Wednesday Wedding Faves - Bridal Designs Wedding Jewellery

Today on Wednesday Wedding faves I bring you Bridal Designs Wedding Jewellery.

What inspired you to start your business?


It started by accident really! I was working in a jewellers and became interested in how the jewellery was put together, I bought some supplies and tools and trawled the internet for instructions on how to make jewellery. After about a year of making my sister asked me to make her wedding jewellery. I made quite a few sets for her to choose from and after she had picked I had a lot left over! I plucked up the courage to visit some local bridal boutiques to see if they would be interested in stocking my jewellery and they all said yes. The website came along a few months after this and I have been working on it ever since.


What do you enjoy most about your job?

Being my own boss of course is one of the best things (unlimited tea breaks!) but it’s getting great feedback from brides that really makes all the hard work worthwhile.

What has been the best moment of your business?

The best moment in 2011 was coming second out of 30 businesses in the North Devon business award. Bridal Designs was runner up in the ‘Best online business’ category.


What are your plans for the future?

I am currently looking for more stockists for my jewellery so hope to have Bridal Designs jewellery on sale in more bridal boutiques very soon. I have just started a buy back scheme called ‘Something Borrowed’ which enables brides to get their jewellery handmade to order and then return it after the big day for a refund of a percentage of the purchase price. It’s hiring but better as you get brand new custom made jewellery, I’ll be working on promoting this service.

Can you give us a ‘Typical day in the life of....’?

I’m always glued to my Blackberry so tend to be checking emails before I even get out of bed. When I do get up I’m usually straight on the laptop to answer any emails and catch up on my business Twitter and Facebook accounts. I print off any orders and check I have all the materials necessary to make them, if not I’m back on the internet ordering supplies. This goes on until I can’t take the pathetic pleading faces of my two dogs peering around the side of my laptop screen anymore and then I’m off out across the fields with them for a walk. With them back home and hopefully asleep I start the jewellery making, unimportant things like housework ;-) get fitted inbetween the more interesting stuff! If a new design springs to mind it gets hastily drawn in a notebook to come back to when the orders are completed. That’s pretty much it, I’m usually on my laptop for much of the day and evening ,people think that being a jewellery designer is just playing with sparkly things but the truth is 80% of it is computer work, updating my website, blog writing and posting on Twitter /Facebook/Google+ to spread the word about Bridal Designs!

Make sure you check out Bridal Designs Wedding Jewellery offer

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Terri 
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Wednesday Wedding Faves - Little Folk Toppers

Today I bring you the fab donna from Little Folk Toppers. You are just going to love these!!!


What inspired you to start your business?



Little Folk began as an extension of my cake business really. I specialised in novelty cakes and though I do love to bake, I always found the modelling and creative side the most satisfying and enjoyable part of the job and so in 2009 I gave up the cakes, ceased trading as Sophisticakes, became Little Folk Toppers and it has definitely been one of my best decisions. I get so much satisfaction from the fact that something I totally love doing makes others so happy too.


What do you enjoy most about your job?



I absolutely love all things wedding, so it is wonderful to have the opportunity to work with all of my couples and even though I seldom get to meet any of them face to face, over time and with quite frequent communications you do begin to build a connection with them and I have had the pleasure of working with so many lovely people over the past 2 years. The most enjoyable part of the actual model making has to be copying the brides dresses, I adore bridal gowns, so getting to recreate them is wonderful and I can honestly say that each one is made with the utmost care and attention to detail!

What has been the best moment of your business?



That is probably the most difficult question to answer, there are always so many wonderful moments in this job, the excitement of a new enquiry which leads to getting to know the bride & groom and working with them on their vision, the actual creation of the toppers and best of all the couple’s reaction to them. It is the best feeling in the world to know that something you have done has made someone else so happy.


What are your plans for the future?



Well I am currently working on a new product/service which I can’t really say much about just yet, but I am collaborating with another wedding supplier on this one and we hope to be able to make an announcement around Easter time. Since I started Little Folk, I have always supplied commercial toppers alongside my own personalised ones but 2012/13 will see a gradual shift away from the commercial toppers as I am now beginning to work on my own range of “off the shelf” toppers for weddings and christenings.

Can you give us a ‘Typical day in the life of....’?



Little Folk is still very much a work in progress and as such I really work it around all the other things in my life so forgive me if my “day in the life of..” seems a little long winded or chaotic!


My day starts at 7.00am – up and shower, quick cup of tea!


8.00am – Set off to my first job of the day, in the office at Mr. LFT’s business, walk my golden lab Scrumpy and cocker spaniel Merlin on the way.


8.45am – arrive at Mr. LFT’s spend the morning doing quotes, general admin and accounts etc.


12.45pm – set off back to LFT HQ, post office run on the way, pick up any shopping and walk the boys again.


1.30/2.00pm – arrive at LFT HQ, feed the boys, housework, and lunch on the run!


2.30/3.00pm – LFT work begins, check telephone messages, emails, form submissions, prepare quotes and invoices and answer queries. Make any necessary changes, updates to website and order supplies etc.


5.30pm – family teatime


6.00pm – time for the clay to come out!


My day ends around 11.00pm often later if I can get away with it, sooner if Mr. LFT insists I take a break!

Little Folk Toppers have a great offer on over on the website

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Terri
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Wednesday Wedding Faves - Zankyou

What inspired you to start your business?

We were inspired by the thousands of couples who get married after having lived together and who don’t just want gifts for their home; by those who are uncomfortable asking for cash as a wedding gift; by people who wanted to use their wedding gifts to pay for their honeymoon and by the increasingly international lives that we lead. We wanted a service that could be accessed from anywhere, where couples could ask for anything (and not have to worry about transporting it to their place of residence) and where guests could have a safe and easy way of contributing to a couple’s dreams in their language of choice.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

Being constantly inspired by the creativity of our couples, working with guests and couples who are pleased to have found our service, sharing news of the latest technical developments on the site with our users and seeing someone’s wedding planning go smoothly thanks to their use of Zankyou.

What has been the best moment of your business?

There have been so many great moments that it’s difficult to bring it all down to one. We’re constantly developing the site to make it better, so it’s non-stop change at Zankyou. The more people get to know us, the more they demand from the site so the best moments are when we launch a new functionality, like our honeymoon map for the gift list or the table planning tool, which we know our users are going to love!

What are your plans for the future?

Zankyou is an international company so we’re constantly developing on that side, with launches into new markets, making it all a very exciting time. On a UK level, our plans are to make Zankyou better known. We want couples in the UK to find in Zankyou the best online wedding list service, thanks to our excellent tools and layout, the ease of use of the service, our transparency in terms of rates and our efficient customer services.

Can you give us a ‘Typical day in the life of….’?

There is no such thing at Zankyou! Between writing for our blog, Zk Magazine, attending to clients and working on promoting Zankyou, most days are chock-a-block. Our development team is constantly working to ensure Zankyou works smoothly, which includes new developments and responding to client feedback about functionality, while the client and content team are constantly helping customers out and answering any questions as well as finding out the latest news in the world of wedding, to help you plan your day!

Make sure you take a look at the offer zankyou have on over on our webiste

Terri

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Wednesday Wedding Faves - Warble Entertainment

Today's Wednesday Wedding fave is a great entertainment agent who has some fab acts!!

When did you launch your business?


The business went into development in 2006 (i.e. the building and designing of the website and concept) and was fully operational at the beginning of 2007.


What inspired you to start your business?

My business partner and I had both worked in the entertainment industry for a number of years. I had been a musician in bands and previously worked for another entertainment company and my partner was a communications and marketing manager for local government, who’s role was to organise events etc. When we sat down to brainstorm what we wanted to next in our careers all roads led to here. We initially thought that the market was at saturation point with entertainment companies and people providing wedding entertainment. But, after looking through what was out there and speaking to many bands, musicians, performers and even attending wedding fayres and speaking to brides and grooms, it became clear that these other companies were in the majority not actually presenting the industry in a very good light. As we are both very customer focused and believe in providing a great service and offering customers the absolute best in both choice and price we wanted this to be something that translated into the company ethos. So, in short, we were inspired to start the business due to what we felt was a gap in the market in an area that we felt passionate about and had spent many years working in already.


What do you enjoy most about your job?

The most enjoyable part of the job is helping people create their dream weddings and events. There is nothing more rewarding than receiving the call, email or thank you letter after an event where the bride and groom or event organiser let us know that their day was perfect and we helped to play a part in that. To help create a lasting memory in other peoples lives is something we feel completely privileged to be a part of and something that we take with the utmost seriousness. Another enjoyable aspect of the job is that you never know what the day will bring. One minute we could be helping a customer secure the most fantastic band for their wedding or party and the next we could be booking a celebrity for a big corporate event! It makes for a very exciting work environment. One aspect that we believe is often overlooked is that of who we work with. The professional bands, musicians, caricaturists, magicians, fire performers and every other kind of entertainer that we speak to and meet with are of such a fantastic calibre and at the peak of their game, that we are often in awe of the time they have put into honing their craft. It inspires us to want to do our best for them.


What has been the best moment of your business?

There have been many great moments for us and as we have been firmly rooted in the day to day nuts and bolts of the business we have seen first-hand how it has grown and developed. Garnering relationships with management companies and working closely with them to develop exciting and exclusive live bands and entertainers has been one of the most exciting moments… and still is! In addition, having new staff join the team is always a fantastic moment as new people breed new ideas and help keep everything fresh and moving forward. Also, it feels very rewarding when we are involved in charity events and are able to provide assistance to some extremely worthy causes. So far we have helped with events for the NSPCC, Help for Heroes, Cancer Research and many more, and we feel proud to have helped out.


What are your plans for the future?

Our future plans involve the continual development of new acts, bands and performers to be added to the roster to ensure our customers have the best in choice and quality across all price ranges and for all budgets. Plus, we have an exciting re-brand and re-development of the entertainment agency website that has just occurred and we feel helps make us stand out and reflect the professional and friendly face of the company.


Can you give us a ‘Typical day in the life of an Entertainment Agent….’?

The day starts with arriving at the office at 7.30am. The early start gives everyone a chance to catch up on the overnight emails and correspondence before 9am comes around and the phone starts to ring. By 9am everyone is caught up and ready for the day ahead. Every day is always different in the life of an entertainment agent and could involve anything from dealing with new enquiries, following up customers about quotes they have been sent, speaking to acts, liaising with venues and even attending showcases or meetings. A pretty normal day would involve speaking to brides and grooms about the entertainment they wish to hire for their ceremony, meal or evening reception. Or, speaking to MDs or their PAs about entertainment for their corporate events. Once bookings are confirmed the agent’s role is to draw up booking contracts that legally secure the act for the customer and ensure that all details for the event are fine-tuned. Much of the agent’s work is dealing with post contracted work such as speaking to venues and co-ordinators. Their role is to take the stress out of booking entertainment for the customer and making it as straightforward as possible. The day finishes at 6pm… well, not quite. More often than not the team will work late to ensure all admin tasks are finished before they leave


Warble have some great offers on over on our website