Hello and welcome back to the MaeMe Bridal podcast. I’m your host Melissa Estess, and today we are talking about what we know thus far about the Corona Virus and how it will impact the bridal industry. As a registered nurse turn bridal boutique owner, I can definitely see both the infectious disease conservative recommendations as a necessity for our country and moving forward with as much precaution as possible, as well as the concern for the economy and small business owners who will be effected by such regulations… so, I will do my best to be as transparent as possible as we navigate the current situation together.First and foremost, we as a company do not operate out of fear. We will continue to make wise, cautious and calculated decisions, as we always do. We are continuing to maintain a clean, organized, and calm environment. We have a strict employee policy that keeps anyone home that has any type of fever or flu-like symptoms with paid time off as to encourage staff to stay home when they are under the weather. We are expanding that policy to include if anyone in their home has a fever, we will require them to stay home. As such, we will encourage our clientele to follow the same restrictions. We will encourage our brides to limit the guests they bring with them to the boutique for the same reasoning, less chance of spreading germs. Again, check with your guests before the appointment and encourage anyone who isn’t feeling well to stay home. This is just generalized best practice! We know how important it is to include ALL of your loved ones, so if anyone is not able to attend your appointment when you find your dream dress, we would be happy to accommodate them with a celebration appointment so you can bring them back in boutique at a later date to show them your dress and toast with champagne! The boutique is cleaned every day, and we will continue to provide the same attention to detail and cleanliness as always. The real risk with any type of virus is the spread from person to person. We’ve had a few people ask if their wedding dress might have the virus somehow “in” it, and the answer is no. The virus can not live on a surface for longer than 12 hours, so the answer is no!We work with exceptional designers who work with integrity, quality, responsibility and extremely high standards. We have NEVER in 10 years missed a wedding date, and we intend to continue on that journey! Our designers have warehouses, manufacturing facilities, and headquarters all over the world, including Europe, Asia, Canada, and the US. Designers are prioritizing orders and ship dates based on brides’ wedding dates and urgency of orders. At this time, we are not experiencing large delays. Currently, the travel ban does not include cargo, so orders are still being delivered on time. For our 2020 brides, rest assured. If you’ve said YES to your dress, Your orders have been placed, and our factories are currently up and running, working on your dress! All estimated delivery dates are still on track. If you have not said YES to your dress yet, and you are concerned that your wedding date is quickly approaching and you do not have a dress, our inventory is all available to purchase off the rack, and you can take your dream dress home with you any day! We have dresses ranging from sizes 8-32.Due to the global impact the corona virus may have, lead times on new gown orders may be longer than the usual 4-6 months. As a precaution, we are encouraging all 2021 brides to order your wedding gown 10-12 months in advance of your wedding to ensure ample time for your gown to be produced, shipped, and altered. We will continue to update our customers as we have more information, and I am more than happy to discuss any concerns or questions you may have with you! Xoxo,Melissa

MaeMe Bridal Podcast

#9: Corona Virus and the impact on the bridal industry

Top 5 Tips for the Engaged Bride:1. Tiny changes create remarkable results! Start small with any new habit you are working to form leading up to the BIG DAY. Many brides use the opportunity of their wedding to try to establish new habits like taking on an exercise routine or trying to develop a healthy eating habit. We definitely acknowledge the truth that every bride wants to feel her best, so if you want to ensure your habits stick leading up to walking down the aisle, you must be strategic in your approach.Goldilocks Rule - humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities. Not too hard. Not too easy, but just right. When something is too hard, we lose motivation, and quit. When something is too easy, we get bored, and quit. 2. Make Self Care a priority! Unfortunately for brides, decisions regarding the big day can increase stress levels. The definition of Self Care is the practice of safeguarding one’s happiness. There are so many joyous moments during wedding planning, so putting a Self Care practice into place just makes sure you feel that joy instead of letting stress overwhelm you!A Self Care practice can be so many things, and what works for you may not work for other brides. A few examples include journaling, morning routine, meditation,devotionals, going for a run, yoga, listening to music, date night with fiancé, walking innature, taking a nap, getting a massage/manicure, etc.When you are making big decisions, it can be draining! It is important that you spendtime with yourself to destress and to gain clarity on what your goals are but also torecharge after potentially difficult conversations or stressful discussions! If you knowthat you have a budget conversation coming up, schedule in some time just for you onthat same day or the day after. There may be a time during wedding planning that doesn’t go exactly the way youwanted. Maybe a vendor fell through or you have to rework your budget. These thingshappen and are a completely normal part of wedding planning. But you must learn todeal with these bumps in the road! If you start putting self care practices into place now,you can have a good game plan when these stressful situations come up.3. Create a wedding week agenda for yourself. For the week leading up to the wedding,everything is in motion. Vendors will be calling, you’ll have nail appts and bridal luncheonsscheduled. You don’t need to be worried about what to wear or pack or what time you need to be places. You and your fiancé are the star of the show, so allow yourself to be treated like one! Celebrities have personal assistants that tell them what to wear, what to pack and where to be down to the minute. You may be lucky enough to have a personal assistant, but if you don’t, you can do the legwork ahead of time so that you don’t have to do any critical decision making during the week leading up to your wedding.4.  Accountability – Everyone deals with holding themselves accountable, but there are certain strategies that can be extremely helpful in sticking to your goals.Strategy of MonitoringStrategy of SchedulingStrategy of AccountabilityStrategy of Convenience5. Balance- A healthy combination of self improvement and self care! Think about them as the offense and defense of your personal progress! You need both to really be in the game, but it's important to have a healthy combination of them both! To hear more from Stephanie, check out Bloom Life Coaching! 

#8: 5 Tips from Bloom Life Coaching on being your best self

Hi friends, and welcome back to the MaeMe Bridal podcast. I’m your host Melissa Estess, and today, I’m super excited to introduce you to one of my extremely talented friends, who I have the pleasure of also working with, Heidi Hull! Heidi is a jewelry designer and creates many custom jewelry pieces for MaeMe and brides across the country. Her collection can be found exclusively at MaeMe in the southern region! While her jewelry is absolutely breathtaking and made with precious materials and handcrafted for each bride by hand… the ministry behind the jewelry is the real story! So, let me give you a little background on my friend, Heidi! She lives in Washington State and her and her husband have 2 beautiful little girls. Heidi’s passion for art and design brought her to New Zealand, where she was teaching art classes, which led to a love for jewelry making. She knew that she enjoyed making jewelry, but the Lord placed on her heart a deeper calling for her work, something more meaningful, something more impactful. Her passion has always been helping vulnerable populations locally, which has now expanded to Thailand and Cambodia. After many years of bringing involved in fighting human trafficking locally, Heidi had the opportunity to visit Asia and experience what trafficking looks like abroad. She has sense partnered with a non-profit organization that helps women trapped in human trafficking in Thailand. Heidi Hull Designs, together with Not Abandoned, the non profit already established in Thailand, just completed a huge project, the build of a brand new employment center in Thailand- a place where survivors of human trafficking can find safe housing, learn valuable skills and trades, and secure a job and earn a living wage. Last year, Heidi began training women at the facility to manufacture a portion of her bridal jewelry line of accessories. Their first products are now completed and being sold in boutiques across the United States, MaeMe being one of her parter retailers! We are excited to announce that Heidi’s jewelry line is providing an opportunity for these women to experience independence, purpose, and freedom from abuse. Heidi’s dream is that through this partnership, women who have been trafficked can find hope and a new beginning. You know, something I’ve learned about people, is we all just want connection, and purpose, and to be loved. My staff. My brides. Women in Thailand… we’re all the same, and it is an absolute privilege to choose to partner with such a beautiful soul, literally serving others, the hands and feet, for the purpose of freedom for others. It literally doesn’t get any more purposeful than that! Okay, now that I’m basically crying telling you her story, listen to the podcast to learn more about Heidi's jewelry at MaeMe and what brides can expect from her in the upcoming seasons! 

#7: Heidi Hull Designs | Jewelry with a mission

Happy New Year to all our brides to be! I am so excited about all the recent engagements over the holidays and the continued engagements we will see through the upcoming weeks with Valentine's day quickly approaching! I thought it would be a great opportunity to congratulate all the brides-to-be and take this opportunity to encourage you in your wedding planning journey: connect with your significant other and set goals and priorities for your wedding, be intentional, avoid the trap of comparison, and remember your wedding day it to celebrate your marriage (so stay focused on the marriage and commitment to love, honor and respect one another!) Check out the complete show notes on the blog at https://maemebridal.com/blog/podcast-6-planning-your-wedding-with-intentionality/Thanks for tuning in! Xoxo,Melissa

#6: New Year, New Engagements!

Hi there and welcome to the MaeMe Bridal podcast. I’m your host Melissa Estess, and I’m super excited your are joining me today because today we are going to talk about the finishes touches to your wedding day look and everything you need to know about veils, hair accessories and jewelry!So, if you’ve been following our podcast, in previous episodes, I’ve really focused mostly on the wedding dress and all the things there are to know about the dress itself! And, sometimes, the dress is all a bride can commit to during her bridal appointment. I mean, let’s face it, saying YES to the dress is a huge win! And we fully understand how much pressure there is to find THE dress out of the hundreds of beautiful wedding gowns; however, we strongly recommend trying on veils and jewelry and headpieces with your gown so that we can see the entire ensemble together! And yes, there are a lot of different options and details to know about veils and jewelry, so we encourage our brides to schedule styling appointments! You will get to work one on one with your expert stylist who will walk you through all of your options and help put the finishing touches on your bridal look!

#5: Adding the finishing touches to your wedding day look!

Welcome back to the MaeMe Bridal Podcast. I’m super excited about this episode because we have a very special guest with us today, Michelle from the Justin Alexander Bridal Company! She is here to talk about bridal fashion trends for 2020.Before we jump into fashion, let me introduce Michelle to you guys! She was born and raised right here in New Orleans and was first introduced to the bridal industry right here at MaeMe as a bridal stylist! During her time at MaeMe, she got engaged and became a #maemebride herself, and then became the store manager. After a few years, she relocated to the New York area and became part of the Justin Alexander bridal team, working with boutiques for special events, trunk shows, wedding dress selection and review, and brand awareness. So, here we are, full circle! Michelle is back at MaeMe to discuss what we can expect to see from the wedding industry in 2020! 

#4: Wedding Dress Trends for 2020 with Michelle from Justin Alexander

I’m so excited that your are joining us today because we are going to follow up on Part 1 of our “Going beyond the basics of wedding dress shopping” episode from last week, and today, I am going to answer all your questions about wedding gown customizations, wedding gown pricing and extras, and what to expect after you say YES to your dream dress! I have found that by educating and empowering our brides and reducing the unknown, we can almost eliminate our bride’s fears and anxieties about shopping for their wedding dress. So, I am going to do my absolute best to equip you with all the details associated with wedding dress customizations, additional costs, fees, and what happens after you say YES to your dress! If you missed last week’s Part 1 episode in this series, I highly recommend that you go back and listen. We discussed wedding gown construction, measurements, and touched on customizations. Head over to www.maemebridal.com and click on the blog section. You’ll find all the previous podcast episodes along with easy to follow show notes.Okay, so let’s jump into wedding gown customization and what is available for a bride like you! Bridal gown customizations can be as simple as changing a gown’s neckline from sweetheart to a v neck, or as intricate as changing the silhouette of a dress, taking the top front of a dress and combining it with the back of another dress, changing the lace pattern, adding a longer train or removing it all together, adding or removing beading, changing the fullness of the skirt, changing the fabric of the skirt…and the list goes on! It is important to know what type of shopper you are!Listen to the full episode for more details on wedding gown customizations and what to expect after you say YES to your dream wedding dress! 

#3: Going beyond the basics of wedding dress shopping | Part 2

We polled brides who have purchased wedding dresses from MaeMe and asked them how they felt about wedding dress shopping prior to coming to MaeMe. We offered them the following options for responses: Excited, Nervous, or Frightened. 67% of brides admitted to being nervous or worse, and only 30% of brides were excited... so, if we see 2000 brides a year shopping at The Bridal Boutique by MaeMe for their wedding dress, that means that 1400 brides a year are walking in scared! After following up with the brides who responded to our poll, we found out that after visiting the boutique and gaining some knowledge about wedding dresses and meeting our staff, they felt much more at ease and comfortable and their attitude totally shifted! SO, I figured, why not empower and educate brides before they come into the boutique, so instead of having 1400 brides a year terrified to shop, we can have 1400 more brides excited about their special moment! So, tune in to part 1 of our current series, where I discuss construction, measurements, and customization options for wedding dresses! Enjoy! 

#2: Going beyond the basics of wedding dress shopping | Part 1

Hey there, and welcome to the MaeMe Bridal podcast. I’m your host Melissa Estess, owner and founder of The Bridal Boutique by MaeMe in New Orleans, Louisiana. I’m thrilled that you’ve tuned in because we have important things to talk about! My goal is to eliminate the fears and stress of shopping for your wedding dress and educate and encourage you to soak in this beautiful season in your life without the worry! I’m going to go over bridal basics, how to successfully say YES to your dream dress, tips and tricks to being an engaged bride, and so much more! This podcast is for engaged brides that are overwhelmed. If you are thinking, where do I even begin in this journey, trust me, you are not alone! Generally, when a bride gets engaged, she texts all her friends a picture of her ring, obviously and spends some time creating an AMAZING instagram post showing that rock on her finger… and then she usually thinks about: her wedding date, the venue, the photographer, and THE DRESS! We are going to talk about all the things you should know about wedding dress shopping and beyond to ease your fears and get you really excited about saying YES to your dream dress! For more about bridal fashion, events, and wedding industry trends, follow us online at www.maemebridal.com and on social @maemebridal.

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