Our Mission
Hi all! My name is Beth Clark and I am one of the owners of the Bridal Chateau. As the 3rd generation in this business, I have grown up here. You can learn about our origins just below, but one thing is for sure, that this company was designed by women for women. The empowerment and leadership has always taken place in the forefront, especially in our early years when business was still very male dominated.
The WHY of our business has evolved over the years as times keep changing. Women’s empowerment was important, but it’s no longer enough. We have taken a big shift in the last few years. We had to get really focused, especially through the trials and tribulations that 2020 brought. With unknown shut down and supply chain issues (that we still are feeling 2-3 years later) we decided to move to focus solely on wedding gowns. The purpose was to ensure anybody that wanted to wear a wedding gown could do so despite their time frame, size, race, religion, disability or self orientation. We’ve hyper focused on making sure we are a space where everyone can feel safe, be heard, and happy.
Origins
Bridal Chateau was originally established in 1975 by Ellen Furmanek. After her husband had several heart attacks, he was no longer able to run their family meat market and had to give up the business. Deciding she needed to be able to sustain the family, she decided to create her own business. This was around the time when Ellen’s daughter Debbie was getting married. She had also learned to sew at the Vareska School of Design and had a passion for creating designs, so she decided to found the Bridal Chateau from within her home.
The little business boomed and within a few years, her daughter Debbie joined to growing business and moved to the Wehrle Drive location we are located at today. Debbie grew from a consultant to the head-seamstress that many of our past brides were fortunate enough to work with. She retired the alteration department in 2018 due to the rigorous labor of sewing wedding gowns. She still pops in and offers her expertise to our customers.
The third generation joined the business early in life. Beth Clark has blossomed into this industry from a flower girl model to owner, working pretty much every job in between. She is a local expert on bridal and been the co-host for wedding planning TV shows, is on multiple committees for planning and producing bridal shows, etc. She also does public speaking at events, such as Vows Bridal market Atlanta, and is one of the main fashion buyers for the company.
We are constantly attending style shoots, seminars, giving insight for wedding articles, and taking courses to offer the ultimate customer experience and making sure we are on the cutting edge of trends, customer needs, inclusivity, and fair trade practices. You may have seen some of our shoots published in Betrothed Magazine, WNY Weddings, featured on blogs such as Wedding Chicks, or read articles we collaborated on, such as with Brides Magazine. We will always strive to grow in this ever changing industry to offer nothing but the best to our Buffalo Brides!
