Meet the esteemed wedding dress designer who has run Northampton bridal boutique for 30 years
Meet this esteemed wedding dress designer, who has successfully run her bridal boutique for more than three decades in Northampton.
Donna Salado has been designing wedding dresses since 1987 and established her shop in Abington Grove around four years later in 1991.
Donna’s Abington Grove store was already a wedding dress shop before she took it on, and her collection was even stocked there. When the previous owners decided they did not want to continue the venture, it was offered to Donna and she took the opportunity.
As well as designing and selling wedding dresses from her own shop, Donna has continued to be stocked in other bridal boutiques across the UK and Europe.
From 2010 to August last year, Donna worked as head of design for a UK bridal manufacturer – until she took on the challenge of relaunching independently with a brand new collection in March this year.
Taking on the head of design post in 2010 gave Donna the opportunity to enter the Europe bridal market, but this limited what she could create independently as her designs were copyrighted to the company she worked for.
Having relaunched independently, Donna’s latest collection has been received really well. She has travelled to trade shows and the pieces are now stocked in 15 boutiques.
Donna is building up to attend her biggest bridal trade show in September, and she is designing even more dresses to take with her in the meantime.
When asked what people admire most about her creations, Donna said: “The dresses are diverse and something different. I’m trained as a pattern cutter and the fit makes them feel special for the brides.”
During her career of more than three decades, Donna has been nominated for the UK’s best designer four times and won best wedding dress of the year around a decade ago.
Running a shop still remains a career highlight for Donna, as she considers it a privilege to help someone choose something as important as their wedding dress.
“It’s a lovely business to work in but it’s not always easy,” she said. “It’s definitely something you need to be passionate about. For my shop to have been here for so long, we must be doing something right.”
Looking to the future of Donna Salado, the founder says the business is already planning as far ahead as 2026 following interest from a bridal distributor in America. Donna also looks forward to working with more local brides from her successful store.