VIDEO: Company Creates Kate Doll By Noon On Royal Wedding Day

On Royal Wedding Day, it took just five hours for designers at the Bradford Exchange to copy Kate Middleton's bridal gown and put up a collectible doll for sale on the company's website.

Bradford, which has been in Niles for over four decades selling artist- and artisan-created plates, dolls and other collectibles, mobilized 20 employees to come in between 3 and 4 a.m. to watch the wedding. They created the doll prototype in record time to capitalize on sales while fervor over the nuptials ran high.  

"We had to do it quickly, and we had to make sure it was done superbly," said Leslie Joyce, corporate vice president and general manager of the Bradford Group. 

They wanted to strike while spectators were still exuberant about the details of the gala event.

"There was so much memorabilia, and we wanted to make sure we were one of the first ones out there," said Deb Kobak, divisional director of product development for the Bradford Group.

The company had already issued a Kate doll in a sapphire blue engagement dress, as well as a collectible plate and a reproduction of the new princess' engagement ring. And a sculptor had already created a likeness of Kate for the wedding doll.

But on Wedding Day, it fell to designer Dee Gvozden, seamstress Yerman Romero and their teammates to sketch, create and sew the new princess' bridal gown, as well as her tiara and veil, and reproduce her hairstyle in order to create a prototype doll.

By noon, the Bradford website listed the doll for sale at $149.99, complete with a high-quality photo and a detailed description of Princess Catherine's ensemble and appearance.

"People started ordering that very first day," Joyce said. The rush was worth it, she added, to get customers a little bit of history in a timely manner.