Introductions- Meet Molly!

Hi! My name is Molly Finnegan, I am 23 years old, a cat-lover, singer-in-the-shower, Dr. Pepper drinker, 2024 bride, and lover of all things bridal! Most people ask if owning a bridal store is always what I wanted to do. Well, (spoiler alert) it wasn’t! I graduated from Samford University with a degree in Psychology and was in graduate school online for Forensic Psychology. My dream was to work for the FBI, if you can believe it! I was living in Birmingham and waiting tables to pay for my increasing rent and tuition. I was eating Ramen every meal. I was using quarters I had in my glove box to pay for gas. (fyi: not a good look for me) Begrudgingly, I moved back to Rome and into my parents’ basement. I started working at Top Hat part time for Pam Mcabee, our dear family friend. I’m not really sure how, but we began having conversations about Pam passing her business onto me. Top Hat has been in Rome for 40+ years, it’s a legacy I was scared to carry on! Pam’s reputation preceded her, and I had big shoes to fill. I officially bought Top Hat in February 2022.

It has been a whirlwind, and I can’t believe it’s been a year since I took over. It truly was a trial by fire experience. We transferred a business that was run completely on paper over to a computer system, we sold hundreds of bridal dresses that had been in the store for years, and started renovating an old building with all the surprises and dark creepy corners that came with it 🙂 (You can see some of these renovations on our Home Page)

Most days, my brain feels like a big fuzzy rain cloud, I can’t sort out what I need to do, who I need to call, what posts I need to post on Instagram, what deposits I need to make for my OWN wedding, and how to also show up with the shoes on the right feet and the bags under my eyes appropriately covered up. I make a lot of lists, and I delegate to a lot of people, I do a lot of deep breathing. It is crazy, it can be hectic, it can make me want to find one of those dark creepy corners and hide in it, but it is so so rewarding.

I truly feel giddy when a bride says yes to the dress, and I see her eyes light up because she sees how beautiful she is. When a teenage boy puts on a tuxedo for the first time before his junior prom and his mom starts to tear up, I’ve definitely wiped away a tear or two myself. When a girl gang comes in to try on prom dresses, with their oohs and aahs and “your butt looks so good”, I want to squeal right along with them.

I hope this will be a space where I can share the joy I feel from making people feel like the most beautiful version of themselves, where I can talk about the latest bridal trend I can’t get enough of, where I can discuss my own wedding planning process, (you can check out my own Pinterest Board) and where I can help put a face to a name behind a business that I love so dearly.

I hope you’ll follow along.

-<3- Molly