David’s Bridal Taps Sezzle to Bring BNPL to the Wedding

David’s Bridal has added buy now, pay later at the altar of wedding spend, rolling out Sezzle in all of its stores as couples face rising costs and tighter planning timelines. The move drops a specialist BNPL provider directly into one of bridal retail’s largest ecosystems just as holiday promotions and 2025 wedding bookings collide.

The partnership lets shoppers choose Sezzle at checkout in David’s Bridal’s more than 190 locations today, with eCommerce integration to follow in the coming weeks, according to a Tuesday (Nov. 25) news release. Guests can pay in full through Sezzle’s hosted checkout or split purchases into four interest‑free installments over six weeks, while tapping the provider’s credit‑building tools and budgeting features.

Both brands frame the tie-up as a way to tame the financial and emotional turbulence of outfitting bridal parties and related events. David’s is weaving Sezzle into its artificial intelligence (AI)‑powered planning‑and‑shopping ecosystem and tying the launch to peak demand with Thanksgiving online discounts and Black Friday–Cyber Monday doorbusters that take some gowns up to 75% off.

“Our mission is to simplify that experience at every turn,” said Elina Vilk, president and chief business officer at David’s Bridal, calling flexible payments one more way to support guests from dress discovery through the big day.

PYMNTS has been tracking Sezzle’s push to turn BNPL into a broader financial‑wellness and merchant‑growth platform. Recent stories have spotlighted how Sezzle is marketing its platform and “smarter spending” tools to help merchants capture price‑conscious holiday shoppers, adding new fashion and sporting‑goods merchants and growing in‑store “Sezzle Anywhere” usage.

PYMNTS has also covered new budgeting and checkout features for financially stressed consumers, strong earnings that lifted the FinTech IPO Index and an antitrust lawsuit accusing Shopify of limiting BNPL choice.

On the merchant side, PYMNTS’ David’s Bridal coverage has chronicled the retailer’s shift from gown seller to data‑driven wedding platform. Interviews with CEO Kelly Cook and Vilk have outlined an asset‑light, AI‑powered model built on Shopify that links media, marketplace and store technology to serve customers before and long after the ceremony. Other pieces have detailed its Edit by DB Studio Amazon storefront, an expanded Vera Wang Bride production deal and eclectic collaborations such as Labubu collectibles — all part of rebuilding a once‑bankrupt chain around an ecosystem rather than a single sales channel.