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n experience you have waited your whole life for.We do short evening dresses it in a way I feel is unique.Q: How do you market your business?The most powerful tool for me is referral.Nothing is stronger.You don’t just choose someone from a phone book anymore.Brown does do some advertising in wedding and other magazines locally.I try to focus on a high level of customer service and word of mouth.Q: What was your background before getting into the bridal business?Brown earned a degree in interior design but had an eye on having her own business.Several years ago Brown was helping her mother open a wedding event space in the Paola, Kan.We got a phone call from Sandy’s Bridal that was interested in selling me their business.She put her other activities on hold and bought the business in 2007, right in the middle of the banking crisis.Brown’s husband helped with financing the purchase.Brown had never been in the bridal industry, so she quickly found a mentor.I fell into a great relationship with one of the managers there.That’s unique and not common.We’re best friends, and she’s still my right hand person today.The shop was in an older building, and Brown was concerned about whether it was the right location.Yet, the new location wasn’t the answer either.The drive was becoming too much for people from the metro area to come out to us.People would come here first, look for what they wanted and buy somewhere closer.In 2010, Brown made the decision to move her store closer in to the area at West 135th Street and Roe Boulevard.CommunityAmerica Credit Union financed her move and the business itself.Q: What was your next move?Brown was at the West 135 Street location for five years.Before long, it was time for another move.It had always been my goal to purchase a location and own the property.Brown looked around for some time and was about to give up the search.I called and it was the perfect price and location for me.Brown did all of the negotiating on the former event space herself, closing on the property in August of evening dresses last year.She spent the past 10 months renovating the space.I had to put in three new heating and cooling units; every wall had to be redone.Brown hired an architect and the contractor.But she was so easy to deal with because she got it.Now it looks like something you would find downtown with reclaimed brick walls, open ceiling and wood floors.Brown is leasing out 1,000 square feet to Bella Hair Company, which gives her an additional revenue stream.It’s a good marriage between the two businesses.We have a vestibule where they can see both.Q: There are so many wedding dresses out there.How do you choose inventory?Emily Hart Bridal carries about 800 dresses in its store including bridesmaid, mother of the bride and flower girl gowns.to select her inventory.This year she added special occasion dresses as well.Perhaps the biggest development has been the creation of her own design line, called Emmaline.Because girls were coming in saying they wanted to customize dresses and vendors couldn’t do that, I started doing customized dresses that no one else has.Most of my inventory today is my line.We do 24 dresses a year that I actually sketch.Once a gown is designed, Brown turns it to her team of seamstresses to make the dress.She also sells her line wholesale nationally and internationally.She said today 80 percent of her sales come from custom-designed gowns.Q: What is your greatest challenge?Because I am a small business I don’t have the benefits that bigger companies can offer, and it’s retail so you have to work on weekends.Brown said she tries to address the issue by providing a good work environment.Brown makes a point of showing appreciation for her employees.To avoid problems, Brown takes extra care in hiring.I have them go online and look at all of our reviews.I want them to be able to relate to customers.I can train them on the rest.IN A NUTSHELLCOMPANY: Emily Hart BridalADDRESS: 12450 Blue Valley Parkway, Overland ParkWEB SITE: www.Social pressures and skyrocketing prices of jewellery and couture, especially embroidered and sequined bridal evening dresses wear, have given birth to the business of renting bridal dresses and even jewellery in Pakistan.If bought from a designer the minimum price is 200,000 rupees and top designers charge up to 1,000,000 rupees.For many residents of Islamabad, a city known for being Pakistan s most expensive, it is a norm to head to bazaars of neighbouring Rawalpindi for more affordable prices.There was more variety in Rawalpindi but even there, no bridal dress was available for less than 20,000 rupees, she said.Places such as Tench Bhatta are even cheaper, he said.The minimum rent for these dresses is 500 rupees and goes up, according to style and quality of beadwork.So we decided to rent a dress, she said.It is good sense as such a dress is worn very occasionally and so investing money in a dress seems like too much of a luxury, he said.Luisa chose a 1950s style dress for her big day, held at the same registry office they celebrated their civil ceremony at in 2006.The soap star looked gorgeous in the full-skirted number paired with red satin heels to coordinate with the dress' sash.So cute: Luisa announced the news on Twitter alongside a photograph of a sign which reads, 'Happily ever after starts here', followed by an arrowHer bride meanwhile chose a more traditional floor-length gown with a sparkling belt.The couple revealed that they walked down the aisle with their two adopted daughters aged 12 and 13, who acted as bridesmaids.We walked down the aisle holding hands and our girls, who were our bridesmaids, walked behind us holding hands,' Luisa told OK!To walk down the aisle with our girls was so beautiful.They do: Luisa and her long-term partner, who share two adopted daughters, have been in a relationship for 16 years and held a civil ceremony in 2006 Read the full story in this week's OK!Magazine - out nowLuisa added that she and her wife were emotional all day, confessing ‘we c