Hadassah Bridal House is a growing bridal business and an Iludio Vendor (Visit Hadassah’s Page). In our interview, with Ifedolapo, the founder, she tells us about her business and how she got into the wedding industry. She also shares great tips for brides/grooms and upcoming wedding businesses.

Tell us about yourself and your business

My name is Ifedolapo Olayemi-Okewole. I am married with a little son. The business I run is Hadassah Bridal House which is a bridal and fashion outfit in Lagos. We make affordable and trendy wedding gowns. We target people who want trendy and affordable wedding gowns and who can shop online for their wedding gowns.

How did you start? What inspired you to get into the industry?

My wedding actually inspired me. When I was getting married I didn’t have the luxury of time to shop around for my wedding gown. So I did most (about 90%) of my shopping online. After that, I started thinking that there were a lot of women in my shoes who couldn’t go around to shop. So I started sourcing for materials and stuff. We started with the online platform before we moved into our own store.

Would you start Hadassah Bridal House, if you were to do it over again? What would you do differently?

Yes I would start my business over and over again. I would do it every time. When I started, I did only custom made pre-order wedding gowns. If I were to start again, I will start with stocking up wedding gowns in my store.

What has been your greatest motivation?

Well I am always very happy when my brides are happy. So when a bride comes into my store and walks out happy, I am happy. My day is make when that happens. When I see the wedding pictures and the smiles, I am always very elated.

What do you think of the Nigerian/Ghanaian wedding industry? Has it changed over the years and how?

Well yes, the Nigerian/Ghanaian wedding industry has changed. Our demands have changed. Our budgets have changed. Our planning has changed. We have evolved and we have become more social. Everyone has something they are looking for and want to see in their wedding. However, one thing I have a problem with, is matching our budgets with what we can afford.

A lot of us are online including on Instagram and we see a lot of things we admire and love to have. However, we don’t check our budgets. So once we see those things and we want but can’t afford them, we have problems. We can’t match what we do in terms of planning our wedding with what people and society expects. That’s where I think a lot of people struggle. Matching their budgets with what they can afford

What do you like about your business and working in the industry?

It’s a dynamic industry and that’s a thing I like. Things are always changing. Wedding gown styles always change. The makeup industry is growing. I like the fact that it is dynamic. I like the fact that it is growing.

What differentiates Hadassah from others in your line of business and location? What are your greatest strengths?

What differentiates Hadassah Bridal House is the fact that even though our wedding gowns are trendy, they are very affordable. We are able to help brides get affordable wedding gowns. Now with regards to our location, we are not bound by Lagos. We are in Lagos but have served brides in many states in Nigeria. So we are not limited by our location. Over the years, the brand has grown and more people have trusted us. They commit their funds to us, expect to get what they want and we deliver.

What do you expect from your clients (brides and grooms)? What don’t you expect?

I expect my clients to have a budget. I have talked about budgets a lot, because a lot of people have plans but no set budget. So I expect my clients to have a budget and I expect them to work with their budgets.

What is/are the most rewarding aspect of providing your service? What is/are the most frustrating aspects?

Seeing brides from everywhere with our wedding gowns. Seeing my bride tag me from Gombe. Seeing my bride tag me from the US. It is very rewarding.

The most frustrating is seeing a bride-to-be walk into the store already tired and can’t find her wedding gown. It is not just frustrating for the bride but also for me, because I understand what she is going through. Trust me it can be very tiring when you have searched and searched for a dress.

What advice can you give to brides/grooms?

In life, one thing that helps us grow is knowledge. When you are planning a wedding, beyond just searching for pictures, search for information. Search for the things you should do while getting married. Apart from preparing for your wedding day, prepare for life after the day. That is something that has helped me in marriage. I have been married for 5+ years. Beyond preparing for my wedding, I got equipped for the life. I remember being dumped with loads of books to read. I look back at the information I gathered then and it has helped me. I am not a bride who is frustrated in marriage, because I have been well equipped. So beyond preparing for your wedding day, you need to prepare for the life after.

What advice can you give for up and coming businesses in your line of business?

I always like to say that the world needs entrepreneurs. People that are daring. People that are patient enough to go through the process. The world needs people that will learn. So if you intend to get into the bridal industry, try and get the education. I have had to go to school and recently did a course at Pan-Atlantic. Really for me, it was a turning point in my business life because I was exposed to things that I didn’t know. I was more about using social media whilst not doing a lot of things with our books, our HR, our customer service on paper. So if you are looking into entrepreneurship and have a dream, write that dream down and create it. Then get the education, get the right network and meet the right people.

What award(s) if any have you received?

I got a WomenX scholarship award from World Bank and Lagos Business School (LBS). It was based on entrepreneurship. They were looking for young women-owned businesses in Nigeria. I applied and got the scholarship award. After six months of learning, I received a certificate in entrepreneurial management.

What else would you like to share with our readers?

Always smile. Life is full of challenges. The economy in Nigeria is not smiling. We are exchanging dollar at 500/505 naira. In the midst of that, always find a reason to smile. You can always be happy.

VISIT Hadassah Bridal House on Iludio

We had a wonderful time with Sheila from Prime Shades. She is a beautiful soul, very passionate about her work and an inspirational being. You only need to read the text of our interview to be inspired. Here’s our chat broken into multiple pages.

Tell us about yourself and your business?

I’m Sheila Enuson and the CEO of Prime Shades Ltd. We do interior designing and events i.e. weddings, parties, etc. We also do construction. We’re based in Ghana and have been in operation since 2008. By God’s grace, we are humbled to say that we are among the top names in Ghana when it comes to decor. We are very reliable in what we do and we offer our clients the best of services. The main thing we do when it comes to events are weddings and we take particular interest in weddings because we want weddings to be beautiful for every couple. We don’t believe in discrimination. We work with everyone and make sure every bride feels special and happy. We’ve been building our profile since we started and over the years we have worked with over 50 couples. We limit the amount of couples/workload to make sure we put in our best for the couples we work with. Our monthly target is a maximum of two weddings to allow us time to achieve beautiful, well-packaged weddings especially considering that some weddings are destination weddings and those take a lot of time. We also take our time to focus on the bride, the groom and the families involved because you can’t say you’re having a wedding and ignore the bride’s mum. NEVER!! If the bride’s mum is available, she’s your first contact. The bride knowing that the mum is in agreement with most of the things, and the mother-in-law or father-in-law are also in agreement brings a lot of peace of mind and understanding on the day.

We give our best to every wedding – making sure everyone comes with their head up high and goes home with their head down (where they are happy and knocked out from having a good time at a great party) but we make sure that there is proper coordination – with an MC to cheer the event, with good food and drinks, great ambiance for a good event. It is important to us that we don’t just complete our aspect of the decor but we ensure the totality of the wedding; being in sync and making sure it is a memorable event. That’s what we always aim to achieve and we try our best for every client, irrespective of their budget. We make sure we cater to everyone. We have the high-end clients and the budget-friendly clients and we make sure that in all our endeavours, we give every bride that special attention.

How did you start and what inspired you to get into this industry?

Wow! how I started. I started at home and church. I always loved to setup the tables for dinner, lunch and I loved to see all the dressings ironed, paid so much attention to what we call ‘the home decor’. The regular home where your mum does the cooking and you want to make the food and garnish it before presenting it. That was something within me that I didn’t realize I had until after school. It was after I had completed my tertiary education that I said to myself “do I really want to be a journalist?”. I worked at a radio station for about a year and felt that I was missing something. I missed when I arranged flowers in church. I was in the girls fellowship. I am a Methodist and so at the girls fellowship, we learnt a number of things from crocheting and home detailing. You’re taught a whole lot and I grew fond of always playing with the fabrics and the floral. I didn’t know I had a talent in me until, I think in 2005, when my attention was drawn to what my potential was. We had events at church where sometimes we needed to put the tables together and sometimes we waited on the decorator in vain so we improvised and put the decor together. People were happy with our decor. My cousins subsequently sought me out saying “we have an event coming up, since you’re the planner, how do we do it” and I would provide a list of items and tasks to be completed. We worked with plastic chairs. It was a lot of fun for me. I wasn’t getting paid for jobs but I was always happy doing them. It was out of this passion that I grew interested in developing my talent.

I believe I am where I am today, with the help of my friends and family, because without them no one would have known me. They gave me all the encouragement. My mum would give remarks like “this is beautiful, keep doing it” and also my sister, may her soul rest in peace. She is one of the special people in my life. I still keep her memories. I remember her telling me 10 years ago, that the work I’m doing now will take me to a lot of places. At the time, I didn’t understand her but I wish now that she was still alive for me to tell her that “sis, see what I’ve been able to do with events”. Every time I see videos of my work, I cry because I wish she could see what I’ve been able to do with the little things I used to play with at home. Every time they found a broken vase, they knew I broke the vase. I grew up loving what I do. I still love what I do and I’m still passionate about it.

I think I’ve grown interest in having a taste of Nigeria; a twist of Nigerian and Ghanaian flavor in my work. I want to to be a little unique and stand out from the usual Ghanaian style. I like glitz and glam and I see that Nigerians do and that’s why I’m drawn to visiting Nigeria often. When I come, I look for vendors, accessories, all the necessities I think my bride requires – from her outfit to her shoes. In Nigeria, you have a wide variety and that’s why I’m here.