Friendship Blossoms into Saline Business of Making Women Beautiful

Diana Holding and Tracey Skidmore, owners of White Arbor Bridal & Formals say that not only was a friendship between the two women inevitable, but evetually starting a business together helping other women be beautiful was too.

"What started as a realtor-client relationship blossomed into a lifelong friendship," wrote owner Diana Holding, a former real estate agent. "Tracey Skidmore, manager, a former veterinary assistant became friends during the search for Tracey’s home. With a year long search a friendship was inevitable."

Holding and Skidmore recently submitted information about the business to Patch. If you have a business and want to participate in Patch's Small Business Shout Out you can fill out the form here.

How did your business come to be?: Diana, a mother of three: Kelli, Kristi and Derek and Tracey, also a mother of three: Seth, Emily, Annabelle motherhood was just one connection between the two. As Diana’s two oldest children Kelli and Kristi graduated from Saline High School and moved on to College, Diana and her husband Brent began to feel the affects of an empty nest. With this Diana was on a mission to start a project of her own, and White Arbor Bridal emerged.

What's a fact about your business that most customers probably don't know?: White Arbor Bridal differs from most bridal stores because our consultants are not commissioned sales. We don't want pushy sale people, we want you to fall in the love with the dress of your dreams and to have a great time doing it.

What do you want your business to be best known for?: We want to be best known for our great customer service. This is a amazing time in the bride and grooms life we want them to enjoy making these memories.

What's your most popular product or service?: Bridal gowns is our biggest focus. We are always shopping for the newest trends to keep our brides in fashion. The Bridesmaids and Tuxedos just fall in to place after that. Its great when a bride can see her wedding dress, bridesmaids, and tuxedos all together before making the final decision.

When was the business founded?: With months for research on designers and locations in September of 2012 White Arbor Bridal & Formals opened. With Diana’s and Tracey’s close friendship, and support from their families, a partnership in business was just natural.

Why did you choose to locate to Saline?: With Diana being a local resident of Saline the decision was easy. Located on State St in front of the Wal-Mart is great for locals and out of town guests with being just off of I-94. Saline is a great location, it has all the amenities of a big city but with a home town feel. Saline has many family owned business that just top the charts for customer service and we are pleased to be apart of it.

For more information, check out White Arbor Bridal's Facebook page and website.