Many drive by The Wedding Dress and Tux Shop––a bridal boutique located on East South Street––countless times without fully appreciating its uniqueness. In such a small town, it is unusual to have a bridal shop with self-proclaimed “high quality at reasonable prices” in the community. While it may be unusual, it is a truly hidden gem of the Geneseo community. The shop is a family-owned business in its fifth year. The current owners are Jessica Dugo and her mother Nancy Quibell, taking over from a previous mother/daughter duo. Five employees work at The Wedding Dress and Tux Shop to cover every wedding day need, from styling consultants to alterations. Wedding dresses, tuxedos, bridesmaid dresses, mother-of-the-bride gowns and flower girl dresses. Wedding dresses and bridesmaids gowns come in from all over the world to be purchased and tuxedos are available for rent.
Dugo and Nancy Quibell said that their favorite part of styling brides is being a part of their special day.
“When you help someone find a gown, it’s a big part of their life and you get to be a part of it,” Dugo said. “There are brides I’ll remember forever.”
It’s not all smiles and wedding jitters, however. Regarding the hardest part of their jobs, Nancy Quibell said that the biggest difficulty is trying to work with a bride who “doesn’t know what she wants or can’t vocalize what she wants.”
This is where the necessary qualifications to be a bridal consultant come in. Nancy Quibell discussed how a consultant must be extremely knowledgeable of the inventory so that when a bride comes in with pictures or ideas of a style she likes, the consultant can quickly and effectively match that with available inventory.
“Consultants have to know what they’re selling,” Quibell said.
“Bridezillas” are apparently quite common at The Wedding Dress and Tux Shop, though Quibell explains that this is not necessarily a bad thing. She says that “bridezillas” are just brides who are “intense in wanting and overly-particular.” In the bridal business, this can actually be a good thing; they are willing to spend a little extra in order to get exactly what they want.
Brides of all ages come in to the shop. The duo said that they’ve styled women from the ages of 18-70. Many teenage girls come into the store to look for prom dresses as well. Because of the addition of the prom business, the shop’s busy season is March-October.
This family-owned shop is an asset that is unique to Geneseo. This unique, quirky part of the Geneseo community embodies all that is great about our small town.