Dubai registry a one-stop shop for weddings

White Almonds, one of Dubai’s first wedding registries, hopes to tap into wedding traditions and the diversity of the population.

Sarah Farah, owner of White Almonds, a luxury gift registry at her Sidra Tower showroom in Dubai. Christopher Pike / The National

A three-month summer job at a London wedding shop gave Sara Farah the idea for her business.

With weddings in local and expat communities sometimes involving millions of dirhams, the concept of a wedding registry, where bride and grooms select the gifts they would like, was still a novel idea in the UAE.

So the 33-year-old Irish-Palestinian decided to set up her own registry, launching White Almonds in December after adapting it to the local market.

Her research, she says, made her realise she couldn’t just set up a virtual company; she also needed a private showroom to cater to the local market where people can browse the items.

“The bride and groom can log in to create their gift list, or if they want a personalised service they can come to us,” Ms Farah says, who visited factories in Europe and networked with porcelain, crystal, glass, linen and silver brands to build her private showroom collection featuring more than 30 European names at her 21st floor office on Sheikh Zayed Road.

The bridal registry concept was first created by Chicago’s upscale department store Marshall Field’s in 1924. Since then, this segment of the wedding industry has undergone several changes even though the basic premise has remained the same: helping engaged couples choose china, silverware and crystal among other items to start a new home.

In the UAE, the concept is catching on with a few competitors already forcing the nascent ones like White Almonds to adapt to the growing market.

“Two years ago there was no competition but now there are at least three similar companies,” says Ms Farah, who was born in Dubai and left for a boarding school in the UK for 10 years, studied art history in Italy, and worked as an actress in London and New York before returning to the UAE.

“I decided to come back to Dubai [to start the business] as my parents still live here,” she says.

And she says the service could gain traction, given the diversity of the audience.

According to her market research, while weddings in Europe invite between 100 and 200 people, in the UAE they are bigger affairs, catering to up to 1,000 guests

Invitees spend anywhere between Dh60,000 and Dh500,000 on gifts per wedding, adds Ms Farah.

“Earlier people used to go out and look for gifts in malls and shops, but now it’s more online,” says Sapna Mahendra, the co-founder and director of WeddingWorld.com. “That’s because people want to do more research [on their gifts] now, and they also have too many options with social media.”

Ms Mahendra launched her website last October, and connects wedding vendors such as gift suppliers, salons, caterers and stylists, with buyers.

The market for wedding registries has the potential for growth, she says, as most people have busy lives with little time to hunt gifts.

At White Almonds, an engaged couple can create a wedding list free of charge that includes traditional tabletop items along with furniture, household goods and art. They can even put their honeymoon on the registry. Guests can log in to contribute money towards the list of the desired gifts featured in it. Contributions can be made four months ahead and closed a month after the actual event.

Meanwhile, the money is held in a non-interest bearing trust account. After the list is closed, the accumulated money is uploaded on to a debit card valid for a year for the couple to then redeem against gifts.

Ms Farah launched with £400,000 (Dh2.45 million) in investment mainly from an angel investor, which went into back end integration to track payments, lists and guests and develop the card programme.

The company currently has four registries open for weddings in June, September and two for November with English-Irish, and expat Arab and European couples.

Among its partner stores are three art galleries, furniture stores such as D tales, Andrew Martin and Nakkash Gallery, The Travel Attaché for travel arrangements as well as personalised stationery from EDC. The private collection features high-end items such as 24-carat gold-plated dinner plates for Dh700 per plate or sterling silver ware at €100 (Dh500) per fork.

While guests can log in from anywhere in the world to give, the company expects to launch in Qatar by the end of the year

White Almonds, which employs four people including Ms Farah, expects to break even in four years. It also plans to start its gift registry for babies, Little Almonds, by early 2015.

It charges commissions of 10 to 25 per cent from shops to generate revenues.

“In the next eight to nine months we aim to get our first Emirati clients,” says Ms Farah. “We want to be as flexible as possible and cater to as many tastes as possible.”

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