Life as a Bridal Stylist
It's been a while since my last post - but I'm back and hope to stay updated!
"Hello, I'm Erika. And I'm going to help you find your dream wedding dress" was the furthest thing I thought would come out of my face after almost a decade of working in hospitals.
The glitz, the glamour - not something you'd say while wrapping up a knee replacement with ace bandages or talking about gastric bypass. But here I am. And I love every second of it.
Before I jumped into this new world, I hardly knew what to expect. So many fabrics, so many colors. Not something a person with a nursing and nutrition background would've studied. I became immersed in not just fashion; But the world of weddings.
In my first few weeks of training at Madeleine's Daughter I was quizzed on fabrics, silhouettes, and necklines. I shadowed the 7 other stylists that have been there 1-10 years to see how they ran their appointments and what I could take from them when I had my own.
Each stylist gets their own room. Their own "office" if you will. You can decorate it how you want to and add thank you cards from brides to the board. My room has an impressionist painting of a bride - very fitting since I am an art minor.
And I recently got my very first business card - which has shiny gold foil. In love.
In my 3rd or 4th month, we went "secret shopping." Which means that we went to a few other bridal salons to see how they operated, which ended up being very enlightening. Me and the other newest member to the team went and we each had a chance to be the "bride."
One of our favorites was BHLDN, which actually operated pretty similarly to our salon. There were some differences like the bride changed in the room with stylist and came out to her guests to a big mirror. We each have big rooms and offer modest undergarments so that the bride can change in the room and not have to keep coming out. They also didn't have a huge selection, but they did offer returns up to 30 days which was interesting.
I am loving this new world. I never expected it but it's really nice to be there for such an emotional and exciting moment such as finding the perfect dress for marrying that certain special someone. There have been many laughs, tears, and bouts of indecision. But it's all a process in the journey of being an engaged bride-to-be.
Before working at madeleines daughter, I had some experience in the wedding industry. I helped a new designer get her start by helping her to launch her line of eco friendly and fair trade wedding gowns. Her name was Celia Grace based out of western mass and I helped photograph, as well as model some of the gowns working with jewelry designers, hair stylists, and makeup artists. Being in the modeling world prior definitely helped prepare me for the world of bridal fashion in a certain way.
So stop on over to Madeline's Daughter in Portsmouth, NH if you or anyone you know is engaged! And feel free to ask me any questions you may have :)
