Bridal belts are pictured at Brides & Belles of Tyler Tuesday Feb. 23, 2016. The store sells wedding attire as well as prom dresses. (Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

When JoAnn Owers became the manager of Brides & Belles of Tyler in 1986, she could not have imagined that in just a few years she would own the bridal shop.

About 1991, the owners of the shop were looking to sell and asked Mrs. Owers if she would be interested in purchasing the business.

Owers, who was a newlywed, said she and her husband had just purchased a home and didn’t have any extra funds at the time. But, through a loan from a bank and her father, she was able to purchase the business.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary this month, Brides & Belles of Tyler is a full service bridal shop that has continued to expand and offers brides-to-be – as well as girls looking for gowns to help them shine at their prom – everything they need for their big day.

“I don’t have a dress in my store that I don’t think is beautiful,” Mrs. Owers said. “We just have to find the right girl for it.”

The shop, 3524 South Broadway Ave, features about 800 styles of wedding dresses, 500 styles of bridesmaid’s dresses and is 6600 square feet. The shop also carries dresses for the mother of the bride and a large range of shoes and accessories.

Mrs. Owers has worked at the store since the year it opened and has observed many changes in the ways wedding dresses are designed.

“In the ’80s, it was the big puffy shoulders and everything was pretty much covered up,” she said. “It took 30 years for sleeves to come back but we’re starting to see dresses with sleeves.”

She also remembers the reaction she and others at the store had when they chose to sell a strapless wedding dress.

“In the ’90s, we saw our first strapless wedding dress and we thought ‘whoever heard of a strapless wedding dress,'” Mrs. Owers said. “We got it in and the first customer we had in that day… she bought it.”

Mrs. Owers said strapless wedding dresses became so popular that for years they were the only style of wedding dress the store carried. Now, she said, brides have more styles to choose from at the store than ever before.

“I’m constantly trying to find something that we don’t have already,” she said.

The inside of Brides & Belles of Tyler is designed to have a warm, home-like feeling, with a big plush couch, soft rug and antique chairs.

One of the things Mrs. Owers believes makes the store special is that many customers have come to the store for years and have purchased dresses for their prom, when they are a debutante and for their wedding day.

“It’s always fun when you have a customer you waited on 30 years ago when she was a bride and now she’s bringing her daughter in, or her niece in to shop with you,” she said. “It’s like we’re their aunts or somebody because we’ve known them so long.”

At the bridal shop, each dress is chosen by Mrs. Owers, and she said the store includes dresses for every body type. Appointments are recommended, but walk-ins are welcome.

She said once inside, brides-to-be and their guests should feel welcome and that the stores’ consultants are trained to help the bride with everything she needs for her big day.

“The wedding dress is a really heavy garment … so we train our consultants to help the girls put the dress on,” Mrs. Owers said. “Once they’ve tried on a few, then they know what they want.”

At the bridal shop, the staff also enjoys asking brides if they’re ready to say yes to the dress.

Mrs. Owers also said the store features dresses that are within a wide range of budgets. While she has found most ladies looking for a wedding dress at the store are comfortable spending around $1200, the store has a selection of dresses on sale that start at $200.

Mrs. Owers hopes that every guest at the store feels welcome, from prom goers to brides.

“We want them to feel like they’ve made a friend with their bridal consultant and that they are happy and excited for the day they get to wear their dress,” she said.

She said her passion is what has kept her going. She even opened up another store called Tux & Prom @101 in January that specializes in men’s tuxedos and a wide selection of prom dresses.

“I haven’t gotten burned out,” she said. “I can’t think of a thing that would be more interesting or more fulfilling than what I’m doing.”

Twitter: @TMT_Augusta