, sparkly tiaras and Champagne! We do A LOT of work behind the scenes to make sure everything runs smoothly. We have to be switched on 24/7, and everyone on the team has to know all the details about every single bride we have. Vicki is definitely the best at this skill as she seems to have a photographic memory, but if you have a memory of a goldfish like Kendra, then it takes a lot of work! Sometimes a bride will come in and have Natalie as a bridal consultant, and so she will have to let everyone else on the team know how it went and what the bride liked, just in case the bride re-books on a day that Natalie isn’t working. Paperwork is a boring but essential part of the job, so even though it seems like we’re always wearing dresses and having fun with brides, we’re unfortunately doing paperwork more!

- When was the last time you laughed out loud with one of your brides? What happened?

Oh wow, there are too many times to count! We get a lot of big personalities coming into the studio, and it doesn’t help that all of the girls are so giggly! We are so lucky that our brides are usually absolutely hilarious!

Photo credit: Jody Sutton Photography

- Tell us about one of the most embarrassing things you have seen / happen during an appointment?

The most embarrassing thing is probably when we reach up to grab the under layer of the dress, and accidentally pull the brides underwear down! It doesn’t happen often thank goodness, but when it does we always feel so bad for the bride! Luckily they always find the funny side and laugh it off!

- What is your greatest fear when you are working with a bride?

A scary part of the job is making sure our brides are fully comfortable at all times. Shockingly, not everyone likes to be half naked in front of strangers! Some girls will happily strip down before they even get into the changing room, whilst others are too nervous to have us in the room whilst they change. We do find that as the appointment goes on, they get more comfortable and end up not caring what they look like in front of us.

- What is the hardest thing a bride has ever asked you to do for them?

Definitely when they look absolutely gorgeous in everything they try on, and then ask which one is our favourite. We want to help as much as we can, but when you love them in every dress, it’s hard!

Photo credit: Ronald Joyce

- How does the bride know if the dress is ‘The One’?

Ooh this is a tricky one, because everyone is different! Most of the time they just know. It’s a feeling that’s hard to describe, but when you know, you know! But it also depends on what kind of person you are. A lot of brides say “oh it’s not the one because I haven’t cried” but if you’re someone who’s not too emotional then you probably won’t cry! We usually say listen to your gut and trust what it’s saying! For most of our brides, we can usually tell it’s the one if they keep comparing all the dresses they put on to their favourite one without realising it, or if they say “I don’t want to take it off!”, or if they swish around in it with a big smile on their faces!

To make it easier for our brides who can’t decide, we usually ask them questions to help lead them to make a decision, such as “Could you see yourself walking down the aisle in this?” or “Do you feel like you could wear this comfortably all day?”.

- Are you honest with brides if you think a dress isn’t right for them?

Definitely! We are there to make you look your best, and more importantly feel your best. We can usually tell straight away if a bride isn’t 100% comfortable in a dress. A lot of the time the bridal party will fall in love with a dress that isn’t the brides dream dress, which can usually cause the bride to feel like it’s the one. We look at your body language very closely to see how you feel in every dress, and we are the voice for the bride to say “You look gorgeous in that, but let’s keep looking just in case!” Usually the bride will find her dress, and everyone in the party forgets what their old favourite even looked like.

- When should a bride first visit your boutique?

When they are ready to! Ideally that would be AT LEAST 9 months before their wedding, but it can be as far in advance as they wish. Some brides have already bought their dresses for their weddings in 2022.

Photo credit: Jody Sutton Photography

- Who should a bride bring with her to her appointment?

This one is a bit of a tricky one, because everyone is different. Some girls need someone who is gentle with her feelings and not give too much feedback so she can make her own choice, whereas others may need a strong opinionated person who will say it straight and not beat around the bush. It really depends on what kind of person you are! From what we’ve experienced first-hand, the best candidate is someone that knows YOU. It may be your best friend who can tell what you’re thinking from the look on your face, or your mum who knows you better than you know yourself. The one thing I think ALL bridal shops can agree on is to not bring too many people. Too many opinions will definitely confuse you, and can sometimes ruin the experience. Also don’t feel like you have to bring any one at all! We’re here to be your bridal party if you want to be on your own.

- Do you ever try on the new dresses as they arrive in store?

Kendra - Oh definitely! It’s so hard not to when they’re all so gorgeous! It’s also good to do because then we know first-hand how it feels like on, so when a bride comes in and says something like, “I want something that sucks my waist in”, we can know exactly which dresses do that.

- What are your top tips for brides searching for their dress?

Try not to put too much pressure on yourself to find the perfect dress. It's out there somewhere, so just enjoy the process. Leave it to your bridal stylists to find the one, you just have to relax and look beautiful!

Photo credit: Ronald Joyce

- What is the one thing you can’t live without in your job?

Gin and tonic!! Haha!

Realistically, it would probably be each other and our team. We couldn’t do this on our own, and everyone who works with us brings something amazing and different to the table. We each work together so effortlessly and it’s almost like clockwork. When one of us has a Saturday off everyone can feel it and it’s just not the same!

- Where do you draw inspiration from for your work?

We take inspiration from everything! Social media is so helpful, because we can look and see what our brides are seeing on platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram. We get a lot of brides who bring in photo inspo of the kind of dress they want, which helps us for when we’re choosing which dresses to stock. We also make sure to note when a bride says something like “oh this dress is gorgeous, but it would be better if it had this…” or “This could be the one if this was different” so when we go to choose our dresses, we know what to look for. 

Another thing that we find really helpful is to be aware of the current trends in high street fashion. If we see a lot of high street shops starting to sell a new trend, for example off the shoulder dresses, we’ll know that that will be something girls will be looking for in a wedding dress. We often look through websites for shops like ZARA, ASOS, Missguided and PrettyLittleThing to see what trends are coming in. A number of our suppliers will ask shops for our opinions on what we think is missing and what we think should be included in their new designs. We’ve even been invited to take part in a Zoom meeting with Veni Infantino, the designer of Ronald Joyce to talk about her upcoming collection.

- Should a wedding dress be white!?

No! A wedding dress should be whatever colour you like best! We’re finding girls are straying away from the whites and ivory’s, and are falling for colours such a blush pink, champagne, gold, and even blue. We’ve had requests for black dresses as well, which is something we’re looking into to stock.

Photo credit: Ronald Joyce

- Do you stock anything other than bridal gowns?

We do! We stock veils, belts, tiaras, hair vines – basically any accessory to add to a stunning dress! We find that a veil or a belt can completely change the look of a dress, and can usually be the tipping point from “I like it” to “I love it!”

- What trends do you see coming in?

I would say off the shoulder straps / sleeves, balloon sleeves, long sleeves, sheer bodices and a gorgeous mix of boho-glam.

- What bit of advice would you love to share with brides?

Choose heels that you will be comfy in all day as most of the time you don’t see them. One piece of advice we always share is to take time out during the day to be with your new husband or wife. When you come shopping, try and keep an open mind. It is good to have an idea of what you want but be open for that to change. Also, do not stress about the ‘small things’ on the day. Only you know if the vase is in the wrong position. Enjoy the whole day.

Photo credit: Jody Sutton Photography

- What moment are you most proud of in your profession?

One moment would be when we won the ‘The English Wedding Awards 2019 South West Winner of the Wedding Boutique of the Year'. We know everyone says the same thing, but we were really not expecting to win at all. We did not even know that we were finalists until a few weeks before where we saw our name on Instagram.

- What are your future dreams for Trousseaux?

We would love to open a ‘Mother of the Bride / Groom’ shop in the future. This is but a dream at the moment but is on our radar as we have so many mums asking for outfits. We would also like to open a ‘One stop shopping area’ where we have other suppliers with us. This has always been our dream from when we bought Trousseaux. Watch this space!

Loved finding out a few unknown gems about Trousseaux Bridal? If you head over to their Whitewed Directory Page you can find out even more, swoon through their gorgeous bridal gowns and accessories, and make contact to arrange your appointment.

Why not also follow Trousseaux Bridal on Instagram and Facebook for some serious bridal gown ideas and inspiration!

Hopefully you’ve found out lots of useful information from us on Trousseaux Bridal, now it’s your time to introduce yourself to them and find out how they could help with your wedding dress selection…

Happy dress finding!