Isabella James Bridal

If she heard anyone yell, “Katy, bar the door!” – Kady Johnston ignored it, wanting nothing of that kind of cautiousness. Instead, Kady did the opposite, excitedly throwing the doors to her new bridal shop, Isabella James Bridal, wide open on April 8, 2022. While the world was still deciding whether to crawl, walk or curl up again on the heels of a global pandemic, Kady and her groom, Tyler, charged full steam ahead. After all, there were wardrobe racks to install, bridal dressing rooms to design and construct, markets and trade shows to attend, inventory to consider, select, purchase and display as well as all the other plates one has to identify and keep spinning when launching a dream.

According to the calendar, Kady is technically in the honeymoon phase of this new venture. Watching her interact with her customers, you can see she truly is. She stays busy organizing and snapping a group picture of bride number 12 surrounded her glowing entourage. That’s nearly a bride a day since she hung the Open Sign on her door.

Isabella James Bridal is affectionately named after her daughter and son. Accustomed to serving people as an RN, Kady was itching to try something new that would be her own. But what exactly? One past job stood out above all others: Bridal Consultant.

“I absolutely loved every aspect of that job,” Kady said. “It’s such an exciting and important event in someone’s life – and not only the brides’ (and grooms’, of course) but entire families and multiple networks of friends.”

In a later discussion with a photographer friend, Kady was ready to commit. She, um, proposed the idea to her husband and asked if he’d agree to help. He said, simply, “I do.”

Thanks to that same photographer who told her about the available rental space next to hers, Kady also simultaneously found the perfect spot to showcase their offerings of wedding gowns and accessories, prom dresses and Quinceaneras: the recently re-imagined Mulberry Street Fire Station now known as Station 1.

What’s so perfect about putting a bridal shop in a fire station? Because her brides are guaranteed to be smokin’ hot when they tie the knot.

“I know how lots of Big Country residents feel they have to trek to the metroplex, Austin or Houston to find that perfect gown for the wedding, or for their Quinceanera or formal,” Kady said. “But I really hope they’ll check here first. I think they’ll be very pleased with our selections. And if we don’t have exactly what they’re looking for, I’ll traverse the globe to find it.”