WILMINGTON — At the mention of wedding gown shopping, the iconic “Say Yes to the Dress,” experience often comes to mind. The show packs the perplexity of finding the perfect gown into a less than 30-minute episode, with the result usually being the bride-to-be saying yes to one of the dresses she tries on.
Stephanie Douglas hopes to bring that same atmosphere to Wilmington as she and General Manager, Roberta Danford, take on the debut of The Wedding Dress Shoppe’s new location.
The bridal salon, formerly owned by Alan Perry of Perry’s Emporium, officially became the property of Douglas on Sept. 1. The first big modification in her scope is to relocate the boutique to a larger space she plans to announce later this year.
“They’re literally building it from nothing right now. It was gutted and was just an open space, a blank square. We came in with our vision and now, we’re making it come to life,” Douglas said about the new site set to open early December.
The plan is to include more modern architecture and carry some contemporary dress designs, but still have an ample amount of the traditional southern gown styles that has made The Wedding Dress Shoppe prominent.
Douglas has 10 years of experience in the industry and accommodating brides, but there are some women on their dress search who leave empty-handed.
“If they don’t find their dress, I really listen to what they’re asking. We try to implement that with our orders,” Douglas explained, which is one of the reasons why she will be adding some trendier dresses to the store’s collection.
Douglas foresees the store doing two big inventory purchases per year, a spring order and a fall order. With that, she also wants to host two in-house fashion shows per year.
An advantage of the added space of the new location and the moveable furnishings is that almost everything can be moved around for events.
“We can clear out the whole shop and put up runways and do fashion shows,” Douglas said. “I think it will be good for people to see the dresses on [a runway]. Sometimes you see a dress online or in a picture and when it comes, it it’s not what you thought.”
The main concept driving this boutique is that brides shouldn’t have to travel to Atlanta or New York, where “Say Yes to the Dress” is filmed, to find what they need. Douglas wants to give brides with all budgets the experience of standing up on the platform, enjoying a styling consultant, and having a champagne toast once they’ve found their dream dress.
The boutique is having a moving sale this Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. to make room for the new arrivals. The sale will only include sample dress sizes 2 to 26, but there is the ability to alter a dress down 2 sizes. Guests should call ahead to reserve fitting rooms.
The Wedding Dress Shoppe is located at 2516 Independence Blvd., Suite 101, at the southwest corner of the intersection with Shipyard Boulevard.
