I never tire of hearing from wedding gown experts- especially someone who stocks as many beautiful labels in her boutique as Jennifer Gao of The Wedding Boutique in Sydney. Jennifer stocks gowns from designers like Jessica Fontaine, Hilde Heim, Amira Bridal and accessories from Sara Gabriel, Stephanie Browne & Fletcher & Grace to name a few! Today Jennifer joins us to share her wedding gown wisdom!

Tell us a little about yourself?

I’ve been in the bridal business for quite a while now but I feel like I’ve been in it all my life because my mum is a bridal designer and I’ve grown up around fabrics, brides, bridal parties and everything wedding related! I always knew when wedding season was coming up when I felt this underlying buzz and energy every year at home.

However, I didn’t get into the bridal trade until much later. I started out in another creative field – advertising – but took the plunge and went for a total career change a few years back.

What or who sparked your interest wedding gowns and accessories?

My mum is my inspiration; I loved how she made all her brides feel when I was growing up and how important her role was in helping them make their dreams a reality. And now I want to do the same for my brides.

Do you have a mentor or someone you admire in business? How has that person helped shape your business? I’ve learned a lot from mum, she has a very successful business herself so every time I need some advice I know I can call her and she can give me her honest opinion. But the main thing I have learnt from her and the main influence on my business is great customer service.

I want every bride who comes into the boutique to walk away feeling like they’ve been treated like an individual, feel like we’ve listen to them and then left having a better idea of what kind of dress they’re looking for OR better yet, left knowing they’ve found their dress!

The ranges you stock are all very different. What was the catalyst for stocking these particular designers?

I wanted to stock designers with very different style aesthetics so my brides have a variety of styles to choose. I find this to be particularly helpful if the bride has just started and doesn’t yet know what she’s looking for. But in the end we often find she will be choosing gowns from one designer!

I’ve been to a lot of friend’s weddings and when I went gown shopping with them we found it difficult to find varied gowns in individual boutiques, they all seemed to stock the same kinds of styles and we ended up going to so many different stores. So I wanted my boutique to be the one-stop-shop for bridal styles.

You have a couture design arm to your business. Do you find that there are an increasing number of brides who want a couture dress designed just for them?

There seems to be an increasing amount of interest in couture, it’s perfect for brides who have a strong idea of what they want – the overall look and feel of their gown – but don’t yet know how to visualize it or put all the elements together. Myself and our in-house designer will work together with them to create something that’s one of a kind.

What excites you about couture design?

With couture there are almost no limitations, unlike changing designs from a Ready to Wear gown, you can have any style. It’s also an exciting process because you get to work with the bride from start to finish and see the gown materialize right before your eyes.

What excites you about helping brides choose the perfect dress (from your collections)?

This is perhaps one of the most exciting times in a bride’s life and they only get to do this once. So to see them find ‘the one’ is really exciting, we’ve had lots of tears in the boutique from brides and their mums and to see them so happy makes us happy too!

Do you have some tips on dress shapes, fabric choice, styles for brides?

We find there aren’t any hard and fast rules on what kinds of dresses suits which body types because we find it comes down to the individual dress, a mermaid style from one designer could look very different to a mermaid style from a different designer. However, one of the main tips we give our brides is to stay true to their style, if they never wear strapless dress in their everyday life then they might find it uncomfortable to wear strapless on their wedding day. And most importantly, think about whether the dress will suit the theme of the wedding, a vintage themed wedding will suit a vintage inspired dress and a beach style wedding will suit a more relaxed style gown.

Do you have some tips for brides on what/who to take with them when attending their bridal gown appointment?

We always recommend our brides to bring a maximum of two people with them – people with opinions they trust. We find when they bring too many people it starts to get a little stressful for them because everyone has their own opinion on what looks great and what doesn’t so this could be confusing for the bride.

In terms of what they should bring?

Always wear a strapless bra and nude coloured underwear so this doesn’t distract them when they’re trying on dresses, you don’t want to see your black underwear showing through! And bring a hair tie with you so that you can tie your hair up. With shoes, we do have heels you can try on with the dresses so it’s not imperative that you bring your own but it’s completely up to you.

What other services or products do you offer brides?

We have a bridesmaids collection in store and we can work together to create a style which best complements their wedding gown and we can also create a colour palette for them and help them choose the perfect colour for their maids.

We also have a varied veil and accessory collection in store so we can create their whole ‘look’ for them. A lot of our brides appreciate this because it saves them time from running around to different boutiques getting their veils, jewellery, hair piece etc

What are your dreams for your business?

Where do you see yourself in 2 years time? I want to be able to provide our service and gowns to brides all over Australia, we do get a lot of interstates brides coming in so I think the demand is there for quality design and workmanship of our gowns. In 2 years time I would like to have a presence in another state, hopefully more!

What inspires you about Australian brides?

Australian brides have a beautiful elegant and understated style to them, so they’re wonderful to work with and they’re realistic on what style they want to achieve with their wedding. And I think it’s because we are so far away from other countries we’re not as easily influenced by styles and trends overseas so we tend to stay true to our own styles rather than following trends.

What are your favourite wedding ideas?

I love rustic, country weddings. There’s so much you can do to style an outdoor wedding. I love the idea of bringing the indoors outdoors, like arranging furniture outside, lighting and props in trees etc.

What bridal trends do you see in the future?

I’m seeing a trend of brides wanting to customize their gowns more and more. They’ll select a Ready to Wear gown but then they’ll add a different embellishment or they change the neckline or skirt OR they go the couture way. We’re finding brides are increasingly opting for a more individual gown rather than a style which has been worn time and time again.

 Thank you for joining us today on Polka Dot Wisdom Jennifer! Be sure to check out The Wedding Boutique website to learn more about The Wedding Boutique!

Headshot by Robert Colborne

Images of dresses by Jonathan Hartland Photography

Models – Annika De Bruijne and Olivia Davies
Make up by Sarah Jane Bryan from Glamour Doll Creations – http://www.glamourdollcreations.com/
Hair by Amanda Nasr