My Bridal Story: Nora Eve Bridal
This month, we interview Emma Swain, founder and owner of Nora Eve Bridal. She gives us an insight into her bridal journey, and what’s next for her Chesterfield-based boutique.
Name of store: Nora Eve Bridal
Store owners: Emma Swain
Location: Chesterfield
Number of years trading: 9
Brands stocked: Madi Lane, Ella Kate, Maggie Sottero, Morilee, Jolie by Berta, Savin London and Rebecca Ingram
Can you give us a little introduction to your store? How would you describe your boutique, and what makes it stand out?
Nora Eve is a haven for fashion-forward brides, offering over 100 contemporary gowns from some of the most coveted bridal designers including Madi Lane, Savin London and Maggie Sottero, as well as cool new British Label Ella Kate. Our luxury showroom in Chesterfield offers an award-winning dress shopping experience for brides looking for something extra.
What made you get into the bridal industry?
I was working as a wedding planner when the idea for Nora Eve was born, I couldn’t find anywhere super stylish to take my brides that offered the little extras to make their dress shopping experience super special. We opened in 2012 and in the past nine years Nora Eve has grown into a successful business I am truly proud of, supporting my family and showing my daughter the value and rewards of hard work as well as providing employment to a team of local women to help support their families.
I listen to feedback from our brides and my team regularly and refine our collection to ensure that Nora Eve remains a must-visit destination. We constantly review the designers and dresses we stock to make sure they meet our brides aspirations in terms of style and price point, recently introducing our Luxe Collection featuring Savin London and Jolie by Berta, as well as offering a comprehensive range of sizes so that we can continue to cater for a diverse range of brides.
What’s it been like for you and the store over past 18 months?
In early 2020 Nora Eve had been gaining momentum and we were on track for our most successful year ever, so when the pandemic hit and the boutique had to close I was worried about the effect on my business, but with the support of my business coach Louise Beukes I knew we’d be ok.
Louise helped me to make clever decisions about my business, making use of the unexpected time to work on new business ideas and invest business grants and funding wisely to ensure that Nora Eve was financially robust and a stronger brand than ever as we emerged from lockdown.
My biggest project was the creation of my own label, Ella Kate. I realised that the dreams and aspirations my brides had for their dream dress was changing, it’s not enough to be trend-setting and fashionable, designers also need to meet the demands of environmentally and socially conscious brides. Ella Kate is committed to the causes our brides find important – reducing waste, planting trees to minimize our carbon footprint, empowering women, supporting the local economy and creating unique and uber cool dresses.
I was also able to spend time reviewing the business, making the decision to move from a costly town-centre location to an exciting new premises. This will allow us to improve the customer experience even further (more news on that coming soon!) as well as create a studio space for Ella Kate so our brides can be part of the design and production process too.
You’ve recently started working with Louise Beukes – tell us more!
I started working with Louise in 2019. After attending one of her online training sessions on business finance and realising I had none of the things in place I needed, I asked for help! Initially she helped me to understand where the business was spending money and how to manage incomings and outgoings to ensure the business remained profitable and cash-flow positive all year round.
Now, for the first time, I have a proper handle on our finances and review our cashflow weekly, Louise and I have been able to work on other aspects of the business. From ensuring our branding aligns with our values and aesthetics, increasing our marketing and PR efforts and analysing sales to determine which collections to stock and how to improve our customer experience, Louise is a soundboard and sanity check that helps me to make confident decisions that move my business forward.
What’s next for yourself and Nora Eve Bridal?
I’m fortunate that over the past 18 months I’ve been able to build a team at Nora Eve that needs less input from me on a day-to-day basis and I can focus on the overall strategy. Personally that means more time to spend with my daughter, family & friends, and for Nora Eve that means some exciting creative projects! First of all designing and building out the new showroom space which opens this Autumn, and then working on the Ella Kate Studio collection which will be ready in early 2022.
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