Coronavirus causing some Bay Area brides and stores to scramble on wedding dress plans

Emerald City Gowns specializes in vintage, high-end consignment and designer samples, so dresses are bought off the rack and there’s no special ordering. The store has seen an influx in brides coming in to search for alternative dresses after theirs were cancelled or delayed due to coronavirus. less Emerald City Gowns specializes in vintage, high-end consignment and designer samples, so dresses are bought off the rack and there’s no special ordering. The store has seen an influx in brides coming in to ... more Photo: Emerald City Gowns Photo: Emerald City Gowns Image 1 of / 33 Caption Close Coronavirus causing some Bay Area brides and stores to scramble on wedding dress plans 1 / 33 Back to Gallery

Planning a wedding isn’t easy. When it comes to wedding dress shopping, a bride usually starts looking at least six months in advance.

But for some Bay Area brides, that carefully selected wedding dress has been abruptly canceled or delayed due to coronavirus, so much so that they’ve had to go out and find another dress.

“People have been coming in and saying they don't know if their dress is going to get here, so they’re shopping now to have a backup plan or completely replace it,” said Emilie Louie, owner of Emerald City Gowns in Berkeley. “Last weekend, someone called me in a panic. Their wedding is in April and the bride was just notified that [the original bridal shop] was uncertain if it would get there.”

Many businesses that get supplies and products from China are being impacted by the spread of the virus, though media coverage has been widely focused on the tech industry. While not getting your wedding dress on time is certainly not a big deal compared to those who are falling ill, the overall economic impact on the small-business community could be far-reaching.

Louie’s store specializes in vintage, high-end consignment and designer samples, so dresses are bought off the rack and there’s no special ordering. While she has plenty of inventory now, she’s worried about the trickle-down effect the virus is having on the industry. She said she’s concerned about seamstresses having to make alterations on a tight deadline since dresses will be coming in late and stores losing money by having to refund customers.

San Francisco’s Off The Rack Bride, a wedding dress boutique that sells dresses directly from the store, has seen an increase in calls from panicked brides searching for alternative options. Much of the bridal industry’s dresses are custom made and have to be ordered, and while not many dresses are made in China, fabric or tools from China may be needed, throwing off the whole supply chain.

Off The Rack Bride’s sister store, couture retailer Bridal Galleria, has been warning brides that there could be supply-chain issues for certain designers it carries, and that it's checking with all of their manufacturers regularly.

Buyer Grace Young said she has received calls from at least six brides who have had to find alternative options in an off-the-rack store from what they originally had purchased somewhere else. She said she’s thankful the store already had so much inventory, as she expects the trend could continue.

She’s not so bullish on the couture side of the business, and is concerned about how the effect of the fears around the virus will affect them. While none of their high-end designers are based in China, those designers may require materials like lace and embroidery from China.

Some of their designers have stopped taking rush orders as a precaution.

Young had a call this week from a bride that wanted to know whether her dress was coming from China, because she was concerned the virus could live on the dress. “That’s so absurd, but you can really feel the fear. It’s irrational, but it’s real,” she said.

She’s mostly worried about the ripple effects that the virus could have on her business.

“We were feeling really good about the beginning of the year, January and February were looking great, and then all of a sudden we get this Solano County case,” Young said. “It may affect our buying. If there are less customers or people postpone their weddings, it’s going to impact how many dresses I buy for the store.”

Young said they get a good amount of customers from China every year visiting to buy their dress, as the United States is known for their bridal couture. Since residents may not be able to travel to buy their dress, they may postpone the wedding altogether.

She said they’ve also had to alter the way they do business in the store. “We‘re trying not to shake hands as much, but it’s hard since wedding dress buying is an intimate business,” Young said, noting they've bought more hand sanitizer for the store. “Even with flu season every year, we try to be more careful, but there's a heightened sense of caution now.”

For now, Young said she’s been following the news closely and trying not to speculate too much. “Who knows what’s going to happen? What if there’s an outbreak in Canada or in Israel where a lot of our designers are?” she said. “Fear breeds irrationality, but that’s going to impact the global economy.”

Tessa McLean is a digital editor at SFGATE. Email: tessa.mclean@sfgate.com | Twitter: @mcleantessa