Weddings guru Samm Buca in high spirits over her TV show
MEET quirky wedding dress designer Samm Buca – a colourful character who strays from the ordinary, loves to travel in her camper van and is set to star in her own BBC documentary series.
Samm, who legally changed her name to sound like the alcoholic drink five years ago, runs wedding dress shop Pink Butterfly Brides in Bridgend and designs bespoke dresses for an eclectic variety of brides-to-be.
But she isn’t your average designer. The 41-year-old, who lives with partner Benji, three foster dogs and two chickens, is known by everybody for her eccentric style, bubbly personality and, of course, her name.
She said: “I legally changed my name five years ago, it’s my real name.
“I get asked about it all the time. I have to show my ID so people believe me.
“It has been my nickname for years. I was always Samm and then the Buca was, well, because I like a bit of a tipple. It’s what everyone knew me as and I thought well, why not make it my real name so I changed it by deed poll.
“I can’t get away with anything now though. Who else do you know who’s got white dreadlocks and is called Samm Buca?”
Her “everything happens for a reason” mantra is also what led her to make Bridgend her home for the past 21 years.
Speaking of how she bought her house after spending just one day in the town, Samm said: “I grew up in Abergavenny and I moved to Bridgend by chance.
“I had been for a day out and I fell in love with it.
“Everybody I spoke to was really friendly and I ended up walking past an estate agent and looking at houses in the window.
“I put a deposit down on a house that day. It’s perfect, it’s by the beach and I love it. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.”
But above all, Samm prides herself on her ability to make everyone feel at home at her Nolton Street store and along with her mum, known as Mama Butterfly or simply Mama B, and sister Andrea, every woman leaves with a smile on their face.
Quirky and sparky, in the show she turns friendly detective to discover every detail of her customers’ lives before conjuring up the perfect dress for the biggest day of their lives.
Rules of what’s hot or not are thrown out the window – her ethos is it that whether you’re tall, short, plus size or petite “every girl deserves to look and feel amazing”.
“I don’t care what size or shape you are, you will look beautiful in your wedding dress,” said Samm.
“I opened the store in 2007 because I was at that age where a lot of my friends were getting married and I found that a lot of them didn’t feel comfortable in bridal shops.
“They just weren’t catering for the average person.
“I wanted to change that. I’m a big believer in women coming together and I want to spread a bit of happiness.
“For a lot of women it’s the most important day of their lives. They shouldn’t be looking at dresses and immediately thinking ‘oh I need to lose three pounds now.’”
The programme, however, doesn’t just introduce us to Samm and her clients – the staff also play a key part.
In between appointments, the trio pass the time solving the big questions of life and death and what are Mama B’s pink-themed funeral wishes – including her heavy metal track of choice.
Samm added: “My mum and sister feature in the programme quite a lot, as do my three foster dogs Baby, Betty and Rocko.
“All the cameras are fixed so it’s very natural, everybody feels very relaxed. There were no cameras in our faces.
“I haven’t seen the first episode yet, but I know will see everybody’s reaction and what everybody said.”