First Person
much more than a twinkle in its creators’ eyes. Websites were, to put it mildly, very basic, and Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc, were yet to be invented. Smart phones were not particularly smart, and you needed a camera if you wanted to take a photograph. “Customer experience”, “journey” and “expectation” were all buzz words waiting in the wings. We had to rely mainly on the Yellow Pages and bridal fairs to spread some dresses, re-invest in more the word, and most of the wedding dresses, and keep the profit – anyone dresses we saw at the twice-yearly could do it! Harrogate bridal exhibition, were All these years later, it transpires made in the UK, Europe, the US or that (with the notable exception of beyond, with only a smattering of the bit about making lots of money), Chinese imports thrown in for good it could indeed eventually be done. measure. That is to say, provided there’s Imported beaded gowns from a commitment to hard graft, no China were only just filtering their holidays for over a decade, neverway through into to the market, and ending expansions, a great deal of they very quickly took hold, owing help from ever-increasing numbers to the cheaper prices and excellent of staff, and enough fingernails to finish. Some of the original beaded bite during all the moments of worry gowns we stocked from Benjamin about the cash flow. Roberts in those very early days In 2001, social media was not were true works of art that, if made
Looking back over the past two decades, Laura Daly remembers the days before social media, and the dresses that had something special to say
T
he other day, while sorting out some clothes, I realised I have a coat that is actually older than some of our youngest staff members, and it dawned on me, not only that I am now officially old, but that Bellissima is nearly as old as Lily, Lizzie, and Nicola, too. So, yes, 21 years ago, it was all systems go in the Daly household. We were slap bang in the middle of setting up Bellissima Weddings and looking forward to making lots of money. After all, it seemed so simple; buy some dresses, sell
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