Sean Philip Bridal’s owners reinvest in Princeton after overwhelming community support

Zepha and Shawn Gerber always knew they wanted to give back to the community of Princeton.

Two of their sons were diagnosed with cancer within two years of each other.

“We wanted to give something back to the city of Princeton, because a lot of the community was involved in doing fundraisers and just being super supportive to our family,” Zepha said. “We thought about clever ideas on how to do that. My husband and I thought, ‘Well, why don’t we just reinvest back into the city?’ So we did.”

In March, they opened Sean Philip Bridals at 902 N. Main St., Princeton. They settled on a bridal shop because of Zepha’s love of dressing up.

“I’ve always really liked big gowns and dressing up,” she said. “I was one of those girls that played with Barbie.”

Sean Philip Bridals offers bridal gowns, mother of the bride dresses, evening gowns, prom and homecoming dresses, flower girl dresses, accessories, suits and tuxedo rentals. Decor and linen rentals also are offered. Alterations are not offered, but recommendations are available.

“(Brides) are loving the personalized attention,” Zepha said of her new shop.

Most brides come by appointment, so it’s only them and whomever they bring along.

“You’re not a number when you come through the door. You’re a person with feelings and emotions,” Zepha said. “We want every bride to cry when they put on the dress and we get quite a bit who do.”

Black wedding dresses are on display in the front of the store.

“They’re out of the norm,” she said of colored wedding dresses. “They get a lot of attention.”

She aims to listen to her brides’ visions and help her achieve them — regardless of tradition. She recalled shopping for a bridal gown several years ago when she and her husband were renewing their vows for their 12-year anniversary.

“What disappointed me the most in that was I would walk into a bridal store and I would tell them I was looking for a bridal dress for my renewal ... but etiquette was telling us no, you shouldn’t buy a wedding gown for a renewal.

“I was disappointed by that, so if someone comes into my store and tells me they want a renewal dress, but they want a bridal gown I would never tell them no.”

Before they could open their doors, they had quite a bit of work to do on the inside in the two-story building.

The brick and stucco building contained the Larson Furniture House from 1933 to 1986. Since then, it has been used as multiple restaurants including Myrtle’s Cafe and Super Wok as well as a craft mall.

Most recently, the building had been abandoned and needed to be gutted, Gerber said. They rebuilt everything back up, exposed the original ceilings and took down the drywall.

“When we opened them up they had that natural brick that everyone is after right now, so it brought the whole vintage vibe back into the building,” Zepha said.

They finished renovations in February, but were already selling dresses before they officially opened.

Sean Philip Bridals, which is named after Zepha’s husband, is open noon to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. Its website is SeanPhilipBridals.com and the phone number at 815-915-8772. A portion of every dress sale is donated to pediatric oncology and nephrology centers.