Retail Bridal
What’s selling on bridal registries We talk to bridal registry experts, including a retailer, etailer and trendspotter to find out how bridal lists have changed, what’s trending and which patterns come out on top
The Wedding Shop
Bead, Carrs Silver
Anne-Marie Jenkins, MD, The Wedding Shop, www.weddingshop.com The Wedding Shop is the UK and Ireland’s leading and longestestablished independent wedding list company. Founded in 1990 with the goal of providing the best and most adaptable wedding list offering, they have an online platform as well as three showrooms – in Chelsea, London, Dublin, Ireland and in Selfridges, London – all of which are bursting with samples “as we understand that it is hard to make the product choices online”, says Anne Marie. “There is nothing like seeing your chosen place setting all laid out – that’s why our couples love using our service as you can see and touch everything so you know exactly what you are going to get.” What is the store’s philosophy and how do you curate? Our philosophy is to find unique and timeless gifts that are fun and practical and that couples will treasure forever. We also try to find aspirational products that couples wouldn’t necessarily buy themselves, but would love! We look for brands and designers who offer beautiful, inspirational gifts that are practical as well as stylish. We have an abundance of dinnerware patterns to offer our couples from everyday ceramics to fine, handpainted porcelain. 56 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL
Which shows do you visit? We visit most of them, including Maison & Objet, Paris, Homi Milano, Ambiente and the UK national shows such as Spring Fair and Top Drawer. We also keep up to date with the latest homeware trends by reading all of the homeware magazines, blogs and following influential brands on social media.
Mayfair, Royal Scot Crystal
How have bridal lists changed? While I still think it is so special to have a set of formal wedding china, in recent years there has definitely been a shift in this trend. We have seen a decrease in couples requesting full, formal dinner services due to the amount a dinner service costs. While most of our couples aspire to have a beautiful formal set of dinnerware, they usually decide to add more individual gifts and lifestyle products. We find guests still love to buy individual gifts such as decanters, vases and decorative pieces above anything else – we always try to advise our couples to add more of these types of gifts to give increased choice to their guests. What demands do today’s bridal couples have? Millennial couples want practical dinnerware that is durable and able
Lace Platinum, Vera Wang for Wedgwood