Published on 23, Feb 2023

CLEVELAND, OHIO–

Radiant Bride was born when Ellen McFadden set out to purchase her daughters’ wedding dresses. She stumbled upon a small shop in Rocky River, Ohio, and immediately found herself inspired by the content. She bought her daughters’ dresses and the dress shop itself, making it into today’s wedding dress wonder, Radiant Bride.

The small bridal boutique draws in thousands of brides from a 90-mile radius, all moved to buy their big day dresses here. McFadden attributes her business’s success to good word-of-mouth and a rise in market demand for a particular Radiant Bride prize– designer wedding dresses.

McFadden, the owner of the shop and designer dress curator dedicates her love for dresses to a particular moment in her past– seeing her mother sew. McFadden says she became “smitten” and never lost the heart for it.

Aided by a fashion degree, McFadden claims to have started Radiant Bride with a simple business plan of her own, one she still leads with: work hard, serve the brides, and remain humble. This mission has lead to great growth for the company– mostly from word of mouth– and the hundreds of 5-star Google reviews are a testament to Radiant Bride’s quality level of service. 

Six years ago, McFadden maintains, when Radiant Bride opened, she couldn’t have imagined the state of the company now. She remains grateful to the brides, who she believes have really helped catalyze this success.

This is only the beginning for their bridal dress business. Just last year, the global market for wedding wear was estimated to be $61.1 Billion and is only projected to increase to around $69.9 Billion by 2026.

Following the shift in business, Radiant Bride plans to expand into an even bigger, better space. In their brand new multi-million dollar, two-story building, guests will have access to six roomy bridal suites and a private parking lot with ample spaces directly behind the building. The company plans to keep it’s old-timey feel by installing wood-flooring, a fireplace, and a limestone facade. The current display window that summons smiles from Rocky River residents will become two display windows in the new shop. This new store will be open in summer of 2023, keeping up with northeast Ohio’s growing search for a gown.

Even greater than a desire for a dress are brides’ increasing hunt to find “the dress”-- a uniquely made gown, specifically tailored to the person. Along with the personal attention and care they pay during appointment sessions, Radiant Bride is happy to serve customers with a wide collection of specially crafted designer brands, hand-picked and curated by McFadden herself. Some of the dresses McFadden likes to present in the store are names like Allure Bridals, Blue by Enzoani, Enzoani, Love by Enzoani, Essense of Australia, Madi Lane, St. Patrick, and Vera Wang.

Some of these are key fashion players of the year, such as Essense of Australia who combines a perfect fit with glamourous finishing. These dresses feature luxurious fabrics and often shimmer with authentic Swarovski crystals and diamantés. These dresses are just some of many that Radiant Beauty keeps in store.

By appointment, brides can find the right dress given the right opportunity– a guided session with help from McFadden and a stylist. The gowns to pick from often range from $1,500-to-$4,500, most sitting in the $1,900-to-$2,400 range, and Radiant Bride is proud of its selection of plus-size gowns, aiming to ensure that every bride feels beautiful.

On their website, one can find the faithful motto of Radiant Bride, "All you need is LOVE and a GREAT dress!" McFadden holds that the brides already have love and it’s Radiant Bride’s job to help them find the latter.

Today, Radiant Bride is the premium bridal shop in northeast Ohio. To learn more, call Radiant Bride at 440-863-2000 and follow them on IG @radiantbridecle.