Welcome to the first feature in our “New Year, New You” season here on LadyM Presents. January is the month of revitalisation, the path to health, wealth and happiness and how to get there. We will be reviewing beauty products, health activities, Organic products, looking at new season fashion and much much more. If you have been lucky enough to get engaged over the festive season then our first feature is right up your street.
Olivier Laudus – Accessorise your wedding
The question’s been asked, the ring is sparkling and plans are a foot for the wedding of a lifetime. The dress is being planned, the honeymoon booked, but what about the wedding accessories?
Olivier Laudus, Wedding Accessory Designer is here to help. The first Olivier Laudus collection was launched at the 2004 Olympia Wedding Show and comprised of a range of luxury designer wedding ring cushions. The label came about after the realisation that there was a real gap in the market for these, having failed to find a stylish ring cushion for Olivier’s own wedding to his wife Sangeeta. Belgian born Olivier Laudus, previously worked as a food stylist and model, he decided to focus on wedding accessory design and focussed on beautiful embroidery and lots of intricate beading to give a feeling of opulence to the cushions.
Olivier Laudus, Wedding Accessory Designer
Since then the business has grown into one of the leading online bridal accessory boutiques and is run by husband and wife team Olivier and Sangeeta Laudus. The online boutique is based in London and offers not only pieces designed by Olivier but other gorgeous bridal accessories sourced from around the world and sold under the Olivier Laudus label.
The Collections
There are three distinct collections brought together by Olivier Laudus and available at the online boutique.
Signature Collection
An exclusive collection of wedding accessories including luxury hand-beaded wedding ring cushions, guestbooks and jewellery designed by (or in conjunction with) Olivier and exclusive to the label. A bespoke service is also available.”
Colombes & Hollywood Ring Cushions, by Olivier Laudus
“We believe it is really important to follow the current bridal trends to ensure we offer a wide range of accessories that not only work with the latest dress designs and wedding themes, but also with a brides own personal preferences”, Olivier Laudus on their bespoke service.
Colombes & Princesse Guest Books, by Olivier Laudus
Boutique Collection
A collection of handpicked ready-to-wear gorgeous accessories which include stylish bridal bags, pearl and crystal jewellery, princess-style tiaras, vintage-inspired headbands, bejewelled decorative hair combs, dreamy flower clips, sparkly diamante monogram cake toppers and even ivory heart-shaped umbrellas.
Ella & Gigi side headbands, by Olivier Laudus
Fleur & Angelique Tiaras, by Olivier Laudus
Olivier and Sangeeta absolutely love the vintage-inspired pieces in their Boutique Collection, “it’s hard to find a favourite piece but we really like side headbands”. The way some of these pieces incorporate different shaped crystals and textures is absolutely breathtaking and in addition they have allowed brides who aren’t too keen on classic princess-style tiaras to still wear something in their hair which works with their own style.
Wedding Brooches, by Olivier Laudus
- Gigi wedding brooch – dress brooch or hair accessory
- 200 stars brooch
Artisan Collection
Olivier and Sangeeta are proud to work with independent UK based designers and offer the Artisan Collection of unique handmade pieces of jewellery and tiaras.
We asked co-owner Sangeeta a few questions about the Bridal Accessories Business:
Q: How have you seen the bridal jewellery industry or trends change in the last few years?
A: Brides have a lot more choice nowadays then when we started. Therefore the emergence of blogs in addition to traditional channels of information (e.g. wedding shows and magazines) is fantastic as it can be really overwhelming for brides to be to know where to start or to find their personal style so having these resources is great!
In relation to trends we have found brides seem to be opting more for style and elegance and actually preferring to bring out the sparkle with statement accessories rather than a fussy dress.
Interestingly, also for many years the majority of clients would opt for silver accessories but we noticed a marked change last year with a lot more wanting either gold embroidery for their cushions or their accessories. We think gold is definitely back and works really well with deep red and purple themed weddings.
Wedding Favours & Gifts, by Olivier Laudus
Q: What’s the most rewarding part of your work? What is your greatest accomplishment so far?
A: One of my initiatives this year was to offer clients individual style consultations which have been really successful. It’s a part of the business that I really love, advising and helping a client decide on the best accessories for them and the best part of the job is when they send pictures after the wedding and you can see how everything went together and how beautiful they looked on their big day!
We are also thrilled to be featured in lots of magazines and blogs and we still get as excited as the first time we saw ourselves in a magazine as we do now. Its very rewarding to know others like what we do and also interesting to see which pieces appeal as we are so close to our work an objective view is very much appreciated.
“Stylish accessories with a designer quality and feel, at affordable prices”.
Q: What is next for Olivier Laudus? What are your goals for 2011?
A: We have been working hard on our own luxury bridal jewellery collection and had a beautiful lifestyle shoot done earlier this year with a gorgeous model to showcase the new pieces. Collection to be launched this month. We are also currently in discussions to open a Central London bridal consultation studio in the early part of 2011.
Exclusive Discount
LadyM Presents readers can get a fabulous 10% discount off any purchase made at Olivier Laudus until 31 March 2011 simply by using the code “LadyM10″ at the checkout.
