PHILADELPHIA — David’s Bridal, the King of Prussia-based wedding dress retailer, is getting into the documentary business.

This week, the company will drop the first episode in its new series "Breaking Bridal," which follows real-life couples and focuses on unique elements of their weddings.

The show’s trailer teases some of the stories: One couple said, “I do,” on an active volcano, and another tied the knot at a Universal Studios theme park.

The series is also set to feature a Philly couple whose nuptials David’s Bridal CEO Kelly Cook officiated in Times Square on Valentine’s Day.

“‘Breaking Bridal’ reflects how we’re evolving David’s Bridal into a content-driven, culture-focused ecosystem, not just a retailer,” company president Elina Vilk said in a statement.

Company executives said in a news release that the show represented the start of a “new era” for the company and would be “the first installment in a growing slate of original programming to come.”

It also marks something of a comeback for the 76-year-old retailer that three years ago filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid declining demand for formal wear. It was the company’s second bankruptcy in five years.

Since 2023, David’s Bridal has laid off thousands of employees, reduced its store count by about a third, and relocated its headquarters. In 2024, it moved from a building it owned in Conshohocken to a smaller leased space in nearby King of Prussia.

David’s Bridal is now owned by business development company CION Investment Corp., which bought the retailer for $20 million in 2023.

The company still operates several physical stores in the Philadelphia region, including in Deptford, Feasterville, Maple Shade, and Plymouth Meeting.

David’s Bridal is known for its relative affordability in an industry rife with extravagance. Weddings in the Philadelphia region can easily cost between $40,000 and $50,000. A section of David’s Bridal website is dedicated to dresses under $500.

Cook, formerly David’s Bridal’s president of brand, technology, and finance, took over as chief executive officer in April and has spearheaded a new AI-fueled personalization of the wedding planning experience. The company calls the strategy “Aisle to Algorithm.”

“We’ve done an AI analyzer on your Pinterest boards,” Cook told the New York Times in June. “So we’re taking AI and we’re building an experience around everything that you’ve told us that you want to see.”

Cook added: “We have a machine learning tool that’s saying, ‘OK, when girls watch Aruba videos and then they search for beachwear and then they buy a dress with no sleeves, the odds are they’re going to want these kinds of other dresses and these shoes.’”

Cook told the Times that she wants future David’s Bridal customers to be able to see a lifelike mock-up of their wedding day on a digital screen using augmented reality.

As part of the company’s strategy shift, it has also rolled out an AI-powered wedding planning platform called Pearl By David’s and a targeted-ad system called Pearl Media Network. This week, it will add streaming series to the list.

“We’re leaning into original programming because modern couples aren’t following a template; they’re writing their own,” Cook said in a statement.

"Breaking Bridal" is set to premiere Wednesday on the company’s YouTube channel (youtube.com/@davidsbridal) and on its website (DavidsBridal.com/breakingbridal).

New episodes will be released every other Wednesday, according to the company. Later this year, plans call for the show to be available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Sling, Roku, and Tubi.

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