David’s Bridal acquires online wedding site

David's Bridal continues to dive deeper into all-things bridal with the acquisition of Rustic Wedding Chic, an online guide for planning weddings. 

As part of the deal, Rustic Wedding founder Maggie Lord will join the team at David's Bridal and will lead strategic partnerships, reporting to chief marketing and IT officer Kelly Cook.

Launched in 2008, Rustic Wedding Chic offers digital features including stories of real weddings, inspirational photography, wedding planning articles, unique editorial posts, creative DIY projects, and curated resources. Its purchase follows the introduction of a number of omnichannel services from David’s during 2020, including an augmented reality-based wedding dress visualization tool and video-based virtual appointments. 

"We have served over 20 million brides in our 70-year history,” said Jim Marcum, CEO, David Bridal. “As the needs of brides change and evolve, so do we. It is clear that our transformational framework, which is focused on digital and innovative solutions to allow us to be with her along her entire journey, is spot on and accelerates our strategic goals. Our omni-platform, digital planning tools, virtual experiences, and now Rustic Wedding Chic, is the end-to-end, one-stop shop for her. This is another step towards positioning us to walk side by side with her until we 'give her away' at the wedding."

"Rustic Wedding Chic has experienced tremendous growth since our launch in 2008 and working with the David's Bridal family opens up new opportunities beyond what I could have ever hoped for," said Maggie Lord. "I am thrilled to join the team and drive strategic partnerships across the entire David's Bridal ecosystem, forge new partnerships to help serve and excite our customer, and create a 360-degree wedding planning experience."

David’s Bridal operates more than 300 stores located across the U.S., Canada, U.K., and franchise locations in Mexico.