TLC's Monte Durham
Wedding event set for Feb. 16 at River Farm. Tickets on sale now!
The star of "Say Yes to the Dress Atlanta," Monte Durham, plans to open a hair salon in Old Town Alexandria, he announced this week.
Durham, a resident of Alexandria, plans to call the salon "Monte."
No word yet on an opening date, but Durham said at an event late this summer that it may be near Hotel Indigo on South Union Street.
Durham has become widely known to TV viewers who tune in to watch “Say Yes to the Dress Atlanta” on TLC, a show that features brides (and their entourages) seeking the perfect wedding dress.
A West Virginia native, Durham, 62, has made his home in the Alexandria area for many years (he’s a runner and a cyclist so be on the lookout for him when you’re out and about). Durham is active in the community. Last year, he chaired the American Horticultural Society’s 25th anniversary gala at its headquarters at River Farm on the banks of the Potomac River between the City of Alexandria and Mount Vernon.
Durham began his career as a personal shopper at Woodward & Lothrop, mainly out of the Landmark Mall store in Alexandria's West End.
"Women would come in and say two things to me: They had a hard time finding a good tailor or they had a hard time doing their hair the way they wanted," he said in an interview with Alexandria Living Magazine last year.
"I thought, ‘I can’t sew but I probably can learn to do hair.’ I went back to school, Graham Webb International in Arlington, and took an advanced course in London and finished my degree there," he said. "I came back and landed a job at Elizabeth Arden at Fairfax Square."
He segued from hairdressing into wedding planning.
"Not all hairdressers like dealing with brides," he said. "They don’t teach you to do up-dos. Up-dos are something I could do without a problem. All a sudden word’s out: Priscilla of Boston started sending all their brides to me. Then, I started helping customers with bridal gowns, make-up and accessories. Then, Washingtonian wrote about me as a bridal consultant. It was just then becoming popular to be married outside of a religious facility. River Farm was a favorite, so I was there helping brides walk down that beautiful aisle in the rose garden."
