Article · January 1, 2024

Reimagining the Bridal Experience: Q&A with Vow'd

Vow’d is bringing new energy to bridal retail. Read our Q&A with Vow’d as they talk reimagining the bridal experience & their latest store.

Reimagining the Bridal Experience: Q&A with Vow’d Vow’d is bringing new energy to bridal retail. Read our Q&A with Vow’d as they talk reimagining the bridal experience & their latest store. Bridal retail is a unique category, rife with high expectations and stress for many shoppers, built on decades of dress shopping sameness.

But Vow’d Weddings says it shouldn’t be that way. ­­­­­With a focus on hospitality and service, Vow’d is bringing new energy to bridal retail, including a vibrant new store at Easton Town Center in Columbus, Ohio (full disclosure: a Chute Gerdeman project). The Columbus store is the brand’s entry into the Ohio market, with retail shops now in seven states.We recently sat down with Vow’d SVP Nicole Sewall, VP of Stores Ana Angarita, and Director of Brand Marketing Rebekuh Browning to talk about the new store design and reimagining the bridal experienceQ.

Experience, experience, experience. That’s what all the­­­­ retail brands are preaching these days. With e-commerce always standing by for a transactional purchase, brick-and-mortar retailers must give shoppers a reason to come to their store—and return.

What kind of experience does the Vow’d Weddings concept bring to brides?Nicole: Today’s bride is not different from the overall consumer; she wants more from her shopping trip. We know it isn’t just about getting a beautiful dress; she wants an experience. We are putting most of our eggs in the in-store basket, and that’s why we are working with Chute Gerdeman to bring our brand to life on a large scale.Ana: We have spent more time studying hospitality than retail.

We are not just selling dresses; we are selling an experience. We are here to hand her a tissue and a glass of champagne. It should be a pampered experience.Rebekuh: It’s interesting to talk to people about bridal shopping.

There was always an awkward and bad connotation to it. You wonder why people even go to these bridal shops! We are working to destigmatize it and let people know it doesn’t have to be stressful.

It is a huge purchase, and we understand that. It should feel that much more special. Our store teams just want to make women feel beautiful, and that’s really cool to see.

Q: So you mentioned Vow’d’s focus on the in-store experience. Can you tell me why the brand chose to focus on physical retail as opposed to e-commerce channels?Nicole: When we launched the brand, I came in with expectations around our e-commerce business. But the guests quickly told us they weren’t interested in that.

We aren’t leaving digital—it’s more like the gateway to our (in-person) experience. We can be transparent about our offerings and use the website more like a showroom.So there really has been a shift in how we use e-commerce. We use it as a purchasing channel, but the focus of the website is to drive appointments, showcase our store locations and show our assortment.

For us, our digital spend is geared toward store locations, not e-commerce transactions and product sales. There was an intentional shift there. The business we want to create is hospitality rich.