Business & Tech

Popular Harford County Bridal Shop Launches Parkville Location

A new location for Amanda Ritchey Bridal and Beauty recently opened on Joppa Road.

Since Amanda Ritchey opened her first bridal shop in Fallston in 2009, the business has been growing at a breakneck pace. Now, just two years later, the entrepreneurial 37-year-old has launched a second store in Parkville.

Amanda Ritchey Bridal and Beauty opened at 1905 Joppa Road, in the former location of Jillian's Bridal, on Aug. 3. The new business offers  offers full service to brides and the entire bridal party, including tuxedo rentals for the guys, Richey said.

Women can prepare for a wedding by buying their dresses, shoes, and jewelry, and have their makeup done by an expert with more than 14 years of experience all in the same place.

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Ritchey, a Towson University graduate, has been passionate about makeup since 1996, and that's how her business began.

"Life is weird," Ritchey said. "I wasn't really a girly-girl, I was more athletic. I was in school, doing my undergrad (studies) in speech pathology and psychology — in the meantime, I got a job. I thought, 'Those make-up counter girls did pretty well for themselves.'"

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Then 23 years old, Ritchey took a job working at the make-up counter at Nordstrom in Towson to help pay the bills.

The company gave her the opportunity to train in makeup artistry at various cosmetics schools, including MAX, Bobby Brown, and Stila.

"So, I worked at Nordstrom — while there doing bridal makeup on the side; that became really what my income was. It replaced salary at Nordstrom," Ritchey said.

When she left the retail world in 2004, Ritchey concentrated on bridal cosmetics work. On weekends she rented space for consultations at The Salon at Stevenson, in Stevenson, MD and travelled to weddings to beautify brides. The schedule allowed her to be home during the week with her children, Sabrina, Troy and Charlotte.

In 2009, the Annapolis native opened her first store on Belair Road in Fallston, near her current home in Bel Air. Ritchey said that when she started her new business, she intended for Amanda Ritchey Bridal and Beauty to focus more on the beauty aspect, with a salon area for makeup. But she saw no reason not to offer brides the latest fashions.

“We didn’t have room for the inventory since the bridal business took off so quickly, our makeup area kept shrinking and shrinking,” Ritchey said.

"I think the big draw for [our Parkville] store is that we can do makeup here."

But that won't stop her from offering the latest in wedding fashions from Pronovias, Mikaella, Avant Mariee, and Angel Rivera which, according to Ritchey, is a "new upcoming hot designer."  

"We were one of eight [stores nationwide] to carry it when we picked up the [Rivera] line. He’ll do personal appearances here," Ritchey said.

In addition to bridal makeup and fashion, Ritchey also has her own line of skincare products and will do beauty consultations for anyone, not just those about to get married.

Ritchey employs a staff of five between her two stores, and said that she hopes to add more empolyees in the near future.

“I have the best staff — and really, if it weren’t for my staff there’s no way we would have grown the way we have. They all take ownership,” she said. “It’s one of the things I think sets us apart.  We are very closeknit, we can tell each other anything. We have great mutual respect for one another.”

The way Ritchey sees it, she's been  fortunate in the past decade — things, she said, have just fallen in to place. She's quick to point out, though, that "opportunity means preparedness," and saw the expansion of her business to the Parkville area as natural and necessary.

"So much of Baltimore County doesn’t want to travel to Harford County — I was familiar with this area and I like the diverse clientele that Baltimore County has to offer.”

“It’s more fulfilling to be able to meet the needs of more people,” she said.


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