In the wedding industry you meet so many people....SO MANY PEOPLE....you just cant even comprehend. The beauty of it is that you learn so much from each other and form friendships that will last a lifetime. We like to call them "friendors." These are our friend vendors that we've worked alongside with and truly respect their work. One of these for us is Kristina Bunn, owner of Imperial Formal Wear located in the Woodlawn community near the heart of Birmingham, AL. Kristina grew up and worked at her family's dry-cleaning business for years, which is directly behind her now bridal shop.
After going to Birmingham Southern and studying business management her dad finally came to her with the much anticipated question, "What are you going to do with your life?" At that point Kristina truly had no idea but after several table talks in the kitchen they had a few thoughts. Her dad had one building spot open right beside his dry-cleaning business and they tossed around the idea of opening a tuxedo shop. The idea was solid especially since they knew a good bit about fine fabrics and the upkeep of them. After thinking over the plans it suddenly hit Kristina....bridal. She had always been intrigued by the wedding industry, the beautiful dresses and the culture that came with it so she knew bridal is where she wanted to be.
Imperial Formal Wear opened its doors in January 2014 and has since then grown and evolved tremendously. "My dad taught me to start small and to slowly build something every single year," she said. She gives all the credit to him for his invaluable mentorship and guidance through it all. Everything she learned from her dad also came straight from her grandfather who originally established Imperial Cleaners in 1987. The entire process has taken time, hard work and realistic hopes for Bunn but she has definitely done it with stride.
She wanted Imperial to be a one stop shop for brides in providing dresses for the bride and bridesmaids, veils, jewelry and even tuxedos for the guys, which is exactly how her customers would describe the business. As they continue on in their journey they want people to know that they love meeting all of the new faces and learning about each and every persons style and story.