Leanne Hamilton the best bridal gown designer in the Australian Wedding Awards

Leanne Hamilton has gone back-to-back in the Australian Wedding Awards, after being named the number one bridal gown designer in the country and runner up in the wedding gown couture category.

This is only the second year the awards have been run at a national level, and while last year's win was a massive thrill, the ceremony was held online due to COVID.

So attending the gala night in Sydney this year with hundreds of wedding industry businesses made the experience so much better.

"It's like little old me from Bathurst, and you get there and it was a bit more real this time, not just sitting here, eating Chinese and watching it online," Ms Hamilton said.

"So backing up from last year was pressure, but it was nice to get it, it meant last year wasn't just a fluke.

"It's such a big deal and watching people's Instagram stories of them flying in from Perth and South Australia made it very real."

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After winning both the designer and couture categories at a regional level, Ms Hamilton was automatically nominated for the national awards.

She said there's a large list of boxes that need to be ticked, and the organisation sends in mystery shoppers to assess each business's customer service.

The awards are about a lot more than just creating beautiful dresses for brides.

"They're really strict on how your business is run, how your phone manner is, your email etiquette, social media presence, whether or not you respond promptly to people enquiring, your website and all of the criteria that they think is important," Ms Hamilton said.

"This year they did an anonymous email that was sent out on a Sunday, and it was a bride enquiring about having a dress made.

"I happened to just be going through emails at the time, got back to her straight away and then a few days later they emailed me saying it was a mystery shopper email."

Ms Hamilton said in addition to the excitement of winning her awards, she really enjoyed the night as a whole, and loved being able to mingle with other business owners.

She thanked all of her customers for their support and is looking forward to meeting new brides this year, with her new collection having just hit the racks.

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