I cried the day I bought my wedding dress. And not happy tears.
The experience was nothing like I imagined it would be. It was rushed and busy and felt routine, like just another appointment. There was no magic. I said yes to a dress, but I left the store feeling heartbroken, instead of simply happy.
I vowed to change the experience for other brides. I called my mom and floated the idea of starting our own bridal boutique. She was like, “where would we even start?”
She found that starting point while flying into Thailand from Bulgaria for my wedding. It was kismet. She and my dad were in a three-person row. A woman boarded and took the empty seat beside my mom. They got to talking and the woman shared her vocation: bridal boutique owner.
That stranger is now my mentor and that chance encounter set me on a journey to opening Ethereal Bridal in Port Moody, B.C. It's the only luxury bridal boutique in the Tri-Cities (in the Vancouver suburbs) and the experience we offer brides is as unique as the dresses we sell.
Basement or bust
Ethereal Bridal opened for business in my in-laws' basement with five dresses from one designer on two clothing racks. We hung a big mirror, and my husband and co-founder, Szymon, built a pedestal where brides could stand to try on dresses.
We soon expanded to four racks in a spare bedroom. While customers left happy, I hated how dark the basement was; the sumptuous designer dresses looked sad and almost yellow under the LED lights. It was hardly the luxurious boutique I had imagined.
Despite this, our business grew thanks to social media ads, online reviews, and word-of-mouth marketing. Our brides loved that we carried something different than many other West Coast stores.
We stock sample dresses by Eastern European designers, many of which are from Ukraine. I find these dresses to be ahead of the fashion curve; they are the types of dresses I’d want to wear, and I love introducing them to my brides.
With solid bookings and an expanding inventory, the time came for us to search for a commercial space. The home-based boutique didn't represent the brand I wanted to grow. Regardless of a bride’s price point, I wanted to offer a beautiful experience where a bride could glow in the boutique’s natural light and the whole process feels like luxury, luxury, luxury.
I was picky as we began looking at retail spaces. My dream space had to have high ceilings, tall windows for ample natural light, and be on a main street so people could find us. Eventually, we found the perfect spot at 2521 Clarke Street, and we’ve been here for the past nine months.
As we’ve expanded the business, Roya Mardan, our TD Account Manager, Small Business has been a huge support.
Roya just gets what we do, which helps us work together. She understands our vision and believes in us. At first, we needed business credit cards and a business line of credit, along with everyday business banking services.
Roya is always ready to share advice with us about the products and services we might consider, especially at pivotal points in our growth. She's very clear on what we can expect from the Bank and helps us to better understand our finances so that we can set realistic goals and plan for future growth – like expanding our retail space.
From basement to main street
Our new space is a dream. We still do digital marketing, but having a storefront has been a gamechanger. Thousands of people drive and walk by our store each week, and that kind of marketing feels invaluable to me.
The new boutique also reflects the brand I’m building; one that’s different from many other wedding dress stores. I book only one bride per appointment time. I don’t want a customer to feel like just another bridal appointment; I want her to feel like the bride.
When you come to Ethereal Bridal as a bride, you have the place to yourself. There’s no one else looking at you, and you’re not comparing yourself to anyone else. We can provide exceptional customer service this way too, and building relationships is at the core of everything we do.
Really, it all comes down to me wanting our brides to leave our store smiling. And usually, they do. It shows in our five-star reviews and when they share their wedding photos with us. Our brides tell their friends about us, too. Often, members of a bride's wedding party will come back to Ethereal to shop for their own dresses.
With Szymon handling everything behind the scenes, we've grown Ethereal Bridal into what it is today. We started this for me, but it's become something we now build together, full-time, so we can keep bringing local brides their dream dresses.
Our Clarke Street store is what I wished for when shopping for my own wedding dress. Brides often shed tears here, but this time, they’re happy ones.