‘Necessity is the mother of invention’, may be a cliché but the proverb fits aptly for two sisters, Misba Shapoo (25) and Muskan Shapoo (22) from Sanatnagar Srinagar who own an online store, ‘BriDay’ catering to all the personalized trousseau goodies.

The idea of opening up an online venture with personalized trousseau goodies was invented after they couldn’t find a bridal robe.

“We searched on different shopping websites and were disappointed as we couldn’t find anything satisfying and that’s when we thought of venturing into this kind of business,” said Misba.

The “BriDay” is now a one year old online store and perhaps first of its kind in the valley which has gained popularity amongst the brides in very less time.

The duo deal with the customization of Bridal Robes, Towels,  Chadars, Night Suits, bathrobes, slippers, arm patches and many other products.

“Our goal is to give personalized touch to the trousseau of every bride and make their big day beautiful,” Misba said.

They not only customize the products but also personalize the bathrobes with the customer’s name on it.

 “BriDay believes in creating memories for life,” said Misba.

Misba said they initially started with personalized Bridal/Makeup Robes but within no time they started to deal with 15 categories of products which include Personalized Bridal Robes, Personalized Night suits, Personalized Bath Towel set, personalized Nikah chadar, Bridal Veils, Arm Patches, Personalized Bathrobes, Personalized Hand Towels, Nikah Duppatta (non-customized), Disposable Customized Slippers (for bride & groom), Handmade Ribbon Badges, Nikah potli Tags, Scrunchies,  Bridal shower Sashes and maternity gowns.

BriDay is a small team of 7 people including Misba and Muskan who work very hard to create the best products for their clients.

The fabric used at BriDay is different for every product.

 “Most of our products are created from Satin fabric, the Dupatta’s are mainly made of Net Fabric and we use the finest quality of cotton for the Towels and Bathrobes,” said Misba.

Though BriDay’s main clientele are brides but the venture is not restricted for brides. They make many products for married and unmarried women, men and kids.

Limited access to raw material in the valley is the major problem the duo has been facing since they started their venture.

 “It is very difficult to procure raw material from Kashmir. We have very basic and limited choices here, due to which we are not able to innovate and express our ideas the way we want,’ said Misba.

BriDay has been a sensation for brides since the day they started but they also had their fair share of hardships.

 “The lockdown 2.0 was a real struggle for our business as our business requirement is regular access to the market,” said Misba.

She said, “Due to the indefinite lockdown for 40-45 days we had to put BriDay at halt. We declined many orders and the existing orders were also delayed, resulting in great losses.”

The duo believes BriDay wouldn’t have been possible without their family’s constant support.

 “Our family has been very supportive throughout. Our parents helped us to grow in every possible way,” they said.

Misba said the response BriDay got from people was unexpectedly great.

 “We were not sure if people would understand our concept but after we started people really appreciated our idea and products,” said Misba.

The duo said the appreciation they get from the customers kept them going.

 “Our customers always share good reviews about the products and praise our work a lot and that gives us peace,” she said.

The prices of the products BriDay offer vary from product to product.

 “Our price range starts from ?1500-?5000/-. We also have low-priced products starting from ?50-300 (for badges, disposable slippers etc),” said Misba.

BriDay’s aim was to introduce things that are not earlier easily available in the local markets.

The duo said they have tried to create an amalgamation of Indo-Pak-Western and Kashmiri culture and display it through their work.

BriDay is currently working on creating more categories of products and will be introducing them soon.

 “This whole journey of 11 months has been exceptionally special for us. We never thought we would come so far,” said Misba.

The duo believes BriDay has changed their lives in many ways.

 “We are grateful for everything and we are showing our gratitude to people by customizing their wishes,” they said.

 Misba has done her Masters in Hospitality & Hotel Administration and Muskan is pursuing her graduation in Economics.