Inside Minnesota's first Black-owned bridal boutique
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- It's the first of its kind, and it's absolutely beautiful.
A new bridal shop in Minnesota is making dreams come true in several important ways.
It sits in St. Paul, upon the corner of the historic Pioneer Endicott building -- and historic it is. La Noire Bridal is the first Black-owned bridal boutique in Minnesota.
"It's so hard. It's a lot of pressure but I am telling you right now, it just feels so good," manager Lorraine Love said.
It's a dream she didn't even know she had. Love was dress shopping in Atlanta with a friend when she realized Minnesota also needs Black-owned wedding dress shops.
"I found that there wasn't any Black-owned bridal shops and so I think that excited me even more to make this happen," she said.
And make it happen she did. She curated a collection of dresses ranging in price. Her collection is objectively beautiful and deeply thoughtful.
"It was important for me to have cocoa lining inside of the dresses to match the skin tone of different brides coming in," Love said. "You don't often see lining like this in bridal gowns ... These details matter so much."
There's a lot of depth to her choices and to her geography. Her St. Paul shop is a short drive from the Rondo neighborhood where she grew up, a thriving African American neighborhood that was decimated by construction in the '60s.
So she is writing a new kind of history.
"I am excited to fill that gap and establish ground here in Minnesota," Love said.
La Noire Bridal -- a symbol of beauty and so much more -- is open for appointments. They host private parties for brides and their loved ones so they can have a party as they watch.