Clarissa's Bridal Salon, est. 1981
Kathleen Lawrence started Clarissa Bridal Salon in Walnut Creek 30 years ago with her mother, Mary Ann Thomas. A year after Mary Ann’s death, Kathleen recounts Clarissa’s humble beginnings.
I had just had my first son, Jarrod, and I wanted to do something fun, so I applied to Bullocks as the bridal department buyer. I learned the bridal business by the seat of my pants. I did that for about two years. Then my sister, Denise decided to get married so I helped her with her wedding. Then I found out I was pregnant with Matthew so I quit.
Matthew was little, still in a stroller when my dad said to me one day that, “There’s no bridal salons in Walnut Creek.” My other sister, Anne, had just gone off to college and mother was enjoying having the house to herself for the first time after eight kids. We had all moved out finally and Daddy said, “Well, your mother is bored and has nothing to do so you two should start a bridal salon. It can’t be that hard…Go to New York. Pick out whatever dresses you need. Then come back and open a salon.” And you just did whatever Daddy said. So I called the designers in New York with the New York Yellow pages.
We had our first appointment at Priscilla, who was the end all in the bridal business. However, you couldn’t just buy one dress and call it a day. Priscilla had three different lines and you had to buy at least eight from each of them. So Mother and I walked out of Priscilla spending $10,000, which back then was more like $50,000 now. And we had three days left. We spent as little money as possible on food and as little time as possible at the hotel.
When we got back from New York, I found a small showroom we could afford. Daddy found someone to build three walls for dressing rooms. Mother made curtains for them. We kept the dresses in the back because that’s what Priscilla did. Back then, we would just put a pad of paper out and women would come in and sign their names, leave for a couple hours, then come back when we were ready for them. Mother did all of the book keeping while Denise and I helped the brides.
We moved right along and we really liked what we did. It was fun to see someone walk in with jeans and a t-shirt, and then we’d put a gown on them and pull their hair up. We would lift up their whole face with a beautiful veil and they would walk out and be unrecognizable. It’s wonderful. So number one, being able to be a part of someone’s wedding day is great and number two, possibly making a difference in how someone views themselves.