We have celebrated one full year since opening our first shop in Ilkeston these last few days and what an action packed week we have had!

We have ran competitions and discounts all month and this week also held a wedding planning evening from the shop!

12 months ago we opened our first shop on Station Road in Ilkeston with the aim of providing affordable, gorgeous designer bridal wear to brides on a budget. We opened our little shop with a small range of accessories and a range of about 40 wedding dresses in a size 8 up to a size 24. We took on 2 part time weekend girls to manage the counter whilst I ran all of the appointments.

In 12 months we have acquired around 9000 followers over our social media platforms, posted more than 40 blogs on how to save money on your wedding and shared more than 800 posts full of wedding inspiration, dresses and tips to Facebook alone! We have won 2 Wedding Industry Expert Awards placing first regionally and second nationally for Best Customer Service and been nominated for a National Wedding Industry Expert Award. We have grown from around 40 wedding dresses to more than 200, and now go up to a size 28, we moved into a bigger shop and now can offer grooms hire, bridesmaids dresses and a much better range of accessories too!

We now have 4 staff work with me at House of Oliver, 3 of us are full time and 2 part time weekend girls too and we have been able to offer job opportunities to those who haven’t had a job before. I have also been made an ambassador for The Princes Trust which is an absolute honour.

We held a wedding planning evening on 28th September right here in the shop and had over 15 suppliers attend. We saw over 150 people through the door on the night and had a really, really good night! Thank you for your support.

We had live hair and make up demos, gave away goody bags and had a live band and photo booth!

The suppliers who attended our night.

House of Oliver Bridal Wear, The Wedding Tearooms, Shipley Photographic, Matthew Ramsell Magic, Sarah Canlin MakeUp, Once Upon a Time Fairytale Weddings and Events, Pamper Events, Sarah Downing Make UP, Estee Lauder, Julie’s Little Kitchen, Love Bug Car Hire, Premier Limos and Paracoustic.

We are looking forward to the next 12 months!

House of Oliver is an off the peg shop specialising in affordable bridal wear in sizes 8-28 from leading designers and up and coming ones too. To make an appointment call 07709 544939 or visit www.houseofoliver.co.uk/contactus