My Biz: North Liberty bridal shop offers hundreds of choices

Lisa Zuck said her job requires her to watch a fair amount of reality TV.

“I watch a lot of ‘Say Yes to the Dress,'” she admitted.

It's one of the ways she stays on top of bridal fashion trends, which in her role as manager of Heart to Heart Bridal & Formal in North Liberty is essential.

“I also look at the pictures brides bring in. We are really trying to be where the brides are,” Zuck said.

Brides-to-be will find a couple hundred dresses from which to choose at Heart to Heart - including several popular designer lines such as Maggie Sottero and Allure Bridal as well as the latest trends like lace and vintage.

Zuck said the bridal boutique seeks to be a one-stop-shop, offering tuxedo rental and some 400 bridesmaid dresses. Heart to Heart also just started a wedding photography business.

“We really try to help put the whole package together for them,” she said.

Zuck has worked at Heart to Heart for almost four years while she was studying floral design and event coordination at Kirkwood Community College.

But working at a bridal shop is very different from mainstream retail, Zuck said, in that it requires an extra dose of customer service.

“Brides are coming in looking for the dress of their dreams. We need to relate to their entourage and find out a lot about them, like where they are from, where their wedding will be and what theme they are going with,” she explained.

“Plus, you really have to be interested in style, fashion and weddings. If you don't love the dresses then you aren't going to be able to get a bride to love the dresses, either.”

Because the shop is located in a former church, “People get that wedding feeling right when they walk in the door,” Zuck said.

Heart to Heart, which opened in Cedar Rapids in 1996, consolidated to the North Liberty location in 2001.

The staff at Heart to Heart likes to hear from customers after their big day.

“We like seeing the pictures from their wedding,” Zuck said, “because we only see them trying on the dress. It's fun to see it all come together.”

• Name: Lisa Zuck

• Title: Manager
• Company: Heart to Heart Bridal & Formal
• Address: 1180 West Penn St., North Liberty
• Phone: (319) 665-2000
• Website: http://hearttoheartbridalandformal.com

Know a manager or company in business for more than a year that would be a good fit for “My Biz”? Contact business editor Michael Chevy Castranova at michael.castranova@sourcemedia.net