bridal wonderland

TWD Construction Update 7: Nearing Completion!

Written by: Kristy

Alright, I know you must be confused.  TWD has been open for a full two weeks and I haven’t yet finished writing about the transformation of our shop from construction central to bridal wonderland!  So, without further ado…

The weeks leading up to our “soft” opening were crazy!  (Dare I say cray-cray on the blog?  I think yes, because it was beyond crazy and definitely reached cray-cray level.)

Some of you may have noticed our countdown to opening signs – and as soon as we put those up, we were on hyperspeed.  It was both really exciting and really stressful since putting a timeline on our opening was such a finite amount of time.  But, it was a necessary deadline since we really wanted to be open for Downtown Brighton’s Ladies Night Out!  (We knew this would be a perfect way to start, and it didn’t disappoint!)  But each day I changed the number, I grew more nervous of the mountain of tasks that lay ahead.

We (ok, ok – the people we hired) were finishing up the final construction projects – think hanging mirrors, applying all the trim work and baseboards, touch up painting, light installation, etc., etc., etc.

{The mirrors are being hung!}

{Mirror, mirror on the wall!}

Then, we had all the work to do with the actual business of opening up a bridal shop – transporting, steaming, hanging, and tagging all the dresses and setting up the retail shop.

{The dress form boxes arrive!}

{Our first dress form!}

{Our first wedding gown on a form!  Eeks!}

{The bridesmaid dresses get hung up!  In color order, of course!}

{Pretty, pretty dresses all in a row!}

 And then all the finishing touches – hanging pictures, assembling and arranging furniture, and tidying up the place for the public.

{There is my hubby, assembling our couch in the front reception!}

{Playing around with the placement of our decals on the dressing room walls.  Do the flowers look familiar?!}

{In progress reveal room!}

{Getting the front desk organized.}

{TWD’s very first windows!}

I am sure there were loads more tasks that we accomplished in those final weeks, but my brain can only retain so much information…

And now, a huge shout out to the following people who labored throughout the construction process and who made our final weeks as efficient and effective as possible, without whom we NEVER would have been able to open:

  • My parents!  Both my mother and father were critical to getting the shop open, in the final weeks and throughout the entire renovation process.  Without them, there would be no TWD as we know it today.  Listing all that they did would be a near impossible task (and would also be a mile long) since they did so much!
  • My mom!  I know that she is included in the above bullet point, but she gets a special shout out because she booked hours and hours of time steaming all of our dresses.  (This was a HUGE task!!)  I think she was back in our storage room for a week straight in the steam!  She was also the seamstress who made our curtains gorgeous , our cushions comfy, and our pillows adorable.
  • My husband, Andrew!  Besides being such a support for me through the ups and downs of renovations and starting a business, he played a HUGE role in the construction process.  He also is the one who put every single piece of furniture together in the shop.  (Ok, there may be three things he didn’t put together, but everything else was all his handiwork!)
  • My sister-in-law, Aleksandra!  She was such a huge help in the days leading up to our opening helping with all the little tasks I just didn’t have time for!  Thanks to her, our dresses were tagged, our “Now Open!” sign was made, stuff was organized, jewelry displays were made, and in general, my sanity was kept intact with her jolly attitude.
  • My aunts, cousins, and friends!  Their contributions are endless – painting, filling nail holes with putty, helping make our windows “foggy”, helping with jewelry and veil inventory, cleaning, transporting dresses, and I am sure the list continues.  I am so thankful for all of their efforts in making TWD what it is today.
  • Countless other family members and friends who provided support and prayers on our journey.
  • And I can’t forget to include those that really helped us out in construction, especially at the end, our hired contractors!
    • Matt, our drywall and ceiling man
    • Dan, Aaron (and sometimes Dan Jr.) our finish carpenters (and go-to handy men) of the E&L Construction Group
    • Jerry, Dan and Jamie our other team of carpenters
    • Joe, Doug, Mike and all the other men from McSweeney Electric
    • Dave from Timberline Plumbing
    • Ted, Mickey, and Kenny of the Classic Carpet Team

I hope I am not forgetting anyone, but if I have failed to give you your proper thank you on blogland, please let me know and I will give you a proper thank you!

Well friends, we are nearing the end of construction/renovation blog posts!  There are a few final tasks yet to happen – our signs, the exterior lighting (which is currently mid-project)…and that’s it!  I did promise before and after photos…but that will have to wait until the next, and final installment, of the “TWD Construction Update” series!  And finally…

{TWD – Now Open!!}