It’s almost every girl's dream to find their prince charming and to get engaged with a big ole ring weighing down their left hand. But the real fun starts after the engagement.
Finding the dress — the beautiful, perfect white gown to wear on your big day — can either be a dream or a nightmare for future brides, and Bryn Garza, owner of Brick + Mortar Bridal Boutique works to make sure brides leave happy and feeling on top of the world.
Brick + Mortar offers bridal gowns in a variety of styles, sizes and colors in the hopes of helping every bride find her perfect fit.
“The most important thing for me is being inclusive and making sure you have the best experience,” Bryn says.
As a potentially stressful ordeal, Bryn and her employees do everything in their power to ensure the bride-to-be made the right choice in selecting Brick + Mortar.
“We hear a lot of the time that [our customers] traveled to other shops, and the shopping experience induced a lot of anxiety, or they were really stressed out and didn’t feel comfortable or welcome,” Bryn says. “We always try to treat our brides like family and make sure that the environment is really positive and welcoming. We can’t control if we have their exact dress and everything they want, but we can make sure that they feel good in everything they put on and that they’re themselves and their group has a good time.”
Brick + Mortar functions through appointments only. During a customized appointment, the bride- to-be will meet with a personal stylist for an hour and a half, with the first half spent narrowing down exactly what she’s looking for in a wedding dress so the stylist can make sure to curate the best shopping experience for her needs. The second half focuses on finding the perfect dressand spending the most time in it. Additionally, Brick + Mortar offers custom appointments for bridesmaid and mother of the bride and/or groom dresses.
“We want to narrow down your likes and dislikes, mostly dislikes, so we can avoid it and move forward,” Bryn says. “The last chunk of your appointment we want you to spend finding your favorite dress because once you find your favorite dress, you won’t want to take it off. We want to make sure they’re filling that part of their cup and then doing the order from there.”
Bryn grew up in the retail world, where she found her passion that led her to opening up the bridal boutique.
“I grew up in Bryan/College Station,” Bryn says. “My family owned a hair salon, and at 16, I started working at women’s clothing boutiques in the area. So, I have basically done women’s clothing for the past 12+ years and was really passionate about women’s fashion.”
Bryn saw that the College Station communitywasmissinganessential step in wedding planning and wanted to be the one to change that, so she opened her store in June 2021.
“I have friends in the wedding industry and felt like wedding dress
boutiques were a little bit of a void that we needed to fill, and that’s how I ended up on the bridal side,” Bryn says. “Since women’s retail isn’t new to me, I just thought, ‘how do I stay in this for the long run and bring something to College Station that we need more of?’”
The Outlet, a new location with discounted prices that offers a similar shopping experience, with a few changes. At The Outlet, dresses can be brought home the day of purchase. This location accepts walk-ins & appointments - with up tothreeguestsratherthansix,and dresses are sold in as-is condition for a lower cost.
“After David’s Bridal closed, we felt like all of those brides still needed somewhere to shop and get something quicker and on their budget price-point,” Bryn said.
Bryn and her team are always working to find the looks that suit their company the best.
“We’ve been searching out our designers since early 2020 before the pandemic hit and put a lot of research into what was important to us and the lines that we carry,” Bryn says. “Whether it be how they structure models, their goals, or different fabrics.”
A word of advice Bryn always gives her customers is to keep their mind open because they may be surprised at what happens once the appointment gets started.
“It’s pretty rare that we have a bride come in that shows us the photos she’s always pictured herself in, and that’s what she walks out in. We see brides all the time just fall in love with something that is so out of thebox,”Brynsays.“Yourfiancéis marrying you, and at the end of the day, they want it to be you and to feel like you, so if you’re shopping based on someone else in the group, you’re kind of doing yourself a disservice.”
Brick + Mortar Bridal Boutique is located at 302 W. 26th Street in Downtown Bryan and functions as an appointment-only service. To schedule an appointment, visit brickandmortarbridal.com, reach out to admin@brickandmortarbridal.com or call (979) 721-9949.
