TMB TURNS 12 - a look back in time
It’s November and while some people may be blasting holiday tunes already (you know who you are) this time of year reminds me that TMB has a birthday. November 2025 brings TMB to the ripe age of 12! Twelve years of slinging dresses, sipping champagne and celebrating this wild world of bridal.
Before I tell you how The Modern Bride began, I want to tell you who we are right now. Twelve years in, surrounded by a team I never could have imagined in 2013, I felt pulled to start this story from the present.
Because this version of TMB is the one we built together, the years behind it deserve to be honoured in reverse. So while 2025 is still alive and well, too hot to be recounted yet, let’s start with 2024…
2024 - the year we were all in one space
the wellington building - our actual forever home
If you’ve visited us in the last year and a half, you’ve seen TMB and Après Oui at their most curated, most elevated, and finally, all under one roof.
When the Petrie Building sold and our time there was suddenly on the clock, we spent two years searching for the impossible; a space that could beat the eighteen foot ceilings and unmatched charm of the third and fourth floor. We were a growing team that needed more room, tied to a lease that meant we had to move fast. We looked all over Guelph and into nearby cities. We drew floor plans, shifted directions, got our hopes up and watched them fall, and then rebuilt them again. And then, our salvation appeared just down the street; 147 Wyndham St. N.
I won’t go into the construction process here (that is a well overdue blog of its own) but we found this tired, dishevelled space and Donna, along with a team of incredibly talented designers and trades, transformed it into our new home. Truly, from not much at all.
Our goal was simple, get our staff working in one space again, half were still at Petrie, and build the dream loft we kept imagining.
And that is exactly what happened. From a five hundred square foot loft that once held two hundred dresses, we now let three hundred gowns breathe in fifteen hundred square feet. Don’t believe me, come see for yourself.
Captured by: Sandra Monaco
2023 - the year tmb turned ten
a decade in the bizz and on the precipice of a huge move
If you couldn’t tell by all the huge smiles this was a year of celebration. To look back on all that we had accomplished and clink our own glasses of prosecco. The photos tell the stories of the moments that belong to that night.
What happens at TMB stays at TMB.
Captured by the amazing Sandra Monaco Photography.
2022 - we set the tone
a fully inclusive lookbook & a vision for the next big thing in bridal
2022 felt like a peak. We were finally recovering from the emotional drag of COVID, we knew exactly who we were, and we committed to showing it. Our work wasn’t just about being the best anymore, it was about being the most inclusive. We pushed every designer to celebrate every body, and our Loft was finally starting to reflect that. After three years of small shifts that made big impact, we saw the results.
Most of the images below are from the Lookbook we created that year, showcasing a size range that finally spanned 4 through 30.
It was the first year our vision showed up in every frame.
DESIGNERS: Alan Hannah, Anna Georgina, OUMA, Eden Aharon, Eisen Stien, Tal Kedem, VARCA, Sarah SEVEN, Georgia Young, Mikaella/Paloma Blanca, Katherine Tash, Made With Love Bridal, Neta Dover and MORE!
Captured by: Sandra Monaco
2020 & 2021 - the covid years
we worked remote, Jess had a baby and we re-opened to a new bridal world.
The COVID years. No one wants to relive them. We were closed for a total of twenty one weeks, doing our best to stay afloat in a world none of us recognized. I welcomed a tiny bridal prince into the world, and we adapted in every way we could.
The theme of that time was long engagements, unexpected splits, long distance love, and micro weddings that were truly micro.
The industry shifted permanently. Local became king. Mom and pop boutiques closed everywhere. And the best designers were the ones who showed up, cultivated real relationships, and helped all of us weather the storm.
DESIGNERS: Love Honor, Alan Hannah, Anna Georgina, OUMA, Eden Aharon, Eisen Stien, Tal Kedem, VARCA, Sarah SEVEN, Georgia Young, Mikaella/Paloma Blanca, Katherine Tash, Made With Love Bridal, Neta Dover and MORE!
EMPLOYEES: 26 (the most ever - and could have ever imagined!)
Jess Imrie - branding
Robin Sassi - lookbook
2019 - THE CHILL YEAR
Yup, there is a year in our past where we took a breath…
We grew into our beautiful 2 storey shop, we made memories with brides, we laughed and truly enjoyed the bridal bubble. Looking back it was the last actual quiet chapter.
DESIGNERS: Anais Anette, Chantel Lauren, Thea, Rosa Clara, Blush by HP, Justin Alexander, Pronovias, Tatyana Merenyuk, & For Love, Georgia Young, Alexandra Grecco, Divine Atelier, MWL
EMPLOYEES: 10
Madison Rose Photography - lookbook
Emily Jane Photography - branding
2018 - home sweet home at petrie
from one room to three, from four staff to nine
Although we moved into Petrie in November 2017, it wasn’t until 2018 that we really grew into who we were becoming. Donna had created the most unreal bridal oasis, every corner intentional, every detail meant to make brides feel seen. Alicia and I spent the year filling it with every beautiful gown we could get our hands on. We carried thirteen designers, each one chosen because they reflected the kind of bride we were attracting, the kind of brides we wanted to celebrate.
This was the year we started stepping into our voice. We pushed ourselves on socials, created content long before it was a strategy, and somehow ended up making waves. People were watching us, taking notes, and new boutiques started popping up around us. It was one of our greenest years, but also one of our most confident. We took risks without overthinking, we trusted our instincts, and we built momentum without realizing it.
With a small team of stylists beside us, Donna and I kept growing the business, where yes moments happened with ease, and where our identity as The Modern Bride really started to take shape.
2018 was the year we stepped into ourselves.
DESIGNERS: Anais Anette, Chantel Lauren, Thea, Rosa Clara, Blush by HP, Justin Alexander, Pronovias, Tatyana Merenyuk, & For Love, Georgia Young, Alexandra Grecco, Divine Atelier, MWL
EMPLOYEES: 9 (this was the first time I handed Instagram over to someone else)
Captured by: Scarlet O’Neil Photography
2017 - the year of the move
the year we moved (twice), blue dresses were king & we dreamt big
2017 was our in-between year, the bridge between who we were and who we were about to become. Boarding House Arts on Dublin was home, and Donna had turned an old art studio into a beautiful stepping stone. We did our own hair and makeup for the lookbook you see below, BOHO ruled the moment, and hair jewellery was basically a personality trait. It was chaotic, scrappy, and weirdly perfect. We had survived our greasy landlord on Carden street and were looking to find HOME, to build home.
While Donna spent her days in a hard hat overseeing the build of what we thought would be our forever home, Alicia and I focused on growing our collections for a Loft that was, the same size as our very first shop!
This was the year we pushed ourselves creatively, brought on edgier designers, and started stepping into the version of TMB we were reaching for. We traveled to Bridal Market in NYC for the first time, flew to Barcelona to see Pronovias, and found ourselves standing next to designers we never imagined we’d meet.
2017 was preparation. Expansion. The quiet stretch before the leap.
DESIGNERS: Anais Anette, Chantal Lauren, Thea, Rosa Clara, Blush by Hayley Paige, Tatyana Merenyuk, Marquis Bridal, Pronovias, Alexandra Grecco
EMPLOYEES: 4 - the amazing addition of Jay; our first PT stylist - lawyer by day, stylist on the weekend!
1486 Photography
2016 - the year of growth
the year we became a team, changed our name and planned weddings
Our little team grew by one with the addition of our very first employee, ALICIA. If you’ve visited TMB anytime in the last decade, you’ve probably had the pleasure of working with her. She’s now our Director of Operations, but back then we were just three humans doing back to back appointments and changing mannequins for a living.
2016 also opened the door to other business ventures, wedding shows, calligraphy, even wedding planning. And then came PRONOVIAS. Having one of the biggest bridal brands in the world choose to stock with us felt surreal. Anais Anette joined us too, starting a beautiful partnership with Canadian made gowns.
This was the year we changed our name — goodbye SGBB (Something Green Bridal Boutique), hello TMB. The new name gave us an alignment we didn’t even know we needed.
We moved boldly through 2016, and took our first family vacation since opening, and celebrated more YES’s than we ever imagined.
DESIGNERS: Anais Anette, Hayley Paige, Pronovias, Rosa Clara, Ella Rosa.
EMPLOYEES: 3
Captured by: Allie Jennings Photography
2015 - our first full year as a family business
Hayley Paige was the biggest bridal designer, it felt real, and Carden street never looked so chic.
2015 was peak chalk art, burlap and mason jars. You couldn’t go to a wedding without seeing a sunflower bouquet or a DIY wooden sign pointing toward the bar. The biggest moment for us that year was bringing Hayley Paige into our little shop. That was the first time it felt like a real business. We were no longer relying on loaner gowns, we were choosing styles straight from designer linesheets, making decisions that shaped who we were becoming.
We also asked real brides to come in for our first branding shoot — no models, just women who had taken a chance on us, found their dress and wanted to be a part of our shoot!
And yes, we even dipped a toe into bridesmaid dresses… a short lived experiment that taught us exactly what we didn’t want to do. 2015 was messy, earnest, and full of firsts. It was the year we started to believe TMB could actually become something bigger.
DESIGNERS: Hayley Paige, Ella Rosa, Jasmine, Moonlight.
EMPLOYEES: 2
Captured by: Sandra Monika Photography
2013 & 2014 - opening year
The dresses were mix matched, the hopes were high and the friends were models.
November 2013 saw the birth of Something Green Bridal Boutique. A tiny shop on Carden Street, right across from City Hall, designed by Donna (who was only a tentative believer back then, not yet TMB’s CFO) and run by two women who knew almost nothing about bridal but a whole lot about slinging pints. We were still both bartending at McCabe’s at the time.
Tammy and I rocked that little storefront for four months until she had to return to Scotland. Our inventory was a mix of consignment gowns and dresses we rescued from a shop in Fergus that had closed. We had no experience, no expertise, and no roadmap, but we had a beautiful space, the trust of Guelph women, and maybe a bit of my inherited delusion.
After Tammy left, I ran the shop solo, still bartending at night, until I finally convinced Donna that we could sling dresses together. It was messy and meaningful in equal measure.
DESIGNERS: Ella Rosa, Jasmine & Moonlight Bridal
EMPLOYEES: 2
Captured by: Azure Photography