A mum and business owner said she feels like "she's won the lottery" after being thrown a number of "curveballs."
Natalie Coleman, from Fazakerley, owns Brides By Natalie, and has recently moved premises into the first floor of a stunning church on Orrell Lane in Orrell Park. However the 40-year-old said the move has not come without its stresses and said at one point she thought she may have to give up her business.
The bridal shop owner said she has had a "successful but tough ten years in business with one thing and another", including more recently the pandemic. During lockdowns, Natalie had to close her shop completely and was making masks and scrubs for NHS workers.
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However, the mum was dealt another blow earlier this year when the landlord of her previous shop sold the building "out of the blue", leaving Natalie and her team looking for a new premises. She said her and the team only had a short timescale to vacate.
Speaking to the ECHO, she said: "We had the pandemic which was really difficult and for us we just had to shut the door. I was making masks for the NHS because I am seamstress, you know just trying to keep busy, like everybody did.
"Then I redecorated the shop, revamped it, rebranded, so we went to House of BBN, to try and get away from the Natalie because again it wasn't something that I liked. We tried to rebrand as House of BBN, we never really liked it, but you know when you're trying to do something in lockdown to keep the momentum going.
"We did that, redecorated and took some new designers on for bridal gowns which was good. Then reopened and I had a bereavement last year, so stuff happened last year. It was difficult coming back after the pandemic and all the backlog of the people who whose weddings had been cancelled.
"It wasn't easy, it was really difficult. Obviously money wise, it was hard financially to keep going. So last year was a really, really difficult year for me but I struggled on, carried on for some reason, something kept me going."
Regarding the landlord selling the building, Natalie added: "It was out the blue, as I said we just redecorated the whole shop and it was lovely. We made 10 years, but it was a shock that it happened. My husband said to me, 'you can't have anymore curveballs thrown at you Nat, maybe it is just time to walk away and get a normal job'.
"He called this a very expensive hobby, but I love it. I would never change what I do, working for myself and love just making people happy, that's the main thing I like to do."
Natalie said she struggled to find another premises due to them either being too expensive or needing a lot of work. The bridal shop owner said it was "make or break" whether to carry on the business she had ran for a decade.
She told the ECHO : "It was getting to the point where it was like make or break. I had to make a decision then whether to continue down that road and we did. We pushed through." It was then Natalie and Adele stumbled across Trinity Church on Orrell Lane and believes it was "heaven sent".
However, Natalie said getting the lease was difficult due to it being a listed building, she said: "I put it to the back of my mind because I thought I am not going to get that, that's like impossible. I can't do that, I can't sign that lease. It's too technical, I am on my own now."
But on April 28, Natalie signed the lease at the "last minute" for the "magical" premises as she was about to sign for another shop on London Road, which was smaller. Natalie said she feels like "she's won the lottery" following the difficulties she faced.
Natalie said she couldn't think of doing anything else then helping brides-to-be find their perfect dresses. She said: "It's the kind of thing, you know the saying 'if you do what you love, you won't have to work another day in your life.'
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