With many happy couples postponing their weddings, a collection of St Albans creatives set to bring back bridal beauty for those having to wait a little longer for their big day.
Amy Richardson, of bridal boutique What Alice Wore, got creative and planned a styled shoot with once-busy local wedding professionals.
The showcase aimed to support the talents of local businesses, and to remind people how truly special a wedding day is.
Lockdown saw the total cancellation of all ceremonies, but changing restrictions on guest numbers and social distancing guidelines as restrictions lifted has been a further blow for businesses like Amy’s.
One concept to grow out of lockdown restrictions are micro-weddings. “Last weekend, I had two gorgeous brides deciding to just do it - marry the person they love, under whichever restrictions were in place at the time” Amy said,
“The longer this new state of affairs carries on, the more my couples seem to want to forge ahead, and many are considering a big celebration next year which will be closer to the big day they were originally intending.”
Riding that wave of positivity, Amy said pulling together the shoot was easy: “Everyone misses what they do and, in true St Albans style, everyone came together to contribute.
“We used local venue St Villa, local models, photographers, videographers, make-up artist, hair stylist, florist and cake-maker.”
The images are being made into a trailer-style video, which will come out in October, with national publication Brides showcasing their work.
But even through positive projects, Amy is somewhat uncertain about the future. With her brides buying their gowns up to a year before their big day, she hopes that by next year, couples will be optimistic about 2022 dates.
“I was lucky enough to receive a small business government grant which kept my worries slightly at bay between March and June, but I mistakenly believed we’d seen the worst of the effects on the business over the early summer months.
“Having said that, as restrictions were gently lifted from July, all the pent-up demand and lockdown Instagram-scrolling was there to see and July and August were my busiest months to date, but as the warnings of the second wave seemed to be coming true, demand just fell through the floor. It’s a real roller coaster.
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