Meet Melanie Little of Brilliant Bridal in East Valley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Melanie Little.

Melanie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
In 2010 my husband’s good friend and owner of Best Deal in Town, Ryan Hegna, approached me with the idea for a resale bridal store concept. He was attempting to sell a wedding dress after a broken engagement, wasn’t having any luck and thought there must be a better way. At the time I was working as a studio manager for a wedding photographer as well as running a boutique wedding invitation company in the early days of Etsy so I had a foot in the wedding industry. But I had never worked retail, and didn’t have a business degree. I went to Bible College with the intent of being in full time church ministry. But he was offering to financially back the idea if I put in all the sweat equity and it seemed like too good of an opportunity to pass up.

In the early phases of researching we pretty quickly learned that resale wasn’t the best route. Although there is a market for consignment and previously worn bridal gowns, we discovered the off-the-rack model and the huge surplus of discontinued and overstock bridal gowns that manufacturers liquidate at below wholesale prices. We loved this idea and the concept of a store where we could offer new, never worn designer bridal gowns to brides at below MSRP prices in a boutique environment.

We opened our first store in February 2011 and in July 2018 we will be opening our 5th store in Dallas.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We’ve definitely been enrolled in the school of hard knocks. From bad buys that cost us thousands of dollars to bad hires that created a negative company culture, we’ve definitely learned and grown from our mistakes.

In 2014 we brought on a 3rd partner to the business, Malea Hutt, based in Denver. She had 8 years of bridal experience at the time and was able to help refine many processes with in our store operations as well as lead the opening of our Denver location in 2015.

Brilliant Bridal – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Brilliant Bridal specializes in selling designer bridal gowns off-the-rack for 30% to 80% below retail price. We’re filling the gap between the unreliable online bridal market and the outdated bridal salon model. Our brides receive the full bridal experience, are able to take their dress home the same day they say “yes”, and have all the assurance they are purchasing a quality, designer bridal gown.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
There have been so many amazing moments over the past seven years. We have the best team of managers and stylists and they work hard every day to create a special experience for our brides. The one that stands out the most in my mind is in 2014 we won a national award from the wedding industry review site Wedding Wire for receiving the most 5 star reviews of any bridal store on their platform. At the time we were only 3 years old as a business and this was just a huge testament to our team, the service they provide, and the enthusiasm our brides have for sharing about their experience with us.

Contact Info:

• Address: East Valley
  1946 S. Dobson Road
  Mesa, AZ 85202Phoenix
  520 West Union Hills Drive
  Phoenix, AZ 85027
• Website: www.brilliantbridal.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/brilliantbridal
• Facebook: facebook.com/brilliantbridal

Image Credit:
Tyler Bartlett Photography
Samantha Patri Photography

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.