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Revealing A Bride's Best Kept Secret

by Kristina Adel   |   October 19, 2020   |   Share this:  

A Bride’s Secret’s Vaughan brick and mortar store welcomed their first clients in March 2020. The new venture filled the owner Madhu Upadhyay with joy, but COVID-19 forced unpredictable changes and the business had to pivot quickly. But with the ShopHERE Powered by Google Program, this newly opened store found a way to overcome the challenge caused by the pandemic by establishing a digital presence, and launching an ecommerce website.

A Bride’s Secret specializes in wedding veils that “can complement any bridal look – classic, sophisticated, modern, or whatever it is that you are looking for.” Their wedding veil collection includes fingertip, chapel, cathedral, drop, blusher and two-tier blusher veils. The business works with different fabrics and can customize most of the veils with lace and embellishment to create a dream bridal look.

Digital Main Street ShopHERE Program powered by Google Graduate, A Brides Secret

The idea for A Bride’s Secret came to Madhu when she found her passion working as a bridal consultant at an Italian owned boutique and the Canadian counterpart of the popular show, “Say Yes to the Dress.”

“I loved working with brides – helping them, bonding with them and finding THE wedding dress that expressed their own personal style,” commented Madhu.

“No matter what her size, no matter what her fears, my greatest reward was winning the hearts and minds of the brides I met and showing them their own beauty. It was an absolutely amazing experience.”

Madhu founded A Bride’s Secret to reach brides around the world and let them know how special and beautiful they can feel on their wedding day. The business aims to provide brides with an easy way to find the most diverse and unique collections of bridal accessories. On the new website, brides can choose from a variety of beautiful belts, headpieces and jewelry in addition to the main veil collection.

Digital Main Street ShopHERE Program powered by Google Graduate, A Brides Secret

When Madhu joined ShopHERE, she already launched her website but the ShopHERE Coordinator quickly set up a new Shopify store. “It was fantastic! Quick, easy to build and looks good.” The website incorporated a promotion video of their wedding veils and included customers’ reviews that add credibility to any brand. Madhu says her coordinator made the process hassle-free and she feels very grateful for his work.

“He was there for all my questions and more. I felt that all my concerns were taken care of,” said Madhu. “I was impressed with his professionalism and his dedication to helping me set up my eCommerce business.”

Despite challenges presented by COVID-19 pandemic, the past few months have been amazing for Madhu. The entrepreneur kept busy with the design and operation of her online store and even organized a new photoshoot: “Photoshoot was a great experience as I partnered with a photographer, three models, one makeup artist and a hairstylist.” Although the business is still picking up, Madhu stays focused on developing her business and its marketing efforts.

Digital Main Street ShopHERE Program powered by Google Graduate, A Brides Secret

It’s worth mentioning that a Bride’s Secret blog provides the most amazing advice for brides and includes posts such as “Our Wedding Veil Guide”, “5 Steps To A Wonderful Memorable Wedding on A Budget” and “The Must-Have Wedding Day Emergency Kit.” eCommerce functionality of a Bride’s Secret website also allows Madhu to maintain her adventurous spirit:

“I’m a traveler. The biggest opportunity of being online will be to continue to explore the world while having my business online.”

Madhu recommends other entrepreneurs sign up for ShopHERE for an ‘easy, fast and fun’ setup of an online store: “The process is very straightforward and you can receive help anytime plus online shopping may be the future for a lot of businesses.” Since transforming her business, Madhu also understands the importance of quick adaptation and advises small businesses to always measure their performance to realize when the change is required.

Are you a small business owner or know anyone who might be interested in eCommerce? Learn more about the ShopHERE Program here. To view beautiful bridal accessories and veils, check out a Bride’s Secret new online store.

About Digital Main Street

Digital Main Street was created by the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA) with direct support from the City of Toronto. DMS is also supported by a group of strategic business partners, including Google, Mastercard, Shopify, Meta, Intuit QuickBooks, Square, Lightspeed, Ebay and Canada Post.

A $42.5-million investment from FedDev Ontario brought together the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas, Communitech, Invest Ottawa and the Ontario Business Improvement Area Association to expand the Digital Main Street Platform in order to support more businesses going digital as a response to the impacts of COVID-19 in Southern Ontario.

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