Vania Romoff shook up the bridal industry when she opened Bridal Studio online in 2022. The Cebu-born, Metro Manila-based designer known to count entrepreneur Jess Wilson (in a trend-setting convertible mini terno), pioneering content creator Tricia Gosingtian (in an anti-bride minimalist silk organdy gown punctuated with a giant bow), and actress Jennilyn Mercado (in a tux mini dress) as her #VaniaBride offers a comprehensive lineup of impeccably detailed versatile separate and full-length gowns, every piece imbued with that sentimentality and contemporary elegance her brand is synonymous with — all with straightforward pricing, complimentary alterations, and priority delivery worldwide at the click of a button. Romoff’s Bridal Studio demystified and simplified wedding shopping. It’s efficient, practical — as romantic as eloping.
The bridal salon opens in Shangri-La Plaza Mall’s East Wing not to replace the online studio but as an option. “Now we’re really able to offer a space where you get to talk to a personal stylist and really feel it out, figure out what works for you, and purchase it,” Romoff tells YStyle during the launch.
The boutique is for those seeking something personalized, experiential — even cinematic, giving brides the space they need for that pivotal moment of finding “the one,” letting all the emotions sink in for their main character moment, just like in those giddy try-on montages in romance films. The opportunity to be a part of it in her first-ever bridal studio is “a dream come true.”
The boutique’s curtain-like facade showcasing samples of seasonal pieces echoes the handmade rippled walls inside, “indicating a confident touch and forming a constant, beating pulse,” says Sarah Canlas, the architect behind the bridal studio, who conceived it as a continuum of the same plaster of Paris walls in Romoff’s Legaspi Village atelier, warmed by finished wood touches.
The ready-to-wear line includes pearl accessories, pictured with the Leonor Filipiniana mini dress, cut from mikado with terno sleeves.
The anteroom carries select VR pieces from the ready-to-wear line for shoppers who aren’t looking for bridal, with their own two fitting rooms. Behind a translucent glass door is the heart of the space — the dedicated bridal salon, taking up nearly half of the 41-square-meter space.
Every session lasts for an hour where you can try up to three pieces. There’s a couch for friends and family (you can bring up to two confidants), a dressing pedestal facing oversized three-part mirrors, and a display of options either by your choosing or curated by Romoff’s team. The luxurious fabrics and elaborate construction of the new Bridal Studio pieces are definitely worth the trip as Romoff goes full-on romantic with the drapery and pleating, and experimented with embroidery using real pearls. Canlas explains that the salon’s “corners have been blurred to make way for endless possibilities.”
It’s just like how Romoff makes her dresses. “It’s just about the woman wearing it as opposed to the dress wearing her,” she says. The new collection, just like the salon, is “personal, joyful and all about the bride.”
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The Vania Romoff Bridal Boutique is at the 4/F Shangri-La Plaza Mall East Wing, Mandaluyong. The ready-to-wear area is open for walk-ins during mall hours while the VR Bridal Studio is accessible by appointment only through vaniaromoff.ph or by email at bridalstudio@vaniaromoff.ph.
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