Stumbling upon one-of-a-kind places is a perk of a town like Los Gatos. On North Santa Cruz Avenue, there is a unique bridal store with a swing that pedestrians can see through the glass as they walk their dogs while holding a morning coffee. Whether one has an appointment for a fitting or is just passing by, the overpour of white gowns inside Bride and Bustle makes itself known. For owner Micaela Suhr, the fascination of weddings began at the mere age of seven.
Growing up in Monte Sereno with four brothers, finding the feminine was something Suhr did via her affinity for weddings. “I was strangely obsessed with wedding magazines and my plan was to be a wedding planner since about seven years old,” she says. “I have owned this business since May 2019.” She acquired it from Haute Bride (it was originally started in San Francisco).
But when Suhr turned 20, she received a diagnosis of Guillain-Barré Syndrome, which changed the trajectory of her dreams of becoming a wedding planner. “It’s a condition where your immune system attacks your nerves which paralyzes you,” she says. “I was in the hospital for five months in the ICU, then went into an in-patient physical rehabilitation center for two months to learn how to walk, talk and get back on my feet. The condition is like a one-time incident, but one year later I got it again—and three times in total. Then it transformed into a condition called CIDP, which is a chronic form of neuropathy,” says Suhr, as she goes through the timeline of realizing her new reality.
(Faizi Samadani / Los Gatan)
Suhr got into Santa Clara University but wasn’t able to continue due to her health. “You can’t be flakey when you’re planning someone’s wedding. So, since I couldn’t chase that dream at the time, I got my foot in the door with working at a wedding store in town. Working retail at a wedding boutique was my way of socializing,” says Suhr, as she explains her experience of connecting with people without attending college. “I can root my fascination since I was young because my parents divorced before I turned one. So, I was raised by a single father. I was surrounded by boys all the time, so I found the girliest thing that I could find. My father owned an insurance company which got sold, named Suhr Services,” she says, going on to describe weddings as something magical.
The Bustle
For many, dreams that have been tucked away due to the bustle of life can reemerge because of one reminder or another. “I find designers on Instagram and ask them to be carried online, which is mostly by us finding them out on our own,” Suhr says. “We also have people reaching out to us directly, so it goes both ways. Bridal is territorial, so it’s about 50 miles that another store can’t carry a designer in close radius to us which is just an industry standard.” Suhr continues describing the ins-and-outs of the business. “We’re a small town and we’re a small team with just the owner and manager, Elizabeth here—Elizabeth has been here since day one, and I came over and made her manager when she came over,” she says. “We both love what we do. We deal with brides all the times where someone is pushing them towards a sale. And we don’t do that. We want the experience more than anything. We are more unconventional because we want it to be more laid back, hence the swing.”
Just like brides-to-be have been thinking of this day since they were a kid, Suhr forms long-term relationships with people she might not help for months or years. Her manager Elizabeth bought her dress from Micaela when she was working next door. This friendship was built from work, which started with a dream way back when. “In order to continue to represent a brand accurately—since they come out with a collection twice a year—you are required to carry from their newest collection.” New York bridal fashion week is in April and October, as well as in Scottsdale Arizona. “I want the store to continue to grow and bring more brides these dresses that they will wear for the rest of their lives. I will like to continue to expand the store more because we run out of space. I don’t want to go too far out there, because it’s better to be good at one thing and not spread yourself too far. I would rather be really good at one aspect than multiple.”
Visitors come from all over the map to check out Bride and Bustle’s gowns and many depart with tears of joy, knowing that this one-stop shop will leave a mark of happiness on them for the rest of their lives. Suhr ends by saying, “I just want people to know that when they’re going into this store, we’re happy to see people not just as our customer, but we want to be a part of making them feel better. I solely do this job because I love it.” Though dreams emerge in us at a young age, many don’t get to accomplish them due to challenges that arrive. Micaela Suhr’s story provides inspiration for all to carry on their own dreams.
