LL LIFE
The wedding is back on...
Marisa Rooney outside her shop
(and it’s going to be beautiful) BY ETHAN TAYLOR
A Some of the designs available at Beautiful Brides. Pictures © Marisa Rooney
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fter Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his roadmap that will see the UK out of lockdown, shop owners right across Britain could be heard rejoicing. None more so than Marisa Rooney, 37, owner of Beautiful Brides Liverpool – Liverpool’s only curvy bridal boutique, who can now reopen the doors to her store on April 12, following last week’s announcement. The Coronavirus period has been one that has affected big businesses, let alone small, self-owned businesses up and down the country, as High Street stores closed their doors for good. Despite the rough time self-made businesses have had over the past year, Marisa has kept positive and is now seeing a rise in demand for wedding dresses as people look to plan their weddings, now the number of people able to attend these events has risen from six to 15. She told Liverpool Life: “I’m seeing a demand for appointments since the announcement was made. Many brides who should have shopped last year and couldn’t, are now clambering for appointments.” Although wedding dresses take time to make, being the only curvy bridal boutique in Liverpool, Marisa will be able to offer brides ready-
made gowns quickly whilst making a profit, which will inevitably be pumped straight back into the business. She said: “Dresses take six months to make so we’ve got brides panicking in case they can’t get a dress in time. But there is a plus to this, those who need a dress quickly will be able to buy off the peg.” These gowns are samples purchased in the previous season. Whilst Marisa is keen and excited to welcome customers back to the store, she still worries that COVID-19 might disrupt her flow if she is once again forced to close, but this time she has a new way of keeping the business up and running. Marisa said: “I’m so excited to get the doors open but I still worry that we would be forced to close again, this situation is so uncertain. “But now, my new collection will also be available via E-commerce so in the event that we do close again, at least I will be able to sell dresses remotely and reach more brides nationwide as my current model only relies on brides visiting the store.” Even though the Coronavirus pandemic hasn’t been beneficial to small businesses, not just in Liverpool but around the world, Marisa has been able to take positives from it, giving herself time to think about the next steps for her company. She said: “The pandemic has given me time to breathe a little and think about how I want to develop the company over the next couple of years. I
will be releasing a collection of dresses once we open back up aimed at micro weddings as the weddings now look a lot different to the traditional ones were are all used to. “Some brides don’t want the big dress and are just looking for something a bit more simplistic and so, this is what I’m thinking of adding, this is my new demographic.” Like a lot of people, the national lockdown was tough on Marisa as her main source of income just wasn’t there anymore. It halted a lot of the progress of the business after she was forced to postpone plans and money saved had to be used. She told Liverpool Life: “The loss of income was devastating to the business on a whole. Last year, before the pandemic, I was planning on opening a design studio at the back of the premises of where the store is. That all had to go on hold as all the money that I had saved up sadly had to be used to pay the bills over the past 12 months. “I was able to furlough myself when I’ve been off but, that being said, I have only been getting 80% of my wage which really isn’t much because I don’t take a huge amount of wages from the business. Everything I earn is ploughed straight back into the shop.” One thing can definitely be said though despite the past year’s struggles, we are all excited for life to return back to normality and see all of Liverpool’s self-made businesses back up and running and flourishing.
