Why Alison is A Bride’s Best Mate
Why Alison is A Bride’s Best Mate
Hey!
Connie and I thought it might be nice for me to properly introduce myself on the blog and explain a little more about my background—and why I somehow ended up absolutely loving working in a bridal boutique.
Before moving to Wollongong, I spent nearly a decade running a wedding planning business in Colorado in the USA called A Bride’s Best Mate. Besides styling and planning weddings, I also styled brides, fashion shoots for wedding designer brands and became a wedding, branding and portrait photographer.
I originally chose the name because I’m Australian and wanted people to be slightly less shocked when I opened my mouth—but also because I love a cheeky pun. “Best Mate” sounds a bit like “Bridesmaid”, and honestly, that’s exactly how I approached weddings.
Planning a wedding is a lot, and unless you do it all the time, I expect most people feel exhausted, overwhelmed and just want someone who knows what they’re doing to help.
So that’s what I did.
I wasn’t there to just nod along and tell couples everything looked amazing.
I was there to help them create a wedding that actually felt like them—without blowing the budget or allowing a logistical nightmare.
Why I Ended Up at Accapella Bridal
When I moved to Wollongong last year and discovered Accapella Bridal, I honestly thought working in a wedding dress shop sounded fun—but I was also a little hesitant about the change.
My biggest fear was that I’d suddenly need to become a salesperson.
I’d spent most of my career helping brides stay within budget, and I worried bridal appointments would feel pushy or focused on upselling.
But very quickly I realised that’s not how Accapella Bridal operates at all.
We’re not trying to convince brides to spend more money than they want to.
We’re trying to help them find the right dress for their body, their personality, their wedding, and their budget.
It turns out bridal styling is basically my favourite part of wedding styling distilled into one appointment.
The wedding dress communicates so much about the overall vibe and feeling of the wedding. It’s one of the most photographed and remembered parts of the entire day, and it should feel connected to everything else you’re creating.
Because Accapella Bridal works so closely with our curated designers, we can often customise gowns and even combine elements from different dresses to create something that feels completely unique.
With Connie’s extensive seamstress and designer background, combined with my styling and photography background, we’ve been able to create wedding dresses that feel completely personalised and made just for you—regardless of your body shape.
I call it “Build-A-Bride”—and I’m obsessed with it.
The Styling Sessions I’m Loving
My favourite thing we’ve recently introduced at Accapella Bridal is Styling Sessions—and these appointments are honestly SO much fun.
They’re designed for brides who:
- don’t have a confirmed wedding date yet
- are more than a year away from their wedding
- just want to play dress-up for an hour
Because these appointments aren’t focused on immediately purchasing a gown, we get to approach things completely differently.
We can experiment with silhouettes you’d never normally try.
Test different vibes.
Work out what actually feels like you.
And if we discover exactly what you’re looking for, we often have enough time to customise or design something within your budget based on what we learned.
The Two Things I Don’t Love About Bridal Work
There are only two parts of working at Accapella Bridal that I don’t find particularly fun.
The first is admin.
Right now I’m cataloguing veils. So boring. Until I see a veil I forgot about and then I get to mentally style it with dresses and suddenly it’s fun again.
The second thing I struggle with is staying quiet when brides start talking about wedding planning problems.
I’ll overhear conversations about florals, timelines, photography, bridesmaid dramas, venue decisions and budgets—and after years of planning weddings, it’s hard for me not to jump in with solutions.
Sometimes I manage to stay focused on the dresses, but sometimes I do butt in—shout out to Jayde, who received very specific opinions about which package she should choose at the local venue she was considering while I was also placing veil options in her hair.
So if you want some help beyond the dress...
A Bride’s Best Mate Is Back
While my days of staying up until 2am running weddings are probably behind me, I realised I still really love helping couples navigate the chaos of wedding planning.
So I’ve brought back A Bride’s Best Mate but am now focused on one-on-one hourly planning sessions—kind of like a wedding coach, strategist, therapist, or professional opinion-haver.
They are called Hour of Power sessions, because we can get an amazing amount done in sixty minutes. Prepare for no small talk—just full focus.
During that time, I can:
- help organise Pinterest boards
- create mood boards and styling concepts
- review vendor contracts
- help with timelines and logistics
- recommend vendors
- talk through budgets
How we use the hour is completely up to you.
Come Say Hi
You can now request an appointment at Accapella Bridal online (we’ve gotten very fancy)—and I genuinely can’t wait to see what dress ends up being yours.
I’m still updating my website from my American life to my new Australian one, but you can visit A Bride’s Best Mate for more information or to get in touch.
And if we haven’t met yet, I hope I get to meet you soon—either in-store at Accapella Bridal or over Zoom.
Whether it’s finding your wedding dress or creating the actual wedding day, whether you know exactly what you want or have absolutely no idea where to start, we’ll figure it out together.
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