Bridal By Nikki Kavanagh

Hi, I hope you are all keeping well. I want to welcome you to my first bridal shop feature. This is following on from on the wedding venue feature that I did a few months back. I wanted to do this feature so that I could bring a selection of bridal shops, to you the readers and future brides to be.. (This post is not sponsored) 

Show stopper by Benjamin Roberts

This post is dedicated to Bridal By Nikki Kavanagh, if you are a bride to be and you are in the process of planning your wedding, then you most definitely will have come across Nikki Kavanagh. Not only does Nikki own a bridal shop, she is also an amazing wedding singer and makeup artist. A woman of many talents, she is one of the most sought after wedding singers. I remember when I was organising our wedding she was the name all brides mentioned as the one to have.  

As a wedding blogger, I had followed her journey to the opening of her first bridal shop, and a few weeks ago I travelled out to Meath to chat all things wedding with the lady herself. 

Upon entering Nikki's boutique I felt relaxed and welcome. What also struck me was how pristine the boutique was and I was drawn to the soft, chic and fresh decor. Bridal By Nikki Kavanagh is literally a one stop shop for brides to be. It offers both a boutique and salon experience. This is a unique service, I am not aware of any other bridal boutique's that offer this level of choice.

When chatting to Nikki I asked her to give me some tips for the brides to be out there and I got an overview of what you can expect when you go for your appointment at Bridal By Nikki Kavanagh:  

• Appointments last 1hr 30mins. (normally, bridal shops only offer 1hr appointments)
• Dresses range from €1,200 - €2,500 - very affordable price range   
• The extra 30 minutes ensures that the bride feels special
• The worry of having to finish in the hour is not there making your experience more relaxed. If a bride to be does "Say Yes to the Dress" then there is extra time left for celebration and wedding chats. Most importantly you will get to enjoy a much-deserved glass of prosecco.                                                                                     
• Beauty packages on offer at the boutique are tailored to meet your budget
• You can expect top service. The staff working in the boutique understand women and their needs. If you are a Mother and  you need to bring your child along with you that need is catered for by the staff and not frowned upon.

Bridal Trends for 2017:

• Lightweight and fresh material with the introduction of Crepe fabric. This is starting to prove popular, especially for the bride who is getting married abroad. 
• Flesh tulle detail (see image below) very feminine 
• Mixture of two styles e.g. lace & crepe together on the dress
• Lace dresses - A trend that never really goes out.  
• Simple styles are popular among brides
• Fit & flare dresses 
• Brides are becoming more daring, as they are stepping out of the box and they are pushing the boundaries, by exploring more when it comes to trying on different styles e.g. backless and fitted dresses.
• The veil is still very much in ladies. I was curious to find out if brides are stepping away form the full veil in favour of other options like the bird cage. 

Also available in Bridal By Nikki Kavanagh

Another Dress by Benjamin Roberts. This one below is in crepe material, so beautiful  

Dress shopping tips:

• Do not lose the magic of choosing the one, if you are sure it's the one for you then go for it and do not let people put you off. Often brides come back to a shop to get "the dress" a second time and that moment of "Saying Yes" can be lost.     
• Do not overshop, going to loads of shops can be head spinning and again the magic of choosing "the one" can get lost.
• Research the shop you want to visit, look on their website. If you like a dress in particular then tell them when making your appointment and of course try it on.
•  Do not bring the wrong people with you when looking, as they could make or break your shopping experience. Choose people who you know you can trust, like your Mam, Sister, Auntie or Friend.
• When it comes to your entourage, less is most definitely more. Think 2-3 people max, anything more will confuse you, the bride, and lead to too many opinions.
• Most importantly be open minded when it comes to trying on a dress because you never know, the dress you least expect could be the one.   
• Bare in mind that you can alter your dress, you can add details e.g. a lace sleeve, add a halter neck to a love heart dress or a delicate back chain.  

  Below you can see the difference a bit of added detail brings.

This dress is also Benjamin Roberts.

Princess dress also Benjamin Roberts

Hair & Makeup:

When it comes to makeup and hair the classic and simple looks still hold strong.
Up-styles, soft Hollywood waves for hair and makeup nudes, taupes and gold on the eyes, lips neutral and the skin is soft and dewy.

It was such a pleasure to chat with Nikki and to see the beautiful selection of dresses that are available there. You are sure to have a truly memorable experience if you shop in Bridal by Nikki Kavanagh for your dress.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post. 

Love & Sparkle

xxx