Perfect marriage: Greensburg’s MB Bride has been committed to making wedding dreams come true for 30 years
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Maja Pederson got a request from a bride who was in the hospital diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Pederson, co-owner of MB Bride & Special Occasion dress boutique in Greensburg with husband Reed, relayed the message to store manager and head buyer Jenn Mason of Washington Township.
Mason and her teenage daughter, Abbi, packed up wedding dresses and veils and drove to UPMC Hillman Cancer Center in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood.
“The bride tried on dresses and took photos with the nursing staff that was taking care of her,” said Mason, who teared up talking about that day in 2019. “She walked around the halls of the hospital. It was definitely emotional, but we gave her some joy. She got to leave the hospital and got married and went to Walt Disney World.
“That is what we do here at MB Bride. We connect with people. We share in those important occasions of people’s lives.”
Now MB Bride has its own moment to celebrate — 30 years in business.
Through the years
In three decades, they’ve created memories for 23,918 brides, 66,837 bridesmaids and 47,518 people in tuxedos.
“Every bride has a story, and we are honored to be part of that story,” Maja said.
The MB Bride tale began in 1991 when Maja and Reed Pederson bought Modern Bride, a small struggling store. Reed found out the shop was for sale from the owner when he was studying for an MBA at the University of Pittsburgh and was a student consultant.
An Encinitas, Calif., native, he told his wife Western Pennsylvania was like her native Switzerland, with four seasons and skiing in the winter. They met when he was working after college at an Italian restaurant in his hometown and waited on her.
They decided to buy the store and move to Greensburg.
The couple changed the original name because a magazine had the same one. They said they wouldn’t think of moving the business anywhere else. They raised two sons, Sky, 25, and Clark, 22, here.
Continued growth
They started with 25 bridal gowns, 40 bridesmaids dresses, 15 mother-of-the-bride and mother-of-the-groom gowns and 15 prom choices.
They’ve grown to 550 bridal gowns, 1,000 bridesmaids dresses, 320 mother-of-the-bride and mother-of-the-groom gowns and 1,200 prom dresses. MB Bride has its own line of bridal and prom dresses.
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In the beginning, there were fewer than 20 gown vendors in the country. Now there are more than 60. MB Bride buys dresses from all over the world. They are the only store in Pennsylvania to carry the Disney Fairy Tale line.
They’ve been on South Urania Avenue since 2004. The couple created a dedicated prom area in 2008 and remodeled it in 2019. The rest of the store was refreshed in 2018. The alterations area received a new look in 2020.
In their first month in business, Maja sold one dress.
“I was so happy and enthusiastic,” she said. “It just felt right to be here. I have learned in these 30 years there is a solution to every problem. We have never left a bride without a dress.”
Once they ordered a size 14 and received a size 4. They found that bride a gown. They’ve driven to New York to pick up dresses.
When the pandemic closed the business for two months, they kept in contact with brides.
When they reopened in May 2020, they worked by appointment, limiting guests accompanying a bride.
One family brought nine people. Four remained in the parking lot, having a mini tailgate party, while the other four went inside. They took turns going into the shop to see the bride-to-be try on dresses.
Dreams made
Maja recalled a bride who was excited to marry the man of her dreams. During her dress fitting, she shared that her fiance was in a wheelchair from an accident and that they would be married on Mt. Washington.
“Her deep love for him made me cry,” Maja said.
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Kristin Reynolds of Belle Vernon wore an MB Bride dress at her May 8, 2017, wedding.
“MB Bride provided me with the best experience imaginable,” Reynolds said. “The staff and selection were excellent. I could not have been happier anywhere else.”
One bride had a butterfly tattoo on her shoulder in memory of her late grandmother. When she tried on a dress and turned to look in the mirror, she saw two butterfly designs.
Mason, who has worked there for 20 years, recalled a bride wearing a necklace from her mom who had died. The moment she showed it to Mason, her mother’s favorite song came on in the store.
She also has seen a son who brought his mom in and purchased her mother-of-the-groom dress.
“This is such a joyful place to work,” said Mason, one of several employees who have worked there for more than 10 years. “There is a lot of bonding that goes on here. I love working here, because I was a bride here.”
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Technology minded
Technology has impacted the business. What used to be a phone call is now communication via texts, emails and social media platforms. MB Bride had one of the first wedding dress websites. They received calls from people who saw them online from all over the country but weren’t able to fulfill orders because there was no way to sell that way in the beginning.
“We have evolved, which is why I think we are still in business,” Reed Pederson said. “You can’t get the experience we give when you buy a dress online. It’s a total team effort here.”
They keep their inventory current. Dress styles have changed over the years, from ball gowns to sleek and slender silhouettes. Some styles are cyclical, like most of the fashion world. Most gowns they sell are ivory and blush tones. Black dresses are emerging as a hue for some brides.
They’ve donated dresses to various charities and host an annual military bride gown giveaway. MB Bride has a rack of abandoned gowns — 3% to 4% of weddings get canceled because of breakups, illnesses, elopements and other circumstances.
Creating relationships
Reed said he and his wife work around the schedules of the employees because they need to have personal lives. Eileen Kain-Siegel, an account executive with Morilee by Madeline Gardner based in New Jersey, has worked with the store for three decades.
“Maja and Reed are salt of the Earth,” Kain-Siegel said. “They treat everyone like family. They care about their customers and their employees and people like me. Jenn, their manager, is wonderful to work with. They’ve been in business so long because they think outside of the box. They have vision.”
Amazing things happen in this store, Maja Pederson said. The most rewarding part is the human contact. She said a wedding gown is more than beautiful fabric. It is the memory of that special day that’s captured in a picture that will hang on the wall for the rest of the couple’s lives.
“I have been so touched by so many of our brides,” Maja said. “Because of these brides, I feel I have a rich, meaningful life. I’ve made friends with some people I’ve met through MB Bride. We share life’s moments here. We cry happy tears and, sometimes, sad tears.”
Like those for the bride from the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, who died shortly after the wedding.