History

1980
The shop is born

Les & Jean Coverdale found the perfect starting place for The Wedding Shop at the bottom of Colchester's East Street.
1980
First staff snap

These three girls made up the first ever Wedding Shop team.
1981
Royal Wedding

The Union Jack makes up part of a window display celebrating the marriage of Prince Charles & Lady Diana.
1981
First birthday

Michael and Jean Coverdale outside the shop on the first anniversary of opening.
1981
Creative window displays

Nicola says... "I love this window display, I can still remember how popular the cake was with its own special waterfall stand. We used to add food dye to the water to match the bridesmaids!".
1982
First look inside

Ahh... how times have changed. It looks like the dress and curtains are made from the same lace! Rumour has it that the gold head resides somewhere in The Wedding Shop to this day.
1983
A lick of paint

The shop front gets a makeover which sees the brickwork give way to a more cheerful coat of paint.
1985
New Spanish label

The launch of the new Pronovias Collection, brand new to the UK.
1989
Move to St. John's St.

Moving to St. John's Street to be part of Culver Square was a huge step. We were lured by a beautiful oak beamed, grade II listed building with 30ft high ceilings, which was just perfect for our brides.
1996
New team

This year saw Nicola (having just returned from Australia) take over day-to-day running of the shop. In her first year of management, The Wedding Shop won the Wedding & Home Magazine 'Wedding Shop of the Year' award.
1998
Jitters opens

After two busy years of trading, The Wedding Shop was bursting at the seams with new collections. The shop next door was aquired and this became the home for the bridesmaids dresses, and the new Mother of the Bride and Groom department.
1999
The Wedding Shop goes online

In February 1999 we launched our first website. This two-page beauty served around 50 people per week.
2005
Sewing

By the mid-noughties, The Wedding Shop improved alteration turnaround times by introducing an in-house seamstress team.
2009
Menswear hire

Never one to sit back, Nicola decided that after 30 years of serving brides, it was time to look after the guys too.
2012
Moving to 4 High Street

The biggest change yet for The Wedding Shop. 2012 sees all departments come together under one roof to create a bridal department store.