Blog / Industry Spotlight -
Retailer Spotlight: Samila Bridal and Formal
This week's Retailer Spotlight is Samila Bridal! We are thrilled to feature this beautiful retail store based in Seattle, Washington.
During the pandemic, Yasmin Shirdel, from Samilas Boutique, wanted to find a way to help people in her community. She was feeling helpless during the lockdown and knew that others felt the same way. When asked how she decided to make a difference in her community Yasmin said, “The thing that I do best is helping women feel beautiful for their special occasions. So, I reached out to Casablanca Bridal to help me make an amazing giveaway happen.” We partnered with Samilas Boutique to give away a free wedding dress to an unsung hero who strived to help others during the pandemic. “We had opened the giveaway for anyone to nominate an essential worker in their lives or they could nominate themselves. This included: Instacart driver, janitor, medic, teacher, nanny, etc. Separately from the giveaway, we extended an additional discount of 25% off a brand-new dress,” said Yasmin.
The Samila Boutique x Casablanca Bridal Giveaway received many nominations, and the store was excited to announce Niki Samandari as the winner. Yasmin said, “Her fiancé Kyle had nominated her and her story really resonated with us. At the time Niki was working here in Washington State and Kyle was doing his residency on the East Coast. He wanted to do something special for her.” On September 16, 2020 Samilas Boutique personally called her and let her know that she won the giveaway. Three days later Niki came to our showroom for her bridal appointment. She brought her parents, future mother-in-law and best friend with her. Niki had the opportunity to choose her dream wedding dress from a gorgeous collection sent over by Casablanca Bridal. Yasmin said the most ironic things happened, “Niki came back to our showroom a year later, on September 8, 2021, to choose a reception dress and without knowing she chose a second Casablanca Bridal gown!”
Here are some of the answers her fiancé Kyle submitted:
What has this bride done professionally and in her community to make her a strong candidate for this giveaway?
“Niki (Ms. Samandari) is starting her second year of teaching Kindergarten at Juanita Elementary, a Title 1 school in Lake Washington School District. Before working as a teacher, she spent her summers in high school and college volunteering at Camp Patterson, a summer camp for children with special needs. She also is involved in several school-related extracurricular activities, including organizing literacy nights, school dances, back to school night, and field day and volunteering as the faculty mentor for student government.”
Please note any unique or unsung contributions/examples this bride may have. What makes her deserving of a free wedding dress?
“I have been blown away at how much Niki has accomplished and how much adversity she had to overcome in her first year of teaching. Being a first year teacher requires a lot of additional planning, and through the fall and winter Niki would frequently stay late, sometimes as late as 7 or 8 pm, to ensure she was completely prepared for the next day. She also would routinely return to school on the weekends if a particular lesson or art project for her students necessitated it.”
“However, where Niki really excelled in her first year is in the leadership she assumed once online learning began. When Lake Washington School District wanted to test their new online learning curriculum in April, only one other Kindergarten teacher in the entire district signed up for the pilot. After seeing this, Niki volunteered to pilot the new curriculum because the needs and concerns of Kindergarten are often underrepresented when the district launches new curriculum.”
“She then spent the majority of her spring break taking over 10 hours worth of educational videos by herself for the pilot program. When the district adopted the new curriculum she took the initiative to meet with Kindergarten teachers from other schools in the district to answer questions and give advice about the new curriculum, as well as share her video templates with them. She did the same with several teachers from her own school as well. Niki also went above and beyond by helping other teachers with their video editing needs. She put together a Field Day video for the PE teacher, helped the librarian with a ‘thank you’ video for volunteers, stitched together a virtual concert for the music teacher, and organized and edited a school-wide lip sync video for the principal; doing all of this in addition to her normal obligations. While she may not have the years of classroom experience that some of her senior colleagues possess, many of these teachers looked to her for help in adjusting to the new online learning environment. In recognition of her work, she was appointed Technology Integration Facilitator at Juanita, where she has been facilitating workshops to teach other teachers about video editing, website design, using Microsoft Teams and other skills relevant to teaching in the online school environment.”
Based in Seatlle and looking for a wonderful bridal salon? Book an appointment at Samila Boutique to try on all your favorite Casablanca gowns!
Credit:
Dress: Custom gown (Tori x Haven Gown) @casablancabridal at @samila.bridal Photography + videography: @solaleephoto; @samueleephoto Bride: @nikisamandari Day-of coordinator: @nilson.emily DJ: @hoyossantos Florals: @twistedwillowfloral Hair + makeup: @chelanglam Rentals: @methowmoments Venue: @sunmountainlodge