The UK Bridal Market is worth more than 3 billion pounds.
The average spend on a wedding is £22,500.
The average spend on a headdress is £175.
Profit mark up in the Bridal sector is high, as it is a business which cannot rely on repeat custom. A profit mark up of between 300 – 400% is not unusual.
Every bride wants to look stunning on her wedding day, and every bride is looking for something unique. Therefore, it can be relatively easy to carve out a niche in the bridal market if you offer something different or a customisation service.
The wedding season in the UK is primarily centred around the Spring and Summer, for obvious reasons. However, with the advent of venue weddings and overseas weddings, which now account for 1 in 8 of all marriages taking place, the bridal market spend is more evenly spread than it once was. That said, revenue from the bridal market still peaks between the months of January to June.
Because of the huge budget allocated by brides for the buying of jewellery, tiaras and other accessories, it is not a market that should be ignored.
If you have never considered it before, now is a great time to get into making tiaras. Extra sales from jewellery making targetted at the bridal market is a great way to boost income. March, April and May are the peak periods for brides to buy tiaras and bridal jewellery. Now is an excellent time to exploit this niche but lucrative market.
We have an excellent range of professional tiara bases, as used by the most well know tiaras designers; as well as our pre-decorated jewellery wire stems which are decorated with beads. You can easily cut into these and decorate with swarovski crystal beads. These stems are sold by the bunch and are excellent value for money. What is more, they are really hard to find anywhere else – they are rarely sold retail.
To find out how to make a simple tiara design in less than 10 minutes visit our two part tutorial by clicking on this link
http://www.epbeads.co.uk/video-tutorial-pages.aspx
This tiara design presently costs less than £6.00 to make, and can be sold for up to 10 times that amount, representing a tidy profit margin.
We also recommend using a selection of our cast metal beads, such as hummingbird beads or dragonfly beads. These non lead pewter beads are made in the USA, silver plated and then hand finished. They are superior quality beads and look great used in tiara and jewellery making designs.
We are about to introduce a range of tiara boxes for the finished product – the right presentation helps give the right professional look.
And don’t forget the add-ons. Brides will often require earrings, a necklace as well as bridesmaid’s gifts. These additional items help boost revenue. Often, the mother of the bride will require jewellery to match her wedding outfit. All these items are potential areas where you can provide a service and generate an income stream from one client.
Marketing
Potentially marketing is the area where most businesses fail. It’s imperative that you have a business card describing the service that you offer. All the rules of marketing which apply to running a jewellery making business or partly plan business apply – see our other information articles or hints and tips. But in addition to these, you really do need the personal touch. A bride is much more likely to want to try on a variety of tiaras before she will choose the right design, and so even though a web site can help, it is unlikely that you will make the majority of your sales this way. Offer a home visit service where you go to the brides home and she can try on tiaras in the comfort of her own home.
By Allison Galpin
Empirical Praxis Ltd