Business Name: Chez Bec
Your Name: Rebecca Doyle
Where are you based? Tunbridge Wells, Kent
What areas do you cover? Worldwide
Contact number: 0845 6520892
Website: www.chezbec.com
Tell us a bit about you … My name is Rebecca Doyle and I own and manage Chez Bec as well as being full-time Mummy to my gorgeous 3-year old twins, Max and Isabella. I also manage my new bridal boutique on a daily basis, Isabella Grace (www.isabellagracebridal.com). Chez Bec is a multi award-winning brand of bridal jewellery and wedding hair accessories. Claim to fame - we won the Best Bridal Accessories Award at the Wedding Ideas Awards 2010, 2011 & 2012.
Up until December 2005, I was a stressed out lawyer working round the clock in London. I studied Law on the advice of my school careers officer but it was such a dry subject and I never really loved studying it. After graduating with a First Class Honours in Law, I took a year out to consider other options. However, nothing obvious sprang to mind so, almost resignedly, I applied to two top law firms and came back from an interview with one of them to find an answer-phone message offering me a job. After a couple of years spent training and another two years working in corporate finance I was working crazy 90-100 hours a week and working under intense pressure which all came with the territory. But the crunch came when my boyfriend (now my husband) booked a holiday to Antigua in early 2005 and my law firm gave me a BlackBerry so I could be contacted at all times. And contacted at all times I was! I realised that despite the kudos, the career progression and the fantastic salary, this was not how I wanted to live my life and in September 2005 I handed in my notice. Ever since I was a little girl, I had cultivated a love of jewellery and I used to shadow my mum, an antique jewellery dealer, at shows and fairs for years. I used to love visiting the flea markets with my mum and I used to spend my pocket money there. Once I bought a silver locket and I sold it in my mum’s shop in Tetbury. A man bought it for his fiancée for Valentine’s Day. That was my first sale! I was seven years old! The never-forgotten kick from this sale, plus a love of pearls, trinkets, accessories and pretty things, together with a wealth of business knowledge gained from my years as a lawyer, put me on a clear and determined path. I knew I wanted to set up my own jewellery business. It was obvious to me that it should be an online business. When I was a lawyer, the ridiculous hours meant that I never had time to go shopping. So I became queen of internet browsing and online purchasing! The relatively low start-up cost of an online shop as opposed to taking premises was a huge incentive, too, and meant that I could get up and running quickly. So in September 2006, 9 months after I left my job as a lawyer, Chez Bec was born. And I’ve never once looked back.
Tell us a bit about your business and what you offer … Chez Bec is a UK-based designer and manufacturer of wedding jewellery and bridal hair accessories. Each and every product from Chez Bec is beautifully designed and hand-made using the finest A-grade freshwater pearls and Swarovski crystals. With one of the largest collections of bridal jewellery available in the UK, Chez Bec offers a beautiful array of wedding jewellery and bridal hair accessories.
Chez Bec launched in 2006 and is now regarded as one of the UK's leading providers of Wedding Jewellery & Bridal Accessories having won the Award for Best Bridal Accessories at the Wedding Awards 2010, 2011 & 2012. Chez Bec also won The Sheerluxe Online Shopping Awards 2012 for Wedding Jewellery.
Why are you different?
We eat, sleep, drink and eat Weddings and pride ourselves on our excellent customer service. Nothing is ever too much trouble for our brides and we are always going the extra mile for them. We allow brides to customise their jewellery to suit their colour schemes and we offer the entire colour range of Swarovski crystal and pearl colours. Brides can have necklace and bracelets made to a specific length to suit them and earring fittings can be changed as required. We are also able to make totally bespoke pieces for brides who are looking for something very specific. This year we made a pearl bracelet with a locket on for a groom to give to his bride on her wedding day. The bride's father had sadly passed away a month before the wedding and the groom wanted the bride to have a reminder of her father on her wedding day. So we made a bespoke locket with a photo of the bride's father in so that she could walk down the aisle on her wedding day with her father still with her.
What inspires you and where do you find your inspiration?
I take inspiration from the bridal shows and the leading dress designers’ new collections and use those to spot the forthcoming trends. I also take inspiration from the wonders of Mother Nature and the style of the Hollywood greats. I’m a big fan of the classic films and the bygone era of old-style glitz and glamour.
What top tip, relevant to your service area, do you have for couples tying the knot?
Your wedding day is the one day in your life where you get to choose exactly what you want. It’s your day and no one elses. You will never be able to please everyone all of the time so do what you want to do and everyone will respect you for it.
What one supplier would you recommend and where can we find them?
Wedding Ideas Magazine! It’s a fabulous monthly wedding bible packed with literally thousands of tips and ideas and inspiration for your big day. I used it when planning my own Wedding 6 years ago and I recommend it to all of our brides now!
Gorgeous pieces ... I wonder what I would pick if I was getting married?!
Until next time ...
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