Planning During A Pandemic
Planning During A Pandemic: Wedding Dress
Discussing the changing landscape of the wedding industry through the COVID-19 pandemic with some of Scotland’s top suppliers. With Rachel Scott Couture and Olive Jones, we look at how their bridal stores have been affected, the new (and improved?) process of finding your dress, and the increasing focus on environmental impact.
Bridal stores are open! It’s another step in the gradual return to reality, or at least a new reality. You might not be able to have a wedding with 200 guests in an enclosed venue, but you can now live that treasured dream of picking out the dress you’ll wear on your big day. That moment you imagined as a kid while prancing around wearing a towel on your head. Those stores you gawked at as your mum tugged at your hand, your feet firmly planted in front of the windows filled with mannequins covered in frills and lace and tulle. I still find myself outside these stores (two of my Edinburgh favourites being Rachel Scott Couture and Olive Jones, who have kindly helped me with this article), drooling over the Charlie Braer fringe skirt or an embroidered beauty by Temperley. Slightly less prancing now, but still obsessed with frills and tulle.
COVID-19 hit in alteration season, when brides should have been getting the final tweaks done for their Spring/Summer weddings. Like most of us, Rachel at Olive Jones was still hoping late summer weddings would go ahead and so were on standby, ready and waiting to speedily perfect their clients pieces. Sadly most of these weddings were postponed, and so began the major adjustments for bridal fashion industry. Time to pivot.
Rachel Iravani, Olive Jones Bridal
Karen Willis Holmes, available at Olive Jones Bridal
Being forced to serve your customers in a completely different way obviously has it’s risks, and we’ve all seen the wedding, hospitality and tourism industries suffering through this adaptation. However we are now truly seeing changes being embraced, even celebrated. Rachel Scott admits she was worried the changes she would have to make would compromise the service she prides her business on serving, “it really hasn’t though, not a single bit!” With this long period of closed doors, both businesses had to adjust the service they provide. However this “free” time afforded them the opportunity (as it did for many of us) to take a closer look at their business and develop areas that had been difficult to make a priority. “We've changed A LOT” (Rachel at Olive Jones). “We've always had plans in the works for creating our own label and that's what we used our lockdown to do. We also added more styles from our current designers to our selection.”
Rachel Scott Couture have also introduced a new designer as part of their drive towards reducing their environmental impact. It’s great seeing this as an ever-increasing focus in the wedding industry, and this pandemic seems to have pushed it further and faster forward then ever before. A definite positive outcome! Rachel Scott has certainly taken this to heart, “looking at our impact on the world generally and the impact we have (and can positively have) on those around us, assessing what changes we can make to maintain a greener future. I think is that’s something we can all take forward with easily implemented positive changes that have a far greater impact than we would think they might do. As part of this, we just introduced a range of organically produced, sustainable and vegan dresses, from the designer Rolling in Roses – offering vegan alternatives to silk, made from orange peel waste byproducts and rose petals!” So excited to see these! Check out the Rolling in Roses website/Instagram if you haven’t already. I’m dying over that sequin jumpsuit.
The Beloved Trousers by Rolling in Roses, available at Rachel Scott Couture
Rachel Scott, Rachel Scott Couture
The fashion industry as a whole was suddenly forced to alter decade-established practices of fashion shows and collection releases. I asked Rachel Scott Couture and Olive Jones if they have seen any similar major adjustments. “The bridal fashion industry (certainly at the level of design I work with) are already working in a more sustainable way when it comes to buying seasons and collection previews – we see a new collection once a year but also continue to work from many previous seasons. Nothing is ever discontinued or moved on in the way that traditional fashion retail or even mainstream bridal retail would do…. This year we’ve seen some amazing creativity from our designers, using video clips to show the new seasons pieces, sending us fabric swatches and lending us dresses.” Likewise Olive Jones linked up with their designers virtually “so as they could showcase us their new collections and we could select our sample additions we think this might be something they do alongside their bridal shows in the future.”
Karen Willis Holmes, available at Olive Jones Bridal
Haliton by Charlie Braer, available at Olive Jones Bridal
The opportunities virtual meetings have extends from supplier to supplier, to the client themselves. “We had brides who had visited us for an initial appointment prior to lockdown ordering their dress and having their measurements taken virtually,” Rachel (Olive Jones) explains. “[I]t was something we hadn't really offered previously but it was a great success and will be something we'll offer in the future to brides unable to revisit us for a measurement appointment.” Meeting with clients prior to them coming into store will also allow both parties to get to know each other (without masks!) enabling them to get a clear idea of how the bridal store works, what they offer and discuss some ideas and styling options. When it is time for you to head in for your consultation there as some restrictions, for example in Olive Jones they “have had to implement a policy for our brides to only bring one guest with them.” However video calls are a great option here too, no one has to miss out! You can also include family members who perhaps wouldn’t be able to attend in any case due to travel etc. And again, it allows stores to reduce their environment impact.
The Nightingale Dress by Rolling in Roses, available at Rachel Scott Couture
The Nightingale Dress by Rolling in Roses, available at Rachel Scott Couture
Weddings and the industry is changing, possibly permanently, but it does seem to be for the better. Much like in our interview with Edinburgh bakers Caked by Catherine and Butter & Bodoni, Rachel Scott Couture and Olive Jones Bridal are seeing a trend in smaller ceremonies with a big celebration later. Rachel at Olive Jones is “finding that brides are searching us out for a low key wedding look for a ceremony this year with plans to have a larger celebration next year.” Similarly Rachel Scott is “definitely seeing that there’s a really wonderful focus on the marriage and what it means to the couple. I suppose in a crisis like this, it does make you reassess what’s really important and I’m loving seeing people really genuinely celebrate their love and partnership. I think we’re allowing ourselves to embrace the intimacy of a truly meaningful smaller ceremony. (especially if it’s followed by a wonderfully wild party next year where nerves are no longer an issue and they can really enjoy the celebrations!)”
Rachel (Olive Jones), like me, has experienced such a great tightening of our community with suppliers reaching out to each other to offer support. We are helping each other where we can, and helping each other serve our clients as well as possible. The stronger we are, and our businesses are, the better at our jobs we are. “We’re a resilient bunch, those of us who work in the wedding industry,” Rachel Scott observes, “we’re creative, we adapt and we move heaven and earth to make things happen for our couples, no matter what. We are truly invested in making couples perfect wedding plans come together and I think this crisis has definitely shown how strong we can be and how much of a positive and supportive role we play.”