America. . . I salute you!

Two weeks ago I received an order for 2 Festibelle headbands from a lady in America- my FIRST official festibelle order that wasn't a) through my mother b) through my friends or c) through my work colleagues....Not that I am not grateful for all the sales and kindness people have shown me but having a random sale was a truly ecstatic moment. . . Especially when realising that my Festibelle page on Etsy had been clicked on over 100s of other headbands; thought about and chosen.

The lovely American lady and I discussed at length what colours to go for - ribbon wise -and she sent me a picture of what her two young bridesmaids would be wearing. After making up two different coloured bands and sending photos of them to her she decided on the ivory ribbon with baby pink flowers. Pretty and very feminine for the little girls.

As with my usual pattern for bridesmaids headbands I finished them off with synthetic pearls and heart shaped buttons with a pearly lustre.

I believe packaging is very important and for me it is the icing on the cake. It  finishes the product off, consummately;  all of the hard work that went in to creating them, set in some beautiful homemade wrapping paper and cord. 

On this occasion, I even had a little helper to choose which wrapping paper was best! In the end there was a little bit of "pass the parcel"  and  we agreed to use both pieces.

All bubble wrapped and packaged  ready to be sent! Hope it arrives safely and in time for their mid-October wedding. No doubt the sun will be shining- unlike here (the rain's currently slamming against the window). I really hope they send me some pictures of the bridesmaids. I've seen them on the adults at Hannah's wedding, so it would now be lovely to see them on the younger girls too!

 Will keep you posted with any reactions and any pictures I receive! :)

Emi x

Update 20 December 2012: 

A couple of weeks ago I received this precious photo of the two beautiful little bridesmaids wearing my headbands at the wedding in The Hamptons, USA. It looked like a magical and unforgettable occasion. I am so proud to see the Festibelles looking so perfect. Beaming! 

A Beautiful Welsh Wedding in the Wye Valley. . .

On Saturday 8th September 2012 our wonderful friends Hannah and Richard married in Trellech Church, Monmouthshire.  With hardly a cloud in the sky the Wye Valley was flooded with sunlight and warmth as the newly weds posed for photos.

This was also a very magical day for me as not only did I get to see my dear friends get married,  I also saw my very own "Festibelles" in action for the first time on four of Hannah's bridesmaids.

In the weeks running up to the wedding we had spent some time discussing the colour scheme  for the dresses that the bridesmaids would be wearing. On deciding to match the bridesmaid's dresses I sourced some beautiful sage green satin ribbon from the John Lewis haberdashery department, along with some synthetic pearls and pearl heart buttons.  

When the doors opened at 2pm on Saturday 8th September and we saw the beautiful bride enter arm in arm with her beaming father, I was so proud and relieved to see the bridesmaids, each wearing a Festibelle headband; better than I could have ever imagined.  The whole outfit worked so well and the colours blended perfectly. Success. 

Arriving in style

The girls wore the headbands throughout the day which was a great relief to me and they  gave me very positive feedback. I try, when making them, to coat the wire in as much cord and ribbon as possible to improve the comfort.

Beautiful Bride and Bridesmaid

Having  seen the success of Hannah's wedding and how beautiful all the girls looked I am very excited to progress my range and hopefully do more weddings. I am in the process of looking into winter flowers and headpieces to see what I can create for the coming season.

For any more information, pictures or my range of jewellery please see the following:

Etsy

Twitter: @emiloudesign

The morning after. . . and the sign of an incredible Welsh countryside wedding! 

Below are a couple of the proto-types I trialled before creating the final Festibelle headbands. 

Emi xx