When Bridal Maven owner Hannah Balash first heard the term “bridechilla” – a contrast to the dreaded bridezilla – she knew she’d find a way to make it her own.
“I’ve been using it to describe my ideal client,” she tells Pittsburgh City Paper. “More relaxed … open to what’s out there, fewer preconceived notions about what [they] need.”
It was a compelling vision for Balash, who started out styling brides nearly a decade ago in New York City. Though she’d graduated from music school, she responded to a job ad for a bridal shop on a lark – she was also engaged at the time – thinking it might be fun. It turned out that she “had the personality for it,” and continued working in the industry after moving back to Pittsburgh in 2018, eventually “workshopping” a concept for her own bridal shop.
Balash had previously worked in consignment and noticed an expanding market for it.
“This idea had been percolating … combining [consignment] with bridal,” Balash says. “Attitudes towards secondhand clothing have been changing, and the younger generation that’s starting to get married is all about sustainability and about reuse.”
Bridal Maven – Balash admits she’s the maven – first opened as a pop-up shop in February 2021 before expanding to a storefront in Dormont that October. The concept was a bridal salon offering wedding gowns that are mostly consignment and resale that still gave clients the full consultation experience with a stylist. To Balash’s knowledge, Bridal Maven is the only bridal consignment store in Pittsburgh.
In Balash’s experience, Pittsburgh brides tend to fit the “bridechilla” bill: “down-to-earth and practical,” she says. “I think if you are open to secondhand goods, then you are a bit more relaxed as a person … I felt like the Pittsburgh bride would be open to, ‘oh, I could save $500?’”
Budget shopping for a wedding gown is also “a very tough thing,” Balash remarks, with the average dress running $1,800 to $2,000 nationally.
The store’s current inventory of nearly 400 dresses starts around $500 with about half priced under $1,000. A small selection of designer gowns is also available for $2,000 to $3,000. In general, Balash says, brides can expect to save 20 to 30 percent off retail, with all styles consigned in the last three years.
Balash stresses that the shop is size and gender inclusive, welcoming “anyone who wants to wear a wedding dress.” (The invitation even extends to bridezillas – an unfair construct, she concedes.)
Though Bridal Maven isn’t a thrift shop, it's distinguished by a pay-it-forward sensibility, Balash says.
Brides who consign their dresses split profits from their sale and “help another bride who just got married, who’s just like [them], put little extra money towards something,” Balash says. “These gowns are still stunning and beautiful and they have a lot of sparkle left in them. They deserve another chance to shine.”
Bridal Maven. 1443 Potomac Ave., Dormont. bridalmavenpgh.com
