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- It's not every day that you hear about a couple going from saying 'I do' to becoming business owners who were inspired by their nuptials.
- But Ashley and Charles Young are no ordinary couple.
- They turned one of the biggest headaches of their wedding day into a thriving business.
It all started when the body-hugging dresses worn by Ashley and Charles Young's bridesmaids went viral for how well they fit. In response to the positive reaction to the dresses, the couple decided to launch a bridesmaids' gown line.
Bridal Babes designs bridesmaid dresses that accommodate fuller-figured women and their curves.
READ MORE | The Kendall + Kylie brand teamed up with Azazie to release a bridesmaid collection
"What I found when I was searching [for bridesmaids' dresses] was just that there's nothing out there. So, once my girls put their dresses on, once we finally found the one, it was really difficult. But our wedding went viral because people have never seen bridesmaids in curve-hugging dresses that actually enhanced their body type," Ashley shared with Afro Tech.
Bridal Babes is one of the industry's first to incorporate virtual consultation.
READ MORE | Victoria Beckham designed 'killer' bridesmaid gowns for singer Marc Anthony and his new bride
Ashley feels that the wedding industry is 'vanilla' as there are no women of colour represented in wedding gown adverts.
"In the wedding industry, it's what we call 'vanilla', right? You don't see a lot of us in the advertising. You don't see a lot of, like, our infusion," she shared.
"When I say 'our', I mean Black women and Latina women. We are very different. I think that's why we have been so successful because we really have focused on designs that are different from the norm and different from the mainstream. When people come to our consultations, they're not worried about someone not understanding that their bridesmaids are the full-size range."
