Sometimes a business doesn’t begin with a business plan.
Sometimes it begins with a feeling that you’re ready for something different.
After 25 years in teaching, Nicola left full-time teaching in 2022.
She'd studied art, taught art, loved making things and had always been drawn to beautiful details. So, almost without realising it, she started building something of my own.
That became Teacups & Wishes.
What started with her love of vintage grew into a wedding and event business, providing beautiful details
which then led to working with more and more wedding couples.
And she realised something.
They didn’t necessarily need someone to take over their wedding.
They just needed someone they could trust to help bring all the pieces together.
So she started offering DIY venue dressing.
And she absolutely loved it and still does.
There was something about walking into an empty room and seeing the possibilities.
Moving tables.
Creating little details.
Styling the spaces.
Making everything work together.
Watching the couple walk in and seeing their faces.
Nicola realised that transforming a space was something she really wanted to do more of.
Then came a moment that changed everything.
She was dressing a wedding where she saw styling in a completely different way.
She had the complete pleasure to meet and see the work of Mia Sylvia, and something clicked.
The fabric wasn’t simply decoration.
It could completely change a room.
It could create softness, movement, drama and atmosphere. It could make an ordinary space feel extraordinary.
And for some reason, that moment stayed with her.
Inspired by other drapists, she began attending workshops with Mia Sylvia and Mae Dae Events in wedding draping and started, on her own, experimenting, learning how fabric behaved, how to create different folds and shapes, how to work with different spaces and, most importantly, how to make draping feel intentional rather than simply putting fabric up.
And that is where Draped Elegance began.
It felt like a natural progression of everything she'd done before.
The creativity from her art background.
The attention to detail from teaching.
The wedding experience she'd gained through her vintage business.
The love of transforming spaces through DIY venue dressing.
And now, the fabric.
She didn't want Draped Elegance to be about putting up beautiful fabric for the sake of it.
She wanted to create draping that makes you stop when you walk into your room.
Something that changed the feeling of the space.
Something that felt like your wedding.
From a softly draped sweetheart table to a dramatic backdrop or a complete venue transformation, she loved seeing what can happen when you combine beautiful fabric with a little imagination.
Perhaps that’s why this feels like more than just another business to her.
It’s another chapter.
And after all those years of helping other people find their creativity, she's finally getting to explore hers in a completely different way.