Beccles woman launches event hire business Vintage Chic

Ali Manns, of Wheatacre, near Beccles, was due to marry Col Manns in 2020 before the pandemic struck.

The pair postponed the occasion after the future Mrs Manns had spent two years making decorations for their special day.

So Mrs Manns continued making decorations for an additional two years before on June 3, 2022, the pair were finally able to tie the knot.

It led to Mrs Manns forming her Vintage Chic Event Hire venture, which covers weddings and other special occasions.

She said: "We hosted the wedding on my mum's farm in Ellough, I decorated out the sheds and cattle trailers with items I had made by hand during the lockdowns.

"It was the most special day marrying the man of my dreams, we invited everyone we knew and loved and had a wonderful time, just amazing.

"Afterwards people said to me 'why don't you do this for a business yourself, setting up other people's special days how they desire'?

"From this point on I thought yes, let's try it, and Vintage Chic was born."

READ MORE: Friends 'excited' to fulfil dream of running own coffee shop 

Col and Ali pictured on their wedding day (Image: Submitted)

The vintage bike is available for hire, Mrs Manns and her family were issuing free ice creams to guests at the showroom's grand opening last weekend (Image: Submitted)

Mrs Manns' event hire business boasts a recently opened unit on the Ellough Industrial Estate, where she has decorated a showroom.

She says she is "so passionate" to make Vintage Chic a success and run it alongside her other business, Ali's Sweet Dreamz, which she runs from home and delivers all over the UK.

READ MORE: New dessert parlour sees family-run Sweeties empire grow

Mrs Manns has handmade most of the decorations which are available for hire and they are available to see at her showroom in Ellough, near Beccles (Image: Submitted)

The decorations were made in the two years between postponing her wedding in 2020 and finally marrying Mr Manns in June 2022 (Image: Submitted)

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The 46-year-old said: "I have been running my sweet business for nine years now, I launched when I was a single parent working the bar.

"I was determined to make something of myself for my children and I am so proud of how I have managed to grow that, from selling a few sweets here and there to working festivals.

"It does give me confidence that I can make this latest venture work, but it is not going to be easy, but I am passionate, committed and will give my all."

Mrs Manns already has an up-and-running sweet business which she launched 9 years ago, Ali's Sweet Dreamz, which tours events and festivals (Image: Submitted)

Mrs Manns pictured on her wedding day with six of her children and her grandson (Image: Submitted)

Mrs Manns says it is rewarding to bring joy to other people (Image: Submitted)

Mrs Mann's can cover ALL kinds of occasions and events (Image: Submitted)