An East Lancashire bridalwear shop has won an award at the ‘Oscars ceremony of the wedding industry’.

Emma Hartley Bridalwear in Colne won the ‘Best Team’ award at the 2022 Bridal Buyer Awards, and even met the man who designed Princess Diana’s wedding dress.

Owner, Emma Hartley, said she and the team were “over the moon” to have won and beat five other businesses from across the UK.

She said: “They call it these awards the Oscars of the bridal industry.

"It’s quite a prestigious awards ceremony. If you are a bride or shop owner you’ll certainly know about it.

“I’ve entered nearly every year since I opened the shop and I know it’s really hard just to become a finalist let alone win it."

While accepting their award they got to meet David Emanuel, who helped to design the wedding dress of the late Princess Diana.

“We were elated and started singing ‘We are the Champions’ by Queen. We just could not believe that we won a national award,” said Emma.

Their ‘best team’ award celebrates the staff camaraderie and ability to work together in the face of adversity.

Emma said this is something she has tried to instill in her workers by setting up team building walks to Pendle Hill and treating them to trips to see Abba.

Emma said: “I want to thank my amazing team of girls. I do try really hard to make us work as a team and that appears to have paid off now we have this award.

“I try and create a nice team spirit and do nice things for them to show them I appreciate them.

“When I employ people I don’t employ sales people. I want people who have empathy and are genuinely there to find someone their perfect dress.

“We want to take our brides on a journey and my girls are genuinely passionate about making them feel good and finding them a dress that will make them light up.”

Emma said the award is the boost the team needed after the pandemic and with a recession looming.

She said: “It’s what we needed after Covid. It’s been such a nightmare for the wedding industry, even now things still haven’t gotten back to normal.

“We are still dealing with brides from two years ago who have had their big day backlogged due to the pandemic.

“It has been really tough and now we have this recession looming.

“It’s nice to spread a bit of positivity with this award. We have been here 25 years and survived previous recessions and covid – hopefully this will give some other small businesses some inspiration to carry on.”