Feeling fabulous on your wedding day : UKWS Interview with Nichola English

Brand new for spring 2016, The Wardrobe Provocateur, Nichola English is set to join The North East Wedding Show. Nichola runs her own styling business in Newcastle, combining both her skills to help women build their confidence, along with their wardrobe! Just before she joins us this weekend we caught up with Nichola to find out a bit more about her and how she can help brides feel fabulous on their big day.

Who was your first style icon?

In my 20’s I discovered my love of fashion and clothing, often helping to style my family and friends with outfits and hair. My mum was definitely a style inspiration of mine. I remember she would come home after a shopping trip to London or other places, with the most amazing outfits, it was like have my very own fashion show. She even had leather suits designed for her which were at the time quite fashionable!

What were your next steps after realising your interest in the industry?

I started off by spending time working in my family’s small hotel business and studying hotel and catering management, which at the time, I though was what I wanted to do. I always felt as though something was missing…fashion! I then ventured in to the retail fashion world, which allowed me to tap into my real passion. With this role I worked up and down the country in a fast paced environment where I got to experience first-hand styling and fashion, and I realised what I’d been missing.

What prompted you to become a life coach and then a style coach?

Overcoming a huge obstacle in my life, I decided not only to become a Personal stylist, but a life coach as well. I was about to face my very own major personal challenge, an incident that left me having to learn how to walk again was going to be a catalyst in setting up my own styling coaching consultancy. During the rehabilitation, I set about adding to my portfolio of experience (including Reiki healing) by becoming a qualified Life Coach and explored NLP (Neuro-linguistic programming) I had experienced life coaching first hand and just loved the concept of brining confidence into people’s wardrobes.

What would be your key advice for brides when choosing their wedding dress?

A part of what I do with my clients is Confidence Coaching. A key part of confidence is feeling comfortable in yourself. Life transformation is understanding and connecting with your own true self, valuing yourself for who you are and having the confidence to comfortably be the person you want to be. Stick with your personal style and own it, wearing clothes that make you look and feel good, that flatter your body shape are a key to dressing with confidence and clothing success. Remember if you want something glamourous then go for a big show stopping dress, if you are more laid back then a bohemian dress oozes nonchalant style. Whatever your style is, stick to it, and own it!

What would be your top tip for brides who are feeling nervous before their big day?

Try and let your big day unfold naturally, you get so focused on what your anxious on that you overlook the bigger picture, YOUR GETTING MARRIED. I have had brides who come to me to say they don’t want people to see them cry on their big day! Just relax and enjoy your day, and remember that the people who will be joining you are there because they want to celebrate your joy and happiness of your union with you. So if this involves shedding a tear or two then so be it! Brides often put a lot of pressure on themselves to be as perfect as possible on their wedding day…almost too perfect. A quick tip for calming nerves and to feel relax is to repeat positive affirmations in your head! This will keep you focused on the here and now. Try to block out the chatter in your head and repeat confident boosting pep talks which will really help you feel better. Make a note of these somewhere and refer back whenever you are feeling anxious ahead of your special day

“I am a happy and confident bride”

“This is one of the best days of my life”

“I’m so happy and grateful to be sharing this day with all of my friends and family”

Trust me…it really will help!

On top of this, make sure you are doing things aside from wedding planning, such as exercising, going out seeing friends and taking time where wedding planning chat is off the menu. It’s good to take a break and remember there is a world outside of your wedding!

What about the grooms?

For grooms my advice would be to give the bride what she wants of course All jokes aside, I think we are seeing a lot more couples sharing in the wedding planning especially with the rise of TV shows promoting grooms involvements in wedding planning like Don’t Tell The Bride . It’s great if you can share in the experience as this will not only bring you closer together, but also relieve some of the pressure brides tend to put on their own shoulders when planning a wedding. It’s good to keep the share in responsibilities 50/50 where possible.

What can we expect to see from you in 2016?

For the New Year I am aiming to do more workshops on confidence building my first one for 2016 takes place in April which is all about being the leading lady in your life.