We were lucky to catch up with Kristen Grabowski recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kristen, appreciate you joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later?

Meraki Brides started after being with another bridal group that had dissolved. I opened up my salon, Meraki Studio in 2017 and knew that I wanted to continue to be involved in the bridal world, so came along Meraki Brides.

MB just rebranded and started a whole new website, we currently have 30 weddings booked for next year. MB currently employs 8 amazing, talent hairstylists and make up artists. I am so incredibly proud of my team, without them none of this would have been possible. It’s not always easy to give up weekends with your families but when you truly enjoy what you’re doing, its not to bad.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started my career in 2007, I graduated from the Salon Professional Academy in St. Charles, MO. I started off as most; stylists do with working behind the chair on Saturdays. I knew that eventually I wanted to get past that point so when I went out on my own, that’s when I joined a bridal group. From there I was able to learn the ins and outs of working with brides and their parties. I figured out what worked and what didn’t (that never ends either, I am constantly trying out new things).

I truly think that my team is what sets us apart, we are able to reach so many brides with our size. During the busy season, we typically are seeing 3-5 brides and their parties a weekend. I love that, each bride is different and their parties so it’s just a fun experience to go in and start the morning with them. You get to see how this group of women all co-exist with one another, hear their insides jokes, their stories with one another.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

2020. We had to drop anything we knew and start over from scratch. Things were a disaster all around the world, but trying to run a small business during that time was a nightmare. We had weddings scheduled that we had to cancel due to COVID and there was no reimbursement for us. While some brides did reschedule to later dates, some just decided it wasn’t worth the headache to replan another wedding, which I completely understand.

It was a hard pill to swallow, watching one whole year of income from the bridal business go down the tubes, but these past years after have made up for it. It seems just a distant memory now.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

MB has been around for quite some time but like I had mentioned before we are saturated with vendors in this area, so it has been hard to build. We are at a disadvantage since we are on the Illinois side, and we mostly book St. Louis weddings but after being in business since 2017 I think now, we are truly becoming a staple in the wedding vendor market.

We decided to do a bit of rebranding, completely take on a whole new domain name for our brand-new website. It’s beautiful, gorgeous and professional and everything that I want our brides to see that we are.

Wedding planning is hard, but choosing your vendors is honestly a daunting task. We have so many amazing wedding vendors in the St. Louis area, that it is hard to narrow down the choice. My advice always is look at their social media, how do they represent themselves? Do they look like the type of vendor that you would want to work with? Do you like their work, is their work something you could bring for an inspiration? MB also always sets aside time to have a one on one call with every bride, which I feel like is extremely important, you’re putting a business name/face to a voice. We also work one on one with our brides during their preview appointments to make sure that they feel exactly how they want to feel/look on their special day. Once it gets closer to the wedding MB sends out a schedule for your morning of. We have found that sending this out, helps the ease any anxiety the brides may be having, it sends a clear picture of how the morning will come together and it helps us start on a targeted time that we need to be completed. Anything we can do to help our brides, thats what we do.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.merakibrides.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/merakibrides
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/merakibrides