about
ELLIE
Hello. This is me, Ellie, and this is our story and a bit about me.
When I opened Ellie Sanderson in 2007 I felt that wedding dress shopping lacked the finesse of a luxury shopping experience.It was formal and not fun, stuffy instead of lighthearted and totally outdated.
Since then I have spent sixteen years creating Boutiques that are beautiful experiential environments, developed a team of stylists that are both fashion conscious, and stylish and totally knowledgeable about their craft.
My Values
I have taken years trying to achieve the right work life balance, not just for me but also my team. The wellbeing of my team is important to me as Bridal is a stressful, exciting and very busy industry.
With an all female team we support each other brilliantly, covering last minute holidays or days off and just being there for one another . We’ve been through a lot over the last 16 years. We have literally had 8 weddings, 2 divorces, 6 births, house moves, shop relocations the lot!
As a leader my team say I am firm but fair and that I take no prisoners in business. They also know my soft side and that my family is everything to me and I respect and value their family time too. I offer flexible working hours to ensure that my girls can be mothers and have a career (occasionally we have a baby somewhere in the shop)and that I get to keep their brilliant skills in my business.
ellie x
Our unique
approach
DRESSING BRIDES SINCE 2007
We’re proud to be one of the most well-known and respected bridalwear businesses in the UK.
It helps that I am a wedding dress obsessive and I have loved bridal fashion for many years. At 16 years old we are elated to have won over 26 National awards and we were crowned the UKs top longstanding Bridal retailer in 2020/21. I write for the trade and national magazines and am an avid campaigner on slowing down fast fashion, which is bridal. I am a judge for a number of the Bridal Industry awards, with the highlight being the TWIA awards.
I am driven by an unwavering commitment to deliver the best possible shopping experience for my brides underpinned by the best fitting and alterations service.
Each designer that I have in my studios are handpicked, firstly for their forward thinking design vision and secondly their unbending desire to deliver the best quality, fit and service.
We have an enviable edit of dresses and designers that has brides driving hundreds of miles to try on.
Voted the UK’s top long-standing BRIDAL RETAILER 2020/21
We’ve won so many awards that I couldn’t possibly list them all but here are just a few highlights which we are very proud of.
- WINNER – THE ENGLISH WEDDING AWARDS 2016
- WINNER – PERFECT WEDDING AWARDS 2014
- WINNER – WEDDING INDUSTRY AWARDS 2012
- WINNER – FOUR COUNTIES WEDDING AWARDS
Meet the GIRLS
SARAH – BUSINESS MANAGER
Sarah joined me over 8 years ago and is now my full time business manager. She is an incredible boss to both me and the team !! (I let her think she’s in charge but we know deep down it’s me)
Sarah leads our Managers and our stylists team, her energy levels and her enthusiasm are contagious and on a par with mine which is probably why we get on so well.
She is a huge advocate of body positivity and inclusivity and we both believe in creating a positive, happy and energetic place of work. I know our brides feel the vibe and atmosphere when they shop with us too.
Sarah is also obsessed with bridal fashion (let’s face it you have to be in this line of work).
She has crushes on many labels and relentlessly stalks the newest hottest designers from around the world.
We are utterly obsessed with luxurious wedding dresses, unique customer experience & we love a happy ending.
In the MEDIA
I’ve had some fun featuring on several televsion programmes and you can catch them all here.
