Finery Bridal Chic hopes to provide knowledge, size inclusivity for Rochester brides

Aug. 15—ROCHESTER — Finery Bridal Chic has spent the last five years helping brides find the perfect dress for their special day and hopes to continue on for years to come.

Finery Bridal Chic

first opened in downtown Rochester

before

moving to their new location

just a half a mile away in March 2021. The shop just celebrated its fifth anniversary on Aug. 5, 2023 and owner, Claire Landgraf hopes to continue on for years to come.

Landgraf has been working in the wedding industry on and off since 1999. Ultimately, something kept pulling her back to it.

"It was always just my passion and an area that I just really can't get enough of," said Landgraf. "I still kind of wake up every morning and feel like pinching myself that I get to come here and do this. So, it's pretty fun."

Landgraf has personalized her store to fit the needs of her consumers. She has sample sizes from size 10 to 26 and around 200 dresses from five designers.

In addition to the size inclusivity, the store also offers some customizable gowns. Three out of the five designers allow brides to have the style of dress they fell in love with in a different neckline or fabric. These designers also offer a "build your own dress" type of line.

"They in fact have a line of separates that we carry and it's kind of a build your own gown concept," said Landgraf. "They allow you to pick a bodice and pick a skirt and then they'll sew it together as one gown. So that's a really fun concept."

Landgraf has worked hard to make sure a bride's experience in her shop is the best it can be. The store is accessible by appointment only to ensure the bride has a stylist available who is knowledgeable and can help in any way the bride needs. They want to personally curate the best experience for every bride that walks in the door. Appointments are also two hours long instead of the industry standard of 60 or 90 minutes and there are never more than two appointments in the store at a time.

"Even though we're appointment only, it's not because we're snooty at all," Landgraf said. "It's just because it's easier for us to plan out the time that we spend with brides and I can plan out the staff and I can make sure that we have a dedicated consultant for you. I never want somebody to come in here and be like, 'Well, they didn't have somebody to help me and I was trying things on by myself.' Like that's not the experience."

Finery Bridal Chic also limits the bride's party to herself and four others. Landgraf does this to ensure there is not too much mental noise for the bride. Opinions are good, but Landgraf believes that it's much harder for a bride to make a decision herself while surrounded by too many opinions.

By limiting the bridal party to a total of five, it allows the bride to be really mindful while picking who to bring with her. Landgraf suggests bringing people who will hype the bride up and support her in any decision she decides to make.

"My main rule is that you look at yourself first," said Landgraf. "The people here matter, but you're the one walking down the aisle. You're the one who is going to be looking at your wedding photos with your partner for the rest of your life. You have to love the way that you look in what you're wearing."

Finery Bridal Chic also only sells wedding dresses and accessories for the bride. By limiting it to only bridal items, Landgraf and whoever the bride decides to bring can really focus on the task at hand without getting distracted.

Landgraf had a mentor and previous boss who gave her the advice to only focus on brides at first and she couldn't be more grateful for that advice.

"She said, 'You know what, Claire? Just do brides to start, get really good at doing brides and get really good at making brides feel like they are the center of the universe here,' and that has proved so helpful," she said. "If you have a group here and the sister's getting distracted by bridesmaids dresses and Mom's getting distracted and all of a sudden the bride is not the center of the attention for that day."

Landgraf never wants a bride to leave her store feeling like they did not get the full attention they deserved. Every dress in the store is within a price range of $1,300 and $3,700 with most of them being between $1,700 to $2,400. For most people walking in the door, this is the first time they have spent thousands of dollars on one item of clothing. It's a huge purchase and Landgraf wants to ensure that it's a dress they are in love with and the experience is amazing.

One way Landgraf helps to ensure a wonderful experience is by educating her stylists and customers on the gowns they try on. Even if a bride chooses not to buy from their store, she wants the bride to leave knowing what to look for at her next store.

"I want to make sure that we educate them on what they're buying," Landgarf said. "Sometimes if you can tell somebody, 'We're seeing some consistency with what you liked. The reason that you're liking that is because all these things have this one commonality.' Pointing things out like that, that they may not be able to be educated about in other places, I think that really sets us apart."

Landgraf is very passionate about making sure that brides who walk into her store have the best experience possible. She loves getting to be the facilitator of this beautiful moment when a bride finally finds the dress that was meant for her.

"I think the most fun part for me though, from a bride facing standpoint, is seeing it click for a bride seeing a bride stand up here," she said. "You can see this wave of motion come over her and it's not always crying, but you can see this wave of emotion come over her, where she realizes that she's going to walk down to the person that she loves and get married in what she's standing in right in this moment and there's something so heartwarming about getting to be a part of that moment."

Additionally, Landgraf handpicks every single dress that is for sale in her store. Designers generally put out a collection twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring. The fall collection is usually filled with the new and popular trends where spring tends to fill in the gaps missed by the fall collection. However, what is popular on the coast isn't always what is popular here in the Midwest.

"The Midwest in general is about 18 months behind stylewise from the coasts in terms of what ends up being popular and what ends up selling," Landgraf said. "So it's really interesting to go to market and get to see what is up and coming, knowing full well that that's what's going to hit here in about 18 months."

This requires Landgraf to be selective and strategic when buying the newest designs because it could end up taking up inventory space for months before it becomes popular. One of Landgraf's favorite parts of her job is picking out what styles and designs she wants to carry in her store.

"We work hard to curate an incredibly inclusive, supportive experience for brides so that they can feel confident in buying the dress that they're gonna start the rest of their life in," said Langraf.

Landgraf loves the industry she is in and hopes she can continue working in the field she is passionate about for many years to come.