Sisters Give Wedding Dresses New Life

When Carla Rivera decided to sell her wedding dress, she found the process more difficult than expected. She tried Craiglist and Ebay, but struggled with making a sale.

With her sister a recent bride, as well, the two began thinking-wouldn’t it be great if there was a place where selling a wedding dress was easy? Together, the two developed Bridal Project, a consignment wedding gown shop that lets brides-to-be find the dress of their dreams for a fraction of the cost and gives past brides a buyer for their gowns.

“I don’t know of anyone else who is doing it,” Rivera said. “We thought it would be really cool.”

While some brides use the shop to sell their dresses, others come in search of used gowns, veils, hairpieces and shoes. In addition to aiding brides in the buying and selling of dresses, Rivera thought opening a business primarily used by brides and brides-to-be would make for a warm and happy work environment. She looks back fondly on her own experience searching for a wedding dress.

“When I was shopping from my own wedding dress…everyone was happy,” she said. “It was just such a cool experience, and we thought it must be so nice working at a wedding shop.”

In addition to brides, Rivera also helps local designers. She reached out to designers and Bay Area fashion school professors in search of young designers looking for a shot.

“My main goal is just to help out up-and-coming designers,” Rivera said.

She recognizes the difficulty of making a name in the design world, and that sometimes designers just need that first opportunity. Additionally, their designs allow future brides to purchase one-of-a-kind dresses.

More than that, however, Rivera said the designers are all local, creating their own garments and jewelry.

“I think that’s one thing that will differentiate us,” she said. “We can support the local economy in that way.”

Rivera said she chose Burlingame because of its attractive downtown. She found a place on Craiglist at 319 Primrose Road and said the owner loved the concept of Bridal Project.

The store is now open for consigners and expects to begin serving brides-to-be within a couple of weeks.