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Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 00:02
Hello, folks, and a very warm welcome to the Supplier Spotlight Podcast. My name is Liam Bald, your magical wedding host, also known as the Gentleman Magician. Now I say it time and time again, and it’s so true, this podcast exists. To shine the light on the very best people in the wedding industry, the suppliers who combine expertise, care, and professionalism to create truly exceptional wedding experiences. Now, as always, if you’re enjoying the podcast, do like, follow, and subscribe. And if you know somebody planning a wedding, please do forward this on to them. It’s amazing how little bits of information that you might pick up in these podcasts. Will change the way that somebody approaches planning their wedding day. And it really does make a difference. Now, today’s guest is a bridal and prom boutique owner, somebody who plays A pivotal role in one of the most memorable and emotional parts of a wedding planning journey. From the first appointments and nervous excitement to finally saying yes to the dress. And building confidence. This is a role that blends style, empathy, and experience in almost equal measure. Now she’s known for a beautifully curated boutique and exceptional customer experience and a wonderful team who genuinely care about the brides they work with. So it is a huge pleasure to welcome Carla from Dress Code Nine to the podcast. Hey, Carl, how’s it going?
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 01:37
Yeah, very good. Thank you.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 01:39
Excellent stuff. How is life over there at Dress Code Nine?
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 01:42
Really good, really busy, which is amazing. We really look forward to seeing all our brides come in and help them find their perfect dress.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 01:49
Yeah, that’s great. Do you know? I mean, it’s funny because I mean, and I know I’ve known you and seen you a few times now for probably three or four years. And Sort of hosted fashion shows for you and what have you. But of course, as you said, really busy. You’ve been moving around a lot in the last year or so, haven’t you? And you’ve You’re in old new premises, is that right?
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 02:08
In a way of speaking, yes. So we have moved back to where we originally started in 2017. In the countryside, there’s parking lot outside, so it’s a lot easier for all of our customers. Yeah, and we’ve got our bridal boutique room for all of our lovely brides and their parties, and then we have a prom room as well. So It’s sort of separated. So, yeah, it’s lovely.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 02:30
Outstanding. So, I know you mentioned there that you actually started the business in 2017. So, how did Dress Code Nine come about? How did it come to be?
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 02:38
I started on my own, sort of selling more eveningwear and then went into the bridal side of things. So we do bridal, bridesmaids as well as the prom and eveningwear. So, yeah, it sort of got gets bigger and bigger. And yeah.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 02:54
Was it a natural progression going from like the prom into the bridle? Or was there like a like a sparked moment where you thought, you know what? I’ve got to start doing this as well?
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 03:04
I think, yeah, a little bit of bit of both, really, to be honest. It’s like, yeah, I can’t just do sort of prominent evening. I need to go into the bridal help. I remember getting my dress here ago. So, and he’s I wanted to give all different bridal parties out there the experience, but with our put our cup on it as well, sort of thing to make them feel comfortable. You have brides that come in and they don’t know at all what they’re going to go for. And there’s some that go, No, this is what I want. But if you go in anywhere and think, I’m going to go for this style dress and find something different that is normal. So, ’cause a lot of people go, Oh, but that’s not what I thought I was gonna fall, but that is a normal feeling. You look at pictures, but then when you actually see them in person or you put them on, you think, No, that’s not the style for me. With uh to help um find their perfect dress.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 03:55
I mean, I I think it’s uh I kind of sometimes get the impression as well that that bridal dress shopping is a whole curated arm of the fashion industry all on its own with probably as many differences and options and quirks and categories as almost the rest of the fashion industry.
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 04:14
Is that accurate? Yeah, yeah. No, it it but there’s so many different skills out there. I tell you, it’s sort of and finding that right one. Um and it again, it’s sort of like when the brides come in and they see bits of a a dress of one dress and another dress and they want to put their stamp on it as well. There is options to do that. So yeah, we dyed them in that way. We work very closely with seamstresses so we can help them and reassure them that we know things can be done without them sort of Saying yes to the dress with having that doubt in the back of their minds.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 04:50
Yeah, because I mean, it’s one of those things, isn’t it? Where, I mean, I guess, like many things in the wedding industry and many choices that couples will make in the planning journey, you want it to be to be the right one. But in this instance, it’s it’s it’s crucially important for them as well, isn’t it?
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 05:05
It is, yeah. And when you’ve got a dress on, you’ve got a thing I always say to my brides, that can you see yourself at the venue? Can you see yourself walking down the aisle? In the pictures, like, can you see yourself in this dress in a picture that you’re going to have on your wall or on your on your side view next sort of thing? And being, I look stunning on that day, sort of thing. And things like that. There’s different things, lots of different things that you have to consider. And sometimes a dress gets chosen on the venue they get married at as well, believe it or not.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 05:40
So, I mean, I obviously haven’t done quite a lot of weddings. I always think that brides, when they kind of step into that aisle and they start walking down, they always look stunning. And of course, there’s a lot that goes into that final look on the day, but a big part of it is the dress. And that doesn’t happen by accident, by any stretch of the imagination. So for brides who are out there who are brides to be, and they haven’t yet started that journey of of wedding dress shopping and they haven’t even stepped into a boutique. What should they be expecting from their first appointments and the journey that they’ll go through from finding a dress that looks like it might be the one to getting there on the day?
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 06:18
Yeah, I mean, with that, we would advise to start looking at least 12 months ahead because sometimes you can find your dress straight away or sometimes it does take that bit longer. Again, you’ve got a bit 100% certain that these breaths be your dress. And if you’ve got any doubts, if you’re trying to change your breath lots, that’s probably not your dress. It has to be ticking all the boxes. And also when we first look up them out on the phone, we do ask them to come and see any pictures you like. Um and if they say yes, they if you ask them to bring them with them or they can send them to us so we can sort of have a look at what they sort of have in mind. We’re asking whereabouts they’re getting married. Um have they tried any dresses on before? Because sometimes it gets very overwhelming for the bride. And especially if you bring a big entourage of people with you. Obviously, it’s great to bring people with you, but sometimes that can make a decision harder because you might have popped this dress on in the fitting room, you absolutely love it, you’re nearly fine, or you are fighting because you found your dress But then, when you show others, if they make a comment about something, it can really kick you off. So, it is making sure you bring the right people with you that know you. To that appointment. So there’s lots of little things to sort of think of. But the main thing is, is the dress, you need to run the dress, the dress doesn’t matter.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 07:53
Yeah. So for anybody who walks into Dress Code Nine on day one, they’ve never been in there before, what kind of welcome are they going to receive?
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 08:02
Normally, always a smiley phrase, we always nice, warm welcome. We ask them who they’ve brought with them, we’ll say who we are as well. And we’ll go through the bridal three, let them relax, sort of tick down. Like I said before, we’d ask them where that’s they’re getting married. And have they cardio if you have some before? And then depending on their answers, we can sort of suggest dresses straight away for them. But we actually let them look through all of our dresses We’ve got only 200 dresses to look through. Wow. So we actually let them and their bridal party they’ve bought with them have a little look through the dress themselves. If they see a dress they like, we move it to another part. Of the boutique room and have that dress ready for them to buy on. It’s also that includes about six to eight dresses. And then we’ll try them first. And then that’s when we also then find out if they do like that style or if they don’t like that style. So it could be their tri-adress on, they’ll like a bit of this, a bit of that. And because we know what address is, we will then go include another breath for them.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 09:07
Yeah.
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 09:08
Has that in that dress. So we listen to our brides. We listen to what they want, what they don’t want. Sometimes, obviously, again, have a wild card, go for something you really didn’t think you’re going to like. But yeah, it It’s all it’s all good. Um, but sometimes if you try like we say six to eight dresses, if you try more than that, it can get very overwhelming, especially on your first visit. So that’s why we sort of We don’t mind people trying as many dresses as they want to, but it’s when we can see that it’s getting too much. We say, right, okay, we’ve got a couple of favourites here. Take a little breather. How are you feeling? We ask them how they feel all the time. And then if they want to come back another time, we do offer that as well because we want them to be 100% With that dress that they’re choosing because we know it’s an important day for them and it’s gonna be something they always look back on. But yeah.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 10:03
I mean, I I guess that’s really where the expertise comes in, isn’t it? Because the the opportunity to be overwhelmed in the in the face of two hundred options and the choice paralysis that might come with that when you’ve got two hundred dresses but might be able to look each one Might be able to make each one look two or three different ways depending on the adjustments that you can make to it. Suddenly, you’ve got thousands and thousands of options, right?
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 10:26
Yeah, that’s it. I mean, like a lot of people say, I don’t want strapless. It’s like, well, don’t discount that dress straight away because straps can be added. We can do this, we can do that. If it’s very plain, we can add like a sparkly belt to it means like there’s little extras you can do. And because we have a good relationship with different seamstresses, we can speak to them and they can meet them as well, just to sort of make sure they’re 100%. that is what they want and everything.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 10:50
That’s amazing. So so how many of the dresses that you sell, would you say, go from when they’ve been bought being in their off the peg state? to something which has been modified and adapted and changed to something unique that never existed before?
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 11:07
Um, I mean, to be honest The dresses tend to still you can still tell it’s that dress. Just little, tiny little tweets that had of course, yeah. Yeah, um, I mean, with dresses as well, like if it’s got a big train in the evening, it can be what they call bustled up in the evening. So you not have that big train, which you obviously have seen that a lot at the weddings that you’ve been to. Um yeah, and it’s different looks as well. So it could be they have detachable sleeves On the dress, and then you can take them off at the evening, or you can put them on in the evening, sort of thing. So if you’re on that dance floor and you want to really dance, but you’re a bit worried about your dress. You’ve got your straps there to sort of make sure that your dress isn’t going to go anywhere, sort of thing as well. But when the dress is fitted properly, you shouldn’t feel that it’s going to do that.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 11:54
I remember one of the fashion shows that I had for you, and I’m probably remembering this wrong because that’s something I know that people do when they see something that’s spectacular, and afterwards they go, Well, it happened like this, and it didn’t, so it probably didn’t. But this this is the image in in my head, right? Um is that is that it was one of I think it was one of the centerpiece dresses. So that she walked down the the aisle and she did a little turn and it was brilliant and then all of a sudden she kind of rolled her shoulders and the dress fell off and underneath there was like another dress. Yes, but it was all the same dress, right? And I was like, whoa, how did that happen?
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 12:25
Yeah, so we do have a lot of dresses which have an overskirt as well. So it can be that again, you’ve got those two looks. Some are having those, so you’ve got three looks. So yeah, that is something that we do. And obviously from doing those fashion shows with us, you know that our dresses are a little bit different. They’re not all the same. They are some have been really out there. So, yeah, we do tend to have dresses that are different. We try to cater for everyone as well. Um so yeah. And if we can’t help them on that day At least hopefully we’ve started them off on their journey to find the dress and the style that they’re looking for. Because, yeah, even though we’ve got lots of dresses, if it’s the same for everyone, we may not have that particular dress that they really want, but at least they know now what they’re looking for. And that’s the main thing. That’s part of the service is if we can help you find a dress, fantastic. We’d love to help and be on that journey with you. Because even when they say yes to the dress, we are always on that journey still with them. throughout the whole time from when they’ve said yes to actually collecting their dress and even up to the day they get married. So we’re always there. To help them that’s that is that is amazing.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 13:36
I mean, I think I think again, it’s probably another misconception, isn’t it? So certainly from this side of the fence, I’d say that when you go wedding dress shopping, it’s either white or maybe off-white or ivory or cream. But of course, that’s also not the case. I mean, I’ve been to a wedding where the bride came in in a black dress. And it just looked absolutely outstanding. But then on the flip side, I saw a same-sex wedding with two brides where they were both wearing the same dress, but one was white and one was red. Oh, wow, okay. Yeah, it was like, I was like, are they the same dress? They were like, yeah, it’s the exact same dress, but to it’s like, wow, that’s amazing. So, you know, so just there were just so many. Many options. Now, of course, and you’ve mentioned it several times: is that you know, you started out on your own, but now you’ve got a whole team around you. How important is it? And also, how difficult is it? to find the right people to get into a bridal boutique to make sure that that curated experience that you’ve worked hard to create is still the same, even when it’s not you that’s doing it.
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 14:47
It can be hard. Yep, I’ve got an amazing team. And yeah, they’re fantastic. They’re caring as well. They want to make sure that the service that they give is the same as what I would give for myself personally as well, which is great. And that’s why the person or the people that you have work for you have to be the right people. Yeah. Some people, I’ve got one young young lady, obviously she’s not got married yet, but she had her palm dress from me and she wanted to be able to give the same experience which she received. And so she now worked on the sort of thing like that. You’ve got your interview process. Um and the same with my brides. Um again, I have actually previously had a bride who then loved the experience she had with us and did come and work for us for a little bit as well. So it’s just building we’ve got an amazing team. We work closer together. We do have a laugh as well. And I think that also comes across to our bride as well, that they feel comfortable. They don’t feel like The expectation, you know, there’s sometimes that you sort of go somewhere and it’s like, oh, you have to be sort of this type of buyer. It’s nothing like that here. We just like to welcome everyone coming. Make them feel at home. It’s quite comesy here. So, yeah.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 16:11
So, I mean, that that that must also be quite a lovely thing to to have somebody come in for a dress. And for them to go through the process, to buy the dress, to walk away, and then think to themselves: do you know what? That was such a wonderful experience. Not only do I want to be able to do that for somebody else, because that’s lovely, I want to go and do it there. I want to work with those people, and then, of course, they come to you and approach you, and you find out they’re the right person. That must also be like a self-fulfilling prophecy, like a really beautiful repeating circle.
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 16:46
Yeah, no, it is. Yeah, yeah. It’s nice to feel that. what you’ve sort of given and they they love that and they want to do that as well because it it’s nice to have a job that you love and you enjoy. But yeah.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 17:00
Well, cool. So so looking back on your sort of years there in Dress Code 9 for all the dresses that you’ve helped people to find and and you know, sort of coming from their first consultation to saying yes and picking it up and walking out with it and, you know, sort of do doing the prom or the wedding and what have you. What have been some of the most memorable experiences that you’ve had?
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 17:21
Oh dear, right. Um, I think I mean, some is that they really didn’t think they’d ever find a breast, and we’ve helped them find that dress probably is gonna be um Yeah, we’ve we’ve had some lovely moments with our brides and our Crondell sort of thing. And it’s also experiences that widespread with their family as well. Because sometimes unfortunately with life you Don’t know if that person’s going to be with you on your day. So we make sure that the experience they have and we involve the members of family. We always do, but sort of like we Every well everyone we see we create the same um you get the right words here, but um We just love our customers and their families. So we just want this to be a nice, memorable appointment for all of them. So they can all think back on it sort of thing.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 18:23
It’s really emotional and important experience, isn’t it?
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 18:27
It is, yeah, yeah, it is. So, um But no, it is making sure that the memory they have their appointment is a really good thing and important for us.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 18:38
What what would you say are some of the the biggest misconceptions that people have maybe when they walk into the boutique from what they think is going to happen to the way that it would actually be for them?
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 18:52
I mean, it can be like if they have been somewhere else, they think everyone’s going to be work the same. Yeah. And A lot of people say, oh, it’s so nice here, sort of thing. That I feel really relaxed. Like, they can relax, but they the not on edge sort of thing and I reckon they can look through the dress themselves but a lot of people have said that they can’t won’t always get chance to look through the dresses and choose their own dress well that’s something that we do Because we feel it’s part of something they should do.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 19:22
Hang on. So there are there are boutiques out there that people go to and they’re only allowed to choose from a a a curated selection of dresses that they think they they would like in the middle of that we’ve had yeah
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 19:37
So with us, we let our brides and their parties look through dresses. And we also explain that a dress looks completely different on a hangar compared to actually being on. And that sometimes is what happens. Like, it’s like, oh no, I don’t like that. And it’s like, well, it looks amazing on, try it. And then that can be the dress. So, yeah.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 19:57
Is it now? So, I have a very limited experience of bridal dress shopping. That comes from, so 20, 20, 20-ish years ago, my best friend got married, and his now lovely wife. um we were all very close at the time, said to me, Oh, I’ve I’ve got to go out of dress shopping and and I don’t want to take this person or or that person ’cause that they I I need somebody who’s just gonna be so direct and and, you know, Will you come with me? And I was like, I mean, sure, okay. The weird ass experience for me. I mean, I got a free breakfast out of it, so it was great. But I suddenly found myself in this thing where I’m sat in this bridal boutique. And you know, I’ve kind of sat there with tea and biscuits up, thank you very much and cake, and everybody’s fussing around me. And of course, she kind of walks out and she’s like, How’s this? and I’m like, No, okay, and off she goes, Come back and no. Oh, that that’s nice, but n no. Um and I mean, that wasn’t that wasn’t her first explore. It was her first experience, but not her only experience. After that, she kind of walked away with an idea of, Oh, I think I want something like this and like that. Yeah. But I think one of the things that that I remember that stood out for me in that moment was the first dress she put on. She came out and she said, Oh, this is this is Enormous. This isn’t my size. And they said, No, no, no. All of the dresses that you’ll get here are going to be big so that anybody can wear them. But when you get the dress, it’ll be in your size. Is that is that still the case?
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 21:23
To be honest, we have a mixture of sizes because if a dress is really, really too big, they can’t see it How it would be on them, so this is where throughout the whole boutique we have a mixture of different sizes. Um, and we work that out through sort of feedback from our brides and styles of dresses. And what we pay for work for the bribes that come in as well. So, yeah.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 21:53
So essentially, it means that somebody’s always going to get something that looks and feels almost right. But of course, the finished product is going to be bespokely uniquely that.
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 22:03
Yeah, yeah. I mean, if it’s that there’s a dress, they love it and it’s too big for them. They’re gonna be amazing in it when it’s the light size sort of thing. But again, again, you can’t have someone that Is in a dress that’s three, four times bigger because it will change the shape of poetry six foot. Of course, you have to go. But this was the thing. You have to, yeah, again. I’d love to have every dress in every size and every here for the but I um yeah, it I wouldn’t be able to t hold all the stock, so yeah, you’d need a huge warehouse, wouldn’t you? Yes, yes. I don’t think I’ll be able to do that.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 22:40
Yeah, so I mean, so earlier on you mentioned that a great time to start shopping for a dress is 12 months or more in advance because then it gives you opportunities to look around, to shop around, and of course to find the dress, have you know have changes made and what have you. What would you say is the point in time when you’re really cutting it close? I mean, what’s the cutoff point for finding the right dress, would you say?
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 23:05
Well, to be honest, we have a lot of brides that are really relaxed and they could be getting married in four weeks.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 23:13
Oh, wow, okay.
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 23:14
Yeah. So with that, they then understand it would be a dress off the shop floor, so we wouldn’t be able to order it in. So when we sort of say about a year, a dress can take a good six months To come in, then you have your singer’s alterations, which can then be another six to eight weeks or thing. Um, this is why we sort of suggest a long amount of time to look, but There’s never really a cutoff.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 23:38
Yeah.
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 23:38
It’s more of what the bride wants, if that makes sense. So if there’s a bride that just wants to find a dress As long as it’s the right dress, they don’t mind taking top floor peas, but they wanted like a brand new piece, not a sample piece, and that’s when you definitely need to do that year ahead. because then we can complete that no matter which designer they choose from. We’ve got a number of different designers. But yes, so we try and help everyone. But again, if it’s a dress that they really love, but we can’t get in time, then we would explain that sort of straight away. So we’re not going to commit to something that we know we can’t do.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 24:17
So yeah, well, it makes perfect sense. I mean, I imagine as well that there must be And well, in fact, I I know that there are there are so many people out there who are who are planning a wedding, but they are because and and it’s that it’s that right wedding day is here, and by then I want to have Lost this weight, built this muscle. I want to look like this. I want to change my body shape. Which, of course, is all brilliant, you know, because the more fitter, healthier people out there, there are. Um, I mean, how how much does that affect the the the the the process of of getting the dress and then getting it fitted and making sure that on the day it’s still going to look exactly the way you want it to?
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 24:58
So with this, when we have brides come in, we do ask, are you on considering a weight loss journey? Because if they are and it’s a real major change that could happen, then sometimes they might go for a completely different style of dress.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 25:13
Yeah.
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 25:14
So we have to take that into consideration. Also, if they love the dress that is their dress. we will look at the latest time that we can order that dress to make sure it comes in still with plenty of time for the wedding. Because they have that our designers do have different lead times, so we know what we can work with because there’s no sometimes there’s no point taking measurements today, for example. And then the wedding is in eighteen months’ time. We’re going to do a year weight loss. And then when it comes to it, the breast that we’ve ordered in now is just going to be too big. It it costs them like the breast again to get it ultimate.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 25:52
Oh gosh, right. Okay.
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 25:54
So this is where we consider everything, and that’s why briars just need to be completely honest when they come in if you think of a weight loss journey or not. And also some price like they’re happy with the dress while they are. They say they might go on a weight loss journey. You probably hear about it lots. Yes, we do. But if you love that dress as you are. If you lose a bit of weight, fantastic. If you don’t, you look stunning in the dress and it shows what it should show, like the right sort of Pinpoint your waist coming in, anything sort of thing. It’s like that’s the thing. So, but yeah, all I would sort of say, like, if you are thinking of a great life journey, please tell. That would also help with choosing the right dress. That’s it.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 26:37
And I mean, and nobody’s going to criticise you for that, right? Because at the end of the day, we all want everybody to be their happiest, fittest best self, especially on a wedding day. And I mean, I certainly have heard, you know, the occasional stories of people saying, oh, I went out, I bought a dress, it was great. And then I hit the gym, you know, I lost like two stone in weight and I built all this muscle. And I’m like, they look amazing. And they’re like, but then I have to go and buy another dress because
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 27:04
Yeah, because you have to weigh up actually getting that dress altered, it a seamstress would have to literally take it apart, remake the dress again. And seamstresses are very talented and they have a skill and that skill does cost money because not everyone has that skill. So, um, yeah, and and you have to have trust in that person that does that as well. So it’s I guess so.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 27:30
I guess so. Now, I mean, I think in all industries, there are myths about how things work or how things happen. sometimes kind of cloud people’s view or judgment in terms of what what it might be or even make them think that they’re going to get something that simply doesn’t exist. Are there any wedding dress myths out there that are prevalent that you think need to be dispelled?
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 27:53
Um I mean in some ways um I think if a barrier’s come in and they say they’ve prope like the pride over about a hundred odd dresses, then it’s sort of like Is this Rec need to be B S Boat Maid? That dress, obviously, if you’ve tried that many dresses, gone to lots of different places. The dress you are wanting is probably not there. So that’s where you do need to speak to Synchris design it and make it for you. I mean, there is a grass out there for everyone. Yeah. Just whether it’s the right one. And until they start lifting, they’re not going to know.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 28:35
Yeah, I get you. No, that makes sense. Yeah. Yes. So I was going to say, so looking to the future then for Dress Code 9, obviously you’ve had a really busy couple of years. As you say, you started actually thinking about it now, not far before COVID happened. So you started a business which was reasonably new. You’ve survived COVID. You’ve gone from strength to strength. A couple of moves. You’re back in your premises. You’ve got all the dresses that now that you’ve got there. What’s next for Dress Code Night?
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 29:07
making us stronger. I mean to be honest, we have a lot of returning customers. Our customers are so lovely and they’ve loved the experience that we’ve given them and a lot of it is recommended. um and coming back to us. And that’s throughout. Farm and bridal. My sister got her dress from here. Um oh, we came last year and like wedding again, so we come back to move shortly. So yeah, it’s it’s building obviously we’re climb because we’re not in our high street anymore, we are trying to build our presence on Instagram more and you have like that. There’s always improvements to be made. This year, I mean, obviously, which was really good for us, we’re highly highly recommended for the bridal retailer. That was Nubby to win that award. And you know, it’s adding, I don’t know, just just making it more with that basis. And we’ve like so yeah, eight years um and yeah, keep going strong and even stronger than we have been. So it has been tough through COVID. I think it has for everyone. And how everything changes in the world, and how everything prices arise in for everyone’s home life. has a knock-on effect for everything. And that’s where we’re with our prices for our dresses, we’re trying to keep them as reasonable as possible as we can to help each brides That comes in and boom. So, yeah.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 30:39
Yeah. I mean, I think it’s a testament, really, Carla, that you have to realize that you’re doing something right. When you’ve got people coming in and buying a dress, and then next year they’re bringing in their sister, and then the next year they’re bringing in their best mate, and then they think, oh, gosh, I’m also going to this event. I need to, I need to be, oh, I know where I’m going to go. I’m going to go back to dress code nine. I mean, you’ve got to be doing something right, which is absolutely fantastic. So, I mean, it’s great, absolutely fabulous.
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 31:06
Thank you. Yes.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 31:07
Wonderful. Cole, it’s been a real joy speaking to you. Thank you so much. It’s been a genuinely lovely conversation, and there’s so much insight here that I think people will get. So thanks. So much for being part of the podcast.
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 31:18
No, thank you for having me.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 31:20
Take care. Bye.
Carla Lynch – Dress Code Nine • 31:22
Bye.
Liam Ball – your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 31:24
And there you go, folks. Dress code 9. Now, if you are planning a wedding and you want a bridal boutique experience. That feels supportive, considered, and genuinely special. I can wholeheartedly recommend that you get in touch with Carla at Dress Code Nine. Now you can find them online at dresscodenine.co.uk and it’s 9 – NINE or on Instagram at dresscodenine or all words, no numbers. Well worth a look if you’re beginning your journey. And also check out their first pinned post that gives you a bit more information about their boutique and the kind of Experience that you’re likely to have. Remember, anybody who’s listening or watching, thank you so much for being here. And if you’ve enjoyed this episode, Please follow, subscribe, like and share, especially with anybody who is planning their own wedding. It really does help people to make the best possible choices they can. Until next folk until next time, folks, choose your suppliers wisely, and I will see you soon on another episode of the Supplier Spotlight Podcast. Take care.