Mary's Bridal
by PC Mary's Inc is one of the nation's largest and most successful bridal
gown designers and manufacturer.
Mary, also the owner's name, started with the exchange of a piece of gauzy
white wedding gown fabric over 30 years ago.
When Mary
immigrated to the United States with her business savvy and fashion sense,
she knew she wanted to start her own business.
Her sister-in-law, who owned a dress
shop, suggested that she go into the bridal gown business.
Mary then got some wedding fabric
from her sister-in-law and soon, she was designing bridal gowns.
"She didn't know at the time that she had a real talent for fashion
design," her daughter, who does advertising and public relations for the
company, said. Thereafter, Mary's
whole family followed her into the bridal business to make the company a
success. Her husband handles the
financial of the company. Their
oldest son handles the international sales.
Their youngest son acts as controller.
Lastly, their grand children model
for prom dresses and flower girls dresses in the company catalogs.
Each
collection starts with ideas from Mary as she dives into hundreds of women's
fashion magazines. She next makes over 1000 sketches that she sends to the
manufactures to be made into sample. Finally,
she narrows the possibilities down to about 200 dresses to the "essence of
Mary's" for that season.
Mary's
designs tend to be more traditional than wild.
Her gowns are designed to be pleasing
regardless of size, taste, or budget. They
are made so that everyone can look like a princess on their wedding day.
With Mary's,
the public is amazed at the quality it can get for the price.
A gown that would cost several
thousand dollars elsewhere can be purchased for a fraction because Mary
makes sure her dresses are affordable. Furthermore,
her quality is much better because the all the beads are hand-sewn and the
insides have no visible seams.
Women are
more sophisticated now than in the past and have many more choices of
wedding dress, so the market is extremely competitive.
With bridal magazines big as a phone
book and with thousands of ads, a bridal company has to try very hard to
stand out. Mary's stands out through
its service, price and styling. With wedding gowns more expensive than some
automobiles, Mary pleases the bride with dresses that usually run in the
$800 to $1200 range.
When a bride
purchases a Mary's dress, they will know it will be there.
Stores know they can count on us to be delivered on time.
Thus, stores are inclined to push Mary's gowns.
Additionally, word of mouth is our
fastest form of advertising.
Mary's Bridal
by PC Mary's Inc. is among the top bridal manufacturers in the United
States. It has won the Diva Award for
distinguished excellence in the bridal Industry, the Debi Award for best
Quinceanera design, the Desert Rose award for best bridal dress, customer
service and best catalog, and the Dallas Fashion award.
It has been featured by Good Morning America and television specials
covering wedding planning, as well as in numerous magazines covers.
Her dresses
are sold in markets throughout the United States, Europe, Mexico, and
throughout Latin America. The look is
a little different in each area. For
instance, in New York, brides want to be understated yet sophisticated.
In California, brides tend to go with
bare shoulders, lots of skin, and want to show off their bodies.
In the South, Texas and Latin
America, brides want enormous trains and very elaborate dresses, veils and
headpieces. Mary's also makes
bridesmaid dresses, Quinceanera dresses, prom dresses, and flower girl
dresses.
Mary's
business started in one room in her house. Now
it involves office buildings and several warehouses in Houston and factories
throughout Asia. She got where they
are by working hard, sleepless nights and years of no vacations.
"It is a
great reward to gain so many people's approval and to have people everywhere
accepting you and liking your designs," Mary said.
"But the biggest accomplishment is
finally being able to make a name in this great country."