Member Article

Entrepreneurs launch boutique bridal business in the heart of Northumberland

After relaxing on loungers on a sunny afternoon in Benidorm, a seed of an idea came to mind to two local ladies. Bedlington would be the ideal place to open a bridal boutique!

Wendy Harrison, along with her friend Carole Kearney wanted to make this happen. Wendy had just been battling six months of breast cancer treatment, hence the holiday, and now it was time to get back to what we knew best. Cancer did not win!!

So here we are three months later, we opened Sew Couture Bridal, our beautiful boutique on Front Street in the heart of Bedlington, where Wendy was born, and Carole now lives. They have now also been joined by Wendy’s sister, Linda MacKenzie a former Head of Year at a local High School.

The team come from different career background’s; Wendy is the expert seamstress who started sewing at the age 12 with her Mum teaching her at home. She made her first wedding dress at 18 and this was the start of her passion for bridal. Her career in bridal started from there and she has gained many years of knowledge within the industry. She also owned her own bridal shop in Blyth which many of you may remember.

Linda also learned the art of sewing from her Mum but took a different path into a career in education until her recent retirement.

Carole’s career spanned 26 years in HR with a national utility company, and after retirement has been involved in Bridal for over 10 years. So, the team have an extensive knowledge of bridal and business to fall back on.

Sew Couture Bridal specialize in ‘off the peg’ designer dresses at discount prices.
This was strategic decision as they found that a bride’s budget is often unchanged from 10 year ago.
They are much more budget conscious but don’t want compromise on the gown. This is where Sew Couture pride themselves in offering quality gowns in a reasonable price range of up to £1000. Not only this but they offer an in-house alteration service for all brides, bridesmaids and mother of the bride even if they have not purchased from them.

They pride themselves with high standards of customer service as they know how important it is to make a bride’s day special and take away some the stress. They are now open for business 6 days a week; no appointment necessary.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sew Couture Bridal .