Bridal Buyer Awards 2024: Entries + Judging 

Celebrating the pinnacle of innovation, commitment, and excellence, the Bridal Buyer Awards stand as a premier event in the UK’s bridal industry. Renowned for their focus on unifying the diverse aspects of the industry, these awards spotlight the exceptional work and achievements that define the bridal sector.

Entries to the awards come from retailers across the UK, as well as brands and designers from around the world. With such a high calibre of entrants, it is only fitting that the judging panel is exemplary, too. Here, we will take a look at the composition of the judging panel and the process they follow to determine the winners, underscoring the transparency of the awards.

The Judging Panel

For 2024, the judging panel’s composition included 12 expert judges from varied sectors of the bridal industry. In their selection, great care and attention was paid to the specifics of their expertise in their professional backgrounds – ranging from retail and media to diversity advocacy, wedding planning, social media, and trends forecasting. 

The judges were chosen for their industry knowledge and proficiency to ensure a comprehensive evaluation of the entries:

Holly Adams: An expert in social media, managing marketing campaigns, and content creation for high-end brands including Aston Martin and Victoria’s Secret.

Sally Angharad: A material and trend consultant specialising in innovation for global brands, offering expertise in colour forecasting and design event presentations.

Nina Beer: Founder of Occasion Queens, Nina has shifted her focus from on-the-day wedding coordination to consulting for wedding venues after many successful years.

Karen Bell: With nearly two decades in the bridal industry, Karen serves as the editor of Belle Bridal Magazine, covering both digital and print media.

Zoe Burke: Editor of Hitched.co.uk and a recognised UK wedding expert, Zoe has significant experience in connecting with nearly-weds and championing wedding industry standards.

Anna-Marie DeSouza: Wedding expert and Editor of Bridal Buyer since 2017, Anna-Marie brings extensive experience with bridal retailers and designers to her role.

Megan Garmers: A seasoned business consultant and Bridal Buyer columnist, Megan focuses on simplifying technology for businesses to enhance their marketing and operational strategies.

Pippa Goulden: A small business PR specialist, Pippa empowers businesses to manage their own PR effectively, offering tools and training for success without large budgets.

Nicole Higgins: A retail expert with extensive experience at major brands like Primark and M&S, now advising start-ups and SMEs on growth and market dynamics.

Peta Hunt: A freelance fashion stylist and former editor at large of You & Your Wedding, Peta has embraced a freelance role focusing on styling and consultancy.

Angel Sinclair: Founder of Models of Diversity, Angel promotes inclusive representation in fashion, advocating for diversity in terms of race, size, age, and ability.

Joanna Southwell: Business coach for bridal designers and retailers, Joanna has a rich background in managing and growing bridal businesses, merging creativity with strategic development.

The Judging Process 

Once the entry deadline has passed, the judging of the awards begins. Each category has its own criteria, tailored to its specific focus. For example, for Interior Design of the Year, judges are asked to consider the entries in terms of the overall aesthetics, the process that went into the store’s design choices, how the design choices reflect the store’s brand, how the store might appeal to brides and make brides from all walks of life feel comfortable, and how the design offering is unique. 

Those entries that contain a good level of concise information, are laid out clearly and demonstrate appropriateness to the award often do very well. For example, for the Best Use of Social Media, it’s great to show how you work on Instagram and how this works for your store, but if you show how you have explored all the different platforms, offer a variety of different ways for you customers to connect with you and are innovative in your approach to content creation, you will likely score higher.

Judges assess the entries on an individual and confidential basis, allowing them to select their favourite entries without external influence. Independent scoring ensures fairness and integrity. Before the judges review the entries, they are screened to ensure all criteria are met – this includes complete answers to all questions, correct contact details, and required images. Entries specific to certain dates are also verified for timeliness.

The entries are then uploaded to an online judging platform, where judges are given approximately two weeks to review and score them. They select their top five entries in each category and rank them based on the criteria. The finalists are those with the highest scores, and the winner is the entry with the top score.