Mona Kattan Interviews Kristie Romanos!

In an exclusive one-on-one, the Dubai-based beauty guru Mona Kattan interviews Kristie Romanos on her YouTube channel. The interview started out with Kattan presenting Kristie and welcoming her to her 79k subscribers.

Mona started out with: “Today we’re doing a very special video with an extremely amazing and special guest, Kristie Romanos. She’s one of the owners and the creative director of Esposacouture who helped me find not just one wedding dress, many wedding dresses, the  dress that made me cry! I wanted to bring her on today to talk about everything that she’s passionate about and also to help you guys find your dream wedding dress. She has so much experience and many tips for you guys. I don’t know about everyone else but I think every bride’s nightmare is find the dress!”

Mona Kattan: I would love if you could share a little bit about your background just really quickly. I didn’t know that the company is run by you and your sisters. That’s so exciting!

Kristie: The company was a group that we started 35 years ago by my parents and ow it’s run by me and my two other sisters.

Mona Kattan: You have many branches right?

Kristie: Yes, we have two branches in Dubai and two in Lebanon and now we’re opening one in Riyadh.

Mona: I’ve never found a selection like Esposa. When I went to your shop I felt like the weight has lifted off my shoulders.

Kristie: Yes! We have a big assortment and we have mostly all the brands in the bridal industry. We have our own atelier as well, Esposacouture so we can also create whatever the bride wants.

Mona: I just want to know from your side what are the top 5 tips that you have for a bride as soon as she gets engaged?

Kristie: First of all, she needs to starts doing her own research to get the feel of what she wants. The best way is to do a Pinterest, a mood board. She will get all the information you want and what you like. Then you can share it with all the supplier. Most importantly the bride should come very prepared and not blind. She should give us a feel of the wedding theme, the venue, the fixed date, her budget. This will help the stylist eliminate the options that don’t suit her.

Mona: What do you think is the biggest mistake that brides make?

Kristie: They have a specific picture in their head and they are coming just to find this specific dress. I would recommend every bride to be a bit more easy-going and flexible with the stylist. I advise her to try more dresses from our collection even if it’s not her style because you’ll get another perspective. She needs to feel the fabric, the colors the style on her.

Mona: What is the most common question you get from the women when they visit your boutique?

Kristie: So, we got a lot of questions after the pandemic if we are selling online, and yes, we are! You would be amazed how many brides have bought their wedding dress online. They either couldn’t travel and they had to do a very small wedding, so we started with a zoom call, checking what they like. They would share their mood board and their budget and we would choose 5 to 6 dresses and out them on the mannequins. This way they can see the details and embroidery and then we’ll send her a measuring sheet. We do the resizing in-store then we ship it to her where she’ll try it on. We have a tailors that can help her with any other alterations.

Mona: What advice do you have for a bride who is self-conscience about her body part?

Kristie: You might be insecure of your upper-part, waist or anything else. In a wedding dress nothing will show. We can hide them in a very artistic and couture way. Most importantly, don’t emphasize on your insecurities!

Mona: I want to talk about a really important concept you created called “We Do”. It’s all about giving people more options and even more budget friendly options where they can rent or buy a second-hand dress. What made you start this concept and why is it important to you?

Kristie: The idea started right after the pandemic where we saw all the fashion industries limiting their productions of fabrics fir sustainability. We thought why don’t we reused all the wedding dresses form all our clients for a good cause. They can rent the dress or buy it online. We were shocked of the amount of clients who donated their dresses. We are donating them to other countries like Africa, there’s one client who opened a bridal shop. We shipped over 200 wedding dresses donated to us where she offers free wedding dresses.

Mona: Any last tips for our brides who are watching?

Kristie: Just try to find the dress that describes your personality not what your entourage wants, but what you want.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWAYhCAK1ks

You can check out the full video for more in-depth details and tips for your wedding dress shopping!