bridal-fashion
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Lundyn Carter Is Making the Wedding Dress a Service, Not a Souvenir
A $5,000 alterations bill exposed a strange truth about bridal retail. Carter built Laine London around the part brides actually keep: the fit, the feeling and the memory.
The $5,000 Wedding Dress Mistake That Became Atlanta's Rental Bridal Bet
Lundyn Carter spent $5,000 altering a family wedding dress, then built the service she wished had existed. Laine London's sharper idea is not rental alone - it is treating fit as the product.
Monica Ashauer
Monica Ashauer is the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Birdy Grey, the direct-to-consumer bridal brand that put stylish bridesmaid dresses on the map for under $100. A Wharton-trained, ex-McKinsey strategist, she paired with best friend Grace Lee Chen in 2017 to fix a broken category - the six-month wait, the non-returnable polyester, the $300 dress worn once. The result: a hybrid made-to-order model that built reverse working capital, crossed $100 million in revenue by 2024, and made Birdy Grey a wedding-season staple. In 2025 she stepped from President into the Chief Strategy Officer seat and joined the board as Executive Chairman.