Lets cut to the chase here. With lockdown mark III well on its way now, we are once again being asked to stay home, protect the NHS and save lives for the good of our country.

This sadly means we have had to press pause on welcoming you to our Nottinghamshire Atelier in person. But… we are not the type to sit back, relax and lap up the daytime telly. Instead - since the very first lockdown - we have been offering our clients a Virtual FDB experience so that when we can finally invite you in person to our showroom in Southwell, it will be like meeting up with old friends.

But rather than us tell you about what a Virtual Appointment is like and why we think they are so great, we thought we would ask one of our FDB gals herself who has experienced it firsthand.

So without further ado, I will pass you over to Katharine Snowden for a tell all.

Enjoy!

Julia x

I don’t know about you but when it came to finding a wedding dress I was stuck. With no idea about how I could possibly narrow it down or begin to create my jumbled up vision in my head. How could I expect anyone to help me when I was so confused myself.

Reach out: After putting it off for months and months I did. With 5 months to go (I had 5 years to plan!) my experience hasn’t been able to be the “norm”. With a global pandemic to negotiate, step one was a zoom call. This was the very first time I had come into contact with Julia. Are virtual appointments worth it? In short, yes. I experienced all of the same feelings you might when going to a dress appointment at a shop;

“Will they be worried about my figure in their dresses?”
“What if I don’t like anything?”
“I bet she’s a size zero and drinks black coffee.” (Julia interjection… this one inparticularly made me chuckle!)

On reflection those thoughts were a little extreme. But they were there nevertheless. From the second Julia popped up on my laptop screen I was put at ease with a huge “Hellooo!” *in the best Scottish accent* and away we went.

Julia was armed with so much passion and interest. She of course asked questions about my wedding dress thoughts but also wanted to build a picture of me and my lifestyle. I ended up giving a room tour of my house because of our shared interest in interiors!

The zoom call achieved so much, here’s a list below;

Julia could create a mood board to send me with her dress ideas for me. This was so exciting to receive.
Cut down first shop appointment waffle.
Julia knew my likes and dislikes already so we could home in on dresses I loved.
I was 100x more at ease and confident with choices.
Julia had prepared so many options for me to try on prior to our first ‘in-store’ appointment.

There is one element that is impossible to achieve from a virtual aspect and that is understanding that Julia’s dresses are outstanding. After viewing her collection in person and then coming away and revisiting the online searches and platforms I had been using I could now see the differences in quality. It was like a light had been switched on and the dresses I thought screamed quality were just not, at all!

If you are thinking about your wedding dress and would like to move forward book a zoom call. It’s absolutely worth it. I would love for you to have the experience I have had!