Women we love
Lucy Burke of event hire business LL Furniture Hire
Through her business LL Furniture Hire, Lucy Burke gets to play a small – yet important – part in the biggest day of her clients’ lives
Like many burgeoning businesses, LL Furniture Hire was born out of a need. One of Lucy Burke and husband Hayden’s friends was looking for unique furniture for her wedding and, after failing to find what she wanted, construction company owner Hayden was called upon to create the pieces she dreamed of.
Fast-forward four years and LL Furniture Hire has a packed schedule throughout summer, providing sleek and stylish furniture for weddings, along with the newest addition to their inventory: quality, locally made, clear marquees. Building relationships with her clients is what she loves most of all about her work, says the Bay of Plenty mother-of-two. “Each client is so different, and to see the process, from initial conversations to receiving imagery of how they styled their day with our pieces, is really rewarding.”
What is the ethos behind LL Furniture Hire? From day one we wanted to create an experience, not just furniture for hire. Our customers are the most important part of our business so from the initial email to the delivery and pick-up, we want each customer to feel like they are not only in capable hands, but that the entire experience was a cut above. This is something we are constantly improving on, creating new ways to make the experience just a little bit more special.
How would you describe the LL aesthetic? In terms of our furniture, we believe we are the backbone to your wedding or event. We are the building blocks, focusing on core, classic and modern furniture with clean lines and crisp whites and wood so you have room to create your own style and colour palette.
Our furniture works around the client, rather than the client having to work around the furniture.
How do you like to spend your downtime? Once we finish wedding season we begin event and corporate contracts, so although it does slow down, we are still delivering each week to our clients. I definitely take the slow-down as an opportunity to be with my kids
and my husband more, and spend weekends at home. I’m a homebody and we live rurally, in Aongatete, in a converted barn on six hectares of QEII native bush. I love nothing better than being with my family and friends, drinking some good wine and eating good food.
What is one piece of advice you have for someone looking to start their own business? The harder you work, the luckier you get! Owning a business is a crazy beast and can be both the most rewarding and hardest thing you can do. If you really want it and work your butt off, you can definitely achieve everything you want to. Someone told me your biggest successes come just after your biggest struggles and I completely agree. If you can push through the struggles of owning your own business, you will get there.
“We want each customer to feel like they are not only in capable hands but that the entire experience was a cut above”