Encore Bridal is fashion forward

Sheyda Sayahi’s new boutique – which sells pre-worn and new wedding dresses on consignment – has recently opened in the historic King John Building downtown. 

Encore Bridal is a new consignment boutique in downtown Hamilton, offering a high-end experience while selling sustainable and affordable wedding dresses.

Owner Sheyda Sayahi frequently finds herself talking to women about not getting too caught up in wedding mania. It doesn’t have to cost a fortune to realize a dream, she says.

A wedding dress is often the most expensive clothing item a woman ever buys, yet she wears it only once. It’s better for the environment and for the pocketbook to reuse them, says Sayahi.

“I just think the wedding industry has really gone out of proportion. Somehow, it’s really no longer about the marriage and the union, it’s all about that day and the wedding ... I hope more and more people get onto that bandwagon of choosing marriage over a wedding.”

Sayahi is combining her background in luxury fashion with finance and business analysis to open her business in her new home of Hamilton. She officially kicked off Encore Bridal – located in the restored King John Buildings facing Gore Park – with a fashion show at the end of March. 

Encore’s dresses are either pre-worn or new but all sold on consignment. She’s focused on bridal wear, but also has a small selection of wedding guest or occasion clothing. Sayahi has a vision to eventually add a service to redesign well-made but out-of-fashion wedding dresses into an Encore brand, as well as to sell samples from Canadian designers in support of a local women’s shelter. 

Dresses in her inventory include those by leading global designers such as Pnina Tornai, Eva Lendel, Rita Vinieris, Vera Wang, and Justin Alexander.

Sayahi, whose family fled Iran in the 1970s and eventually settled in Sweden, studied fashion in London, England. She worked in a high-end custom bridal store in the city before becoming a buyer, product manager and head of design for major retailers in Sweden, India and Canada. 

From there, she decided to shift her career into business analysis and worked in change management in the finance industry. But she soon found she craved a different kind of life. 

“I started looking at options and avenues, and how I could launch my own business. What would be the right thing for me to do. Of course, I love clothes. I love vintage clothes. I love sustainable fashion.”

Sayahi says Hamilton has a strong number of vintage and used clothing sellers but nothing in bridal. 

“If this is a market that has got such an amazing appetite for their everyday wear then they are going to have that appetite and be open to also purchase pre-loved for their big day. And that is how the whole thing kind of clicked and came together.”

She says the universe led her to the King John building after she had been disappointed in her search elsewhere. It’s so appropriate to have a high-end bridal reseller in a building that has found its own new life, says Sayahi. 

Her unit has exposed brick walls, a Juliet balcony and plenty of space for a bride and her party to enjoy a dress viewing.

“It's gorgeous when you enter into the building. You really feel that history has been revived.”

Sayahi lives in Ancaster with her mother and her pug Chloe (the latter has 5,000 followers on Instagram!).

She says she was looking for a bigger space than either her mother or herself had in Toronto where they could live together and enjoy a quieter life. She initially looked of the east of the big city, but then realized Hamilton was a better choice.

“I think I was destined to come and live here. Ever since I moved to Canada in 2000, I had a very special feeling for Hamilton, because my uncle lived in Ancaster,” she says.

“(Hamilton) has more personality and soul to me than Toronto. I think people are really proud of their city, and that's something nice to be a part of. People embrace you, people help you, people give you a lending hand. If you have a neighbour, it's truly a neighbour. It's just not the number next door.”

Encore is different in a couple of ways from traditional bridal shops, says Sayahi. She doesn’t charge for the initial appointment in which she talks to the bride about her preferred styles, and takes her measurements. That’s followed by the selection appointment, which is 90 minutes and can include up to three guests. The group has the boutique to themselves while the bride-to-be tries on handpicked dresses. 

“It's a really couture, high-end experience but at checkout, people don’t pay what they would in a designer boutique.”