Bella Bridesmaids offers hands-on wedding service

Planning a wedding is perhaps the greatest intersection of joy and stress a human being can be involved in.

Elizabeth Pettis, owner of Bella Bridesmaids on Jackson Street in Ridgeland, can attest to this. The Madison County native attended Madison Central and Ole Miss after that. After graduating, she found a job planning weddings in Washington D.C.

"I was working as an event planner in the wedding industry in D.C.," Pettis said. "I heard about the opportunity to buy this place and had wanted to move back home and loved the idea of seeing a different side of the industry."

She bought the shop a year ago and said that business has been established in Ridgeland for just under 10 years.

Pettis said she has enjoyed getting to know all the people the shop brings in.

"I love it," She said. "I have had a lot of fun. I really enjoy getting to know the brides and their bridesmaids and in this case, many of them are basically my neighbors. It is a really fun way to connect with them."

Bella Bridesmaids is part of a national chain that provides bridesmaids and flower girl dresses. Fittings are scheduled with brides and available members of their party. Bridesmaids then get measured and can pick up dresses at any location in the country. They have as many as 1,000 dresses in stock at a time.

Services include one-on-one meetings with a stylist.

Fittings are by appointment only. Pettis and her staff can accommodate one meeting at a time but hope to be able to host two at a time soon.

"It really is great. A bride can come in and pick her dresses and the bridesmaids can pick them up anywhere in the country," Pettis said.

For more information, call 601-898-0303 or visit Bellabridesmaids.com

They are open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday to Friday at 118 West Jackson Street, Suite B.