How to Start Up a Wedding Dress Business

Linking yourself to unique dress designs and designers is a key to business success.

Behind every wedding dress displayed in a bridal shop, there is a business dedicated to making sure that wedding dress gets sold. The people who used their creativity and textile expertise to create that beautiful wedding dress in the shop window themselves represent the hidden business of wedding dress making and distributing.

Getting started in the wedding dress business requires more than just a few good dress designs. Successful wedding dress businesses create high-quality dresses that appeal to the ever-changing tastes of brides and the increasingly fickle bridal fashion trends of the day. Moreover, these businesses form lasting relationships with bridal gown retailers to ensure their products always have a place on the rack.

Things You'll Need

• Shop or work space
• Textile and sewing expertise
• Seamstresses
• Textile machinery
• Invoice software or organization system

Instructions

1. Perform market research of other wedding dress businesses that do business with wedding dress retailers in your area. Find out where they are from. For example, are they an American designer or European? Do they specialize in couture dresses from well-known designers in the industry? Do they focus more on bargain dresses for budget weddings? Determine the types of materials they used and what their price points are. This will help you create a wedding dress business that offers unique products to retailers to help you stand out in the area.

2. Create your own wedding gown designs, or enter into an agreement to purchase designs from a talented dress designer. Be sure you or the designer can continue to create designs that are both timeless and trendy on a continuous basis so your wedding dress line can be updated at least twice per year. The designs you offer should reflect your own style, but at the same time, they should present a cohesive concept (romantic, modern, edgy, Victorian, retro) that preferably isn't offered at the retailers you choose to do business with.

3. Rent or buy a space to house your operation, including staff, sewing equipment, fabrics, supplies and meeting space. Having a comfortable space where you and staff can create designs as well as entertain potential buyers is a must. Start looking into potential spaces through a real estate broker, and be sure to scout out places where a bridal shop would work, such as in a downtown area with lots of other retail stores. Then, look into the possibility of business grants and/or tax assistance by inquiring with city or town boards. Some areas offer grants for new businesses that help with setting up your outdoor facade or refurbishing old buildings as part of commercial revitalization.

4. Create sample dresses to showcase to bridal shop owners and other retail buyers. Photograph the dresses on models to show how your creations fit and flow. Use these photographs to showcase your designs in a portfolio or on your business website. If and when you present your sample dresses to bridal shop owners and retailers, be sure they are neatly pressed and steamed, and if possible display them on mannequin forms to show the ideal cut and fit of the garments and to show off any intricate beading or embroidery work.

5. Initiate relationships with bridal shop owners and other wedding dress buyers by setting up appointments to meet with them and showcase your designs. Be ready with price points for your designs and detailed descriptions of your ordering and purchasing policies. Use your market research to create your price points and purchasing policies in order to offer a unique alternative to bridal shop owners and wedding dress buyers.

6. Create a brand name for your wedding dress business. Design a logo either by yourself or with the help of a graphic designer to create a look that is unique, recognizable and representative of the types of wedding gowns you create. Use this branding for business correspondence, business cards, websites, brochures, catalogs, garment tags.

Tips & Warnings

• Connect with bridal websites and magazines and gauge their interest in writing a piece on your new business to introduce your designs to the industry as well as customers. Or, ask them to post pictures of your designs in photo galleries accessed by readers.

• If your designs grow popular, consider opening up your own bridal couture store. This would allow you to be your own retailer and entice customers to visit your store before buying your designs from another retailer.

• Be as specific as possible with retailers regarding your pricing policies. Place discounting constraints on your garments, such as taking the authority to place discounts on your gowns, to ensure you receive a fixed profit every time.