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No matter how we look at it, 2012 has been nothing short of amazing. There have been so many highlights, but above all we’d like to thank everyone who has let us be part of their lives.

To be allowed to share in such a special time is a real honour – it’s something we treasure with each and every bride-to-be.

As well as national celebrations such as the Diamond Jubilee and London 2012 – not to mention the euphoria of Team GB’s brilliant performance at the latter – we’ve had one or two things to cheer about here at Curvy Bridal too.

We had a taste of reality television when a crew from hit US show My Big Redneck Vacation came to film ahead of star Tammy’s wedding, and we were beyond thrilled to win Bridal Gown Retailer of the Year in the North of England Wedding Awards.

This was extra-special because it meant our customers had taken the time and trouble to vote for us. We’re a close-knit team – we laugh a lot, we work hard and, above all, we’re devoted to helping everyone who works through the door. We pride ourselves on making each and every one of our brides-to-be feel special and it means everything to know we’ve succeeded.

We’ve also had some amazing video and photographic shoots – Ripon Cathedral, Thorp Perrow and Goldsborough Hall to name a few – and we were delighted to become the recommended bridal retailer for such prestigious venues as Aldwark Manor, Hotel St George in Harrogate and Hazlewood Castle.

Not to mention the excitement at being the first in the world to showcase the new Olivia Grace collection, and we had the new designer collection from Veromia too…and did you see our full-page spread in Wedding Ideas magazine?

So we’re on a bit of a high as 2012 draws to a close – which is just as well as we’ve got exciting times ahead in 2013. Anyone who knows the lovely town of Boroughbridge, where we’re based, might have noticed the goings-on at a shop just a few doors along…..

Let’s just say that, before too long, bridegrooms-to-be looking for beautifully designed morning suits need to come and visit the town, not to mention anyone seeking that perfect prom dress or ball gown.

All will be fully revealed in due course. In the meantime we’d like to wish everyone a truly merry Christmas and a happy, peaceful New Year.

2012 has been a blast – we can’t wait for an even better 2013!

We’re very lucky to live and work in one of the most beautiful parts of the country….and luckier still to be granted access to the fantastic Ripon Cathedral for one of our recent photo shoots.

It’s a gorgeous place, steeped in history – just one of its claims to fame is that some of the medieval woodcarvings found inside were the inspiration for Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland. The young Charles Lutwidge Dodgson – to give him his proper name – spent a lot of time there as his father was a canon.

As a wedding venue, it’s pretty much in a league of its own – and a number of Curvy Bridal gowns have swished their way down the aisle.

We were also proud to be part of the first Ripon Cathedral Wedding Show in 2011 – not only was it the first such event to be held inside a cathedral, but the installation of a catwalk for a bridal fashion show turned a few heads too! Building work meant there was no show in 2012, but we’re already looking forward to 2013 – put Saturday, January 26^th in your diaries!

In the meantime, we wanted to share some of the photo shoot images with you, taken by the wonderful Joe Dodsworth….and featuring our own Ruth Sturdy!

Smash and grab! I’ve got it! My bra – I’ve actually got it! The Bra Fairy really does exist – she’s called Karen Halder and is at Affair Lingerie in Pontefract.

She looks a bit like a fairy actually – very tiny, with wings. Well ok, not really – but she is tiny and can do real magic.

She made me feel so relaxed that I forgot how worked up I’ve been over this blummin’ bra fiasco. Strapless and stress-free will I be, I’ve done the trampoline test and the hanging-from-the-chandelier test – everything stayed where it should with no complaints from either boob, and all sprinkled with a little magic fairy dust. Plus the matching knickers that don’t disappear into the dark as soon as I pull them up, if you know what I mean.

I was so happy I went on a bit of a foundation garment binge. Of course, as is the case for most of us ladies, I was wearing the wrong size. 32 FF is where I am now – stop laughing – so I was persuaded to get some T-shirt bras, which Mr D calls my stab vests. Not pretty, but so comfy – I really am sinking in to middle age, aren’t I?

The wedding rings have been ordered. The shop – won’t say where it is, you’ll see why in a minute – was en route to somewhere else so Mr D and I thought we’d pop in to see if we could pick the rings up at the weekend.

On our approach Mr D was distracted by a very low-flying police helicopter. “Ooh, look at that’ he said, before his admiring gaze was drawn to police cars all over the road in front of us.

We suddenly realised why the place was so busy – the jeweller’s had been ram-raided! We slipped quietly passed. As yet, we haven’t managed to ascertain whether our lovely wedding rings are safe in the safe or in some elicit melting pot.

We went for a quick recce of our wedding venue, the gorgeous Crab and Lobster at Asenby. I love it so much, I may move in. They don’t need our guest list for another three months, the French are so laid back so I can relax…OK, WHATEVER!!

To be continued…

Thursday morning at the Palladium

No luck with the bra. I may have to resort to duct tape, which will be sexy!

Never having taken chemistry at ‘O’ level, (I’m of a certain age, remember) I’d never even heard of Palladium. Apparently it’s the new platinum and there are loads of wedding and engagement rings available for a fraction of the cost. Armed with this new knowledge of the periodic table, me and Mr D went to have a look. We found a little jeweller’s where they make rings for Elton John and The Queen, no less. He showed us some mahoosive creations with trap doors and flashing lights on the side which hid little messages of something or other. BUT not for me. Your bog standard wedding rings however, aren’t as exciting as engagement rings I have discovered, mainly because I have to buy one for Mr D and it’s more expensive than the one he has to buy me. I don’t know what to do, my engagement ring is platinum, quite posh. I know you can’t tell the difference with the naked eye but what if, in 400 years, a descendant of Tony Robinson digs my body up and finds that not only are two of my teeth false, (to date) but also that I was cheap because my rings don’t match. Devastating. I admit to having had dreams of leaning my nose against Tiffany’s window and coming away with a little turquoise box but it’s possible that we may have to resort to buying our symbols of love and fidelity off the internet, which will be romantic. I am partial to a bit of thrift though.

I’ve got a couple of bra ladies searching for my magic bra. When asked, I was met with sharp intakes of breath and shakes of the head, like a plumber does when your pipes need plunging. Surely it must be out there somewhere. Do you remember when Joanna Lumley made shoes out of her bra? I could do that but the other way round, I have a nice pair of Japanese flip flops which might just do the trick.

The next job is the guest list for the reception. Is it ok to say to everyone, ‘every man for himself, or herself, sorry again mum, and leave it at that, I wonder? Yikes, it’s just occurred to me, I’m inheriting another Mother in Law, help.

Still January

Do I REALLY have to have my photo taken? I don’t like seeing pictures of myself. I can see my mother! Sorry mum, but I can’t pretend to be 30 still, with photographic evidence to the contrary on the in laws coffee table for the next few years. However, Mr D and I have picked the best photographer in the world for our medium sized day.

I first met Joe Dodsworth when he was still at school. Such a nice young man and a wonderful, conscientious student. Then he ran away to be a photographer and left his teachers standing! Now, he is highly established, accomplished and really cool, he really is my favourite photographer, in the world, indeed the universe!

I got a bit nervous before Joe came to see Mr D and I at home, so I had a little drinky to take the edge off. By the time he arrived I was a bit sozzled. I answered the door and there he stood, with albums and iPad images for us to look at. The examples of his work are just superb. I think I asked him for a job at one point, embarrassing.

It seems, in these modern times, that most brides are ok with their photographer taking their pictures as they are getting ready to walk down the aisle. I’ve seen them, they look lovely and clean in their fluffy dressing gowns, drinking champagne, all nails, hair and teeth. I can’t do that. If I start with champagne in the morning I’ll go blotchy and images of me waxing my moustache and pummelling the cellulite would not be a best seller for Joe, I fear. I’m doing my own hair and makeup mainly so that I don’t scare any young beauticians into running for the hills, vowing to go into something more glamorous, like bog dredging. I think it would be best if Joe waited until I waft down the stairs, washed, waxed and little wasted, lest he ruins his life forever.

Having admitted my shortcomings in the glamour department, I trust Mr Dodsworth to do a fabulous job for us. He knows I like big skies, huge landscapes and teeny tiny subjects at the bottom somewhere, a bit like ‘Where’s Wally!!!’ Go Joe x

More January

Dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner, fat pants!!!

I’ve discovered ‘Pull Me In’ pants, the ones that are somewhere between the flappy Union Jack pants I normally wear and the Full Metal Jacket jobs. They’re keeping me in, which is great after the Christmas and New Year excesses but I don’t want to rely on them. I dream of wearing a nice frilly pair on my wedding day, so the protein shakes are back on the menu. My greatest debacle however, (I looked up debacle on t’internet, it means ‘a sudden disastrous collapse’) is that of my bridal bra. I am of ample bosom. I had my boobs ‘done’ in my thirties, (made smaller, that is)and they were fabulous for a few years, but they’ve come back with a vengeance and finding the right foundation garment, one for which you need planning permission and can spot from space, is tricky. I need an impossible creation that holds ‘the boys’ (or is that buoys? ) upwards and outwards. The problem is, there ain’t no back in my dress. What was I thinking? I can only hope that I find a bra that has no straps (scary) crosses low at the back and ties in a bow round the front. I can’t go ‘no bra’, I tried it in the Wedding dress shop and I looked like I was carrying two turkeys in a carrier bag. Help.

I dragged Mr D to the florist. I’ve asked the lovely Joanna at Twisted Willow to do her magic. We had chocolate biscuits, which gave Mr D something to concentrate on! Secretly harbouring Diva like qualities, I was worried that I could end up looking like Dame Edna Everage, chucking gladioli’s at everyone, thus giving Mr D second thoughts. Jo was very calm and helpful, a true artist, and now I can happily tick another job off the list.

So, onwards and upwards, I’m a bit more excited now. Photographer next,

‘All right Mr DeMille, I’m ready for my close up…’ gulp!!

January 2012

When my other half proposed to me, in Covent Garden, on one knee, in cognito, with about three hundred diners and theatre goers behind him, followed by cheers and applause, (devastating), I subconsciously avoided mirrors for about a month, after saying ‘Yes’, you understand! I had a vision of myself in my slightly- slower- than -twenty – years – ago brain, of an elfin girl with tiny boobies and long spindly cartoon legs, skipping down the aisle with fairies and bluebirds following behind, on point like a ballerina, all virgin like. For a joyous while I thought I was going to be one of those brides you see in magazines with shiny shoulders and long tousled hair in soft focus, in a forest lit by shafts of sunlight streaming through the blossom branches, biting my lip, in a seductive manner. The reality however, is different. I’m a size fourteen at the top and a size 10 at the bottom, like a carrot, born under the sign of Virgo so it wasn’t long before I had to get real and start planning, dieting and saving, the latter two which I am baaaaaaaad at!!

Sometime has passed since our opening night in Covent Garden, it’s January now and our wedding is six months away. I already have my dress. I was so nervous when I went searching for the ‘perfect one’. I went in my wellies, which I left on the doormat outside the shop and went in in my socks. I often wonder why I do dim things. Apart from the time when I left my bedding in a tumble dryer I took to the tip, realised the next day and went back, with my wash basket, and removed my still fresh sheets in front of the tip guy, who looked at me, well, like that, you know what I mean, the wellies was the daftest thing I have done of late. The ladies in the shop were lovely but admitted the wellies were a first for them. My sister, daughter and niece all stood to attention as I tried on two dresses, number two was it, they measured my fat bits, I parted with the deposit, climbed back in to my wellies and went home. Admittedly I am really excited about my dress. It’s got one of those internal corsets that make you sit up like Elizabeth I, you can’t eat or wee all day but that’s fine. I’ve been for one fitting. I thought I should go in good pants but the only non- grey pair I owned was a thong thing and the poor woman in the shop got an eye full of my glutimous maximus she hadn’t banked on. Now, my dress and I are waiting. Everything else is still to be sorted, starting soon. We are off to see the florist, my other half coming really to stop me from going bonkers and ordering a whole garden full of stuff. I fancy trees, I must remain dignified and show some restraint. I am a woman of a certain age, after all.

Curvy bridal wedding reporter Faye Cawood gives you an exclusive sneak peek as to what went on during the latest Photo shoot.

The day starts early, 9am for those of us that got there on time. Then follows some sleepy conversation as we all get to know each other. Once the coffee starts to flow, so does the conversation and the ideas for the shoot.

The main idea behind the shoot is down on the farm: the farm providing a rustic contrast to the intricate details and the man made beauty of the dresses.

The setting is the beautiful Madison Farm in a tiny rural village in North Yorkshire. The long gravel drive leads down to some brick built barns and stables with pale turquoise doors, the courtyard then leads onto a beautiful cottage garden, complete with a muddy pig pen and some noisy chickens. The setting is so romantic that it shouldn’t be hard for the models to pretend to be in love.

So preparations start back at the house Joe, Of Joe Dodsworth Photography, the photographer sets up his equipment and checks the light and does all his technical fiddling’s whilst Sam gets her hair and make up done. Deborah of Debonnesse makes Sam look like a princess with long blonde curled locks pulled to one side and a very blingy headdress, the make up is classically beautiful. The inspiration for the hair and make up looks are Classical beauty, a modern take on the 1950’s and retro sultry. Then comes the fun bit putting on the dress. Sam was wearing a classic style strapless ivory dress by Mark Lesley.

We then head down to the farm to take the first shots of the day, we start by the barn door with Sam ruining her satin pumps due to Joe requiring her to stand in a pile of muck to get the perfect shot. There are a few grey clouds in the sky but thankfully the weather holds out and the sun hit’s the sparkles on the dress perfectly. Then it’s on to inside the barn and onto a pile of hay for Sam, whilst Joe climbs on a tractor to get the perfect shot. Meanwhile back at the house Deborah is preparing Alex for her turn, a more modern look this time, red lips, black eyeliner and a lot of hair (not all of it Alex’s).

Sam is now having shots done by the stable with the colourful doors providing a nice contrast to the pale dress. Bugs are an issue though on the sunny day and as Sam is holding a big bunch of flowers she is getting more than her fair share of buzzy things flying around her. The flowers were done by floral designer Alice and Rose and were delicate peach and white roses held together with raffia and had uncut stems to produce a rustic look. the contemporary floral designs gave a raw, relaxed look that fitted in perfectly both with the rural location and the beauty of the dress’ (and the stunning models.)

During all the action Jamie. From Jamie Vs the Universe fame, was shooting a behind the scenes video and we couldn’t help thinking that the little Jack Russell spike might just steal the show, especially when he tried to drive the tractor.

Next up is Alex and Ethan, Alex wearing a short 50’s style dress, (with wellies) and Ethan in a green army jumper and obligatory flat cap. The idea between the next lot of shots were a young couple in love, photos were taken laying in the grass and sat on top of a tractor, unfortunately whilst laid in the grass spike decided to join in and sit on Ethan, thankfully he is a very photogenic dog.

Then it was lunch time which consisted mainly of Haribo and crisps. After lunch it was Ruth’s turn, this time down at the picturesque village church. Ruth was wearing a long flowing dress with beautiful beading detail around the neck. Her hair styled into lose waves and her make up smoky and gorgeous. Making the most of the fabulous light from the windows Ruth perched on the window sill and stood in the dramatic doorway to the church producing some stunning shots.

Then it was back down to the farm with Ethan where there were photos taken of them in the beautiful country garden, hiding amongst the apple tree and relaxing under the weeping willow.

The last shots were taken with two beautiful, majestic and slightly grubby white horses; Alex, Ruth and Ethan were all photographed with them as well as some shots of just Ethan and Ruth. The skies started to darken with cloud luckily just as Joe called a wrap on the shoot.

The photos produced were one that contrasted the fine detailing of the dress’ with the rural beauty of the farm. Keep checking the website to see the fantastic shots from the day.

Hello and thank you for mouse clicking towards Curvy Bridal’s first ever blog.

I’m Louise, Curvy’s founder and just one of our fabulous team. Well this is the first of many Curvy Bridal blogs, and I just wanted to introduce myself and also tell you a bit about Curvy, before we start blogging about our real love of our hopelessly romantic true life brides stories. Continue reading →