Bee-cause I love you

 

HAVE you heard the buzz about Queen Bee Bridal boutique?

 

Well, wind your way down through the twists and turns that lead to the secluded riverside hamlet of Mapledurham and there you’ll find a hive of activity.

 

That’s where Kate Norris has established her dream wedding dress business selling designer samples and pre-loved wedding dresses at some very sweet prices.

 

Despite being delayed by covid lockdowns since signing the lease two Valentine’s Days ago, Queen Bee Bridal has now been buzzing full time since last spring.

 

Kate, 43, who lives in Whitchurch Hill with partner Warren, two young children and a dog called Wiggy, says: “My first priority is that every bride, including whichever friends or family she brings along, has a fun, relaxing and magical experience with us.”

 

And it’s there in her rustic showroom, with its rafters and vaulted ceiling, that the former wedding planner is seeing the realisation of a 20-year dream.

 

No parking problems for Kate’s customers either, as they can experience their two-hour pre-booked appointment in the most tranquil of rural settings, just next door to Mapledurham’s Elizabethan Manor House and its working water mill.

 

But she says the best thing about her business is being able to share in the excitement of planning one of the most important days in a woman’s life.

 

“Choosing a wedding dress is a huge and often nerve wracking decision and being able to guide the bride through all that is an honour,” Kate says.

 

“I have a very short window to get to know my brides, their personality and what kind of bride they want to be, which is a vital part of helping them find their perfect wedding dress.”

 

Brides-to-be can bring up to three guests with them – any more than that, she says, and things can get out of hand.

 

“You have to be Team Bride 100 per cent of the time, so part of my role is to support them in their decision, even if their entourage is a bit outspoken,” says Kate.

 

“That said, it’s such a wonderful experience for friends and family that sometimes they don’t want it to end and can encourage the bride to keep shopping – even if she is happy she has found ‘the one’.

 

“Despite what you might hear, the mother of the bride or groom are usually great – if anyone can be tricky it’s the bridesmaids.” But then Kate is keen to move away from the “snooty” image of the wedding industry and make everything at Queen Bee as relaxed as possible.

 

Her philosophy seems to be working – the guests were having such a good time at one recent appointment that they didn’t even notice when the bride emerged in her wedding dress to give them the obligatory twirl.

 

Dress prices range from £850 up to £1,600. The dresses she stocks are mainly off-the-peg shop samples which have been

tried on but never worn or altered. This means the price is substantially reduced and she also sells some pre-loved dresses.

Kate says there are environmental advantages to buying practically nearly new.

 

Cloth production and transportation leave a heavy carbon footprint so it’s kinder to the environment than ordering a new gown

which was probably made abroad.

 

And because she has only one of each style, she can cater for brides with only a short time till their big day who don’t have months to wait for their order to arrive. Her customers can simply take their chosen gown away with them.

 

Queen Bee brides need also make just one single shopping trip, as Kate stocks veils, hair accessories, jewellery, lace boleros and shoes, and even offers a shoe dyeing service. The business donates £10 from every dress sold to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and each bride who buys one receives a gift of honey produced by bees from a nearby bluebell wood.

 

But Queen Bee Kate is now spreading her wings: new for 2022 will be a range of boho wedding dresses by American designer Justin Alexander for Lillian West which will be available to pre-order at the end of this month.

 

Kate took to Facebook to announce this at the same time as another piece of news – she and Warren are also getting married this year.