Chryssie’s Bridal celebrates 40 years in Canton

Forty years ago, Chryssie Zervos Sapounakis opened Chryssie’s Bridal, a full-service bridal boutique, at 636 Washington Street in downtown Canton. She and her team follow their motto of Elegance, Service, Creativity to make every bride look and feel beautiful on her wedding day.

Originally from Athens, Greece, Sapounakis moved to Canton when she was 8 years old. Her uncle, Angelo Giannenakis, lived in town and helped bring her parents, Michael and Anastasia Zervos, her brother, Adam Zervos, and Chryssie to the United States so that the children would have more educational opportunities. Sapounakis never moved away.

The entryway of Chryssie’s Bridal in a recent photo

“My family always loved the town,” she said. “We were embraced by the community.”

Her parents opened Canton Cleaners while her mother, who had studied fashion design in Athens, did alterations from their home. Anastasia did not speak English well, and Chryssie translated for her with clients starting at the age of 10. Her father passed away about a year after opening his business, and Adam stepped in as co-owner of the store alongside his mother.

Chryssie also was a fixture at Canton Cleaners, working the counter every day after school until she went to college. “That’s how everyone got to know me — taking care of them as customers at the cleaners,” she said.

When Chryssie started at the Hansen Elementary School, she did not know a word of English. Her classmates helped her learn the language, and within a year she had become fluent. She later attended the Galvin Middle School and Canton High School and then went on to Boston University, where she majored in art history.

“I am an artist,” she said. “I love interior design, history, philosophy.”

During her junior year at BU, Chryssie got married, and after receiving her degree the following spring, she told her mother that she wanted to work at the Museum of Fine Arts. Her mother, however, had a different plan in mind. “She gave me $5,000 and said, ‘You’re opening a bridal store,’” Sapounakis recalled.

On October 4, 1985, Chryssie officially opened the new boutique, which consisted of a single room that had five gowns for brides, 10 bridesmaids dresses, and a few dresses for flower girls. Her family eventually bought the Riverside Park building that housed both the bridal boutique and Canton Cleaners.

It wasn’t long before the business expanded, and after just a few years she had taken over the entire first floor. “I felt so much support and trust from the Canton community,” Chryssie said. “Everyone was just amazing.”

Most of her business grew through word-of-mouth recommendations, and for the next decade, Chryssie took care of her clients herself. During those 10 years, she was going through medical procedures in order to conceive a child with her husband, George. “It was difficult,” she said. “It was tough. It was emotionally grueling.”

Outwardly, however, she was happy and positive at work as she continued to support her clients. She eventually became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter, Gianna, who is now a grown woman and has her master’s from Babson College in accounting and finance. “She’s a phenomenal child,” Chryssie said. “God blessed me.”

Following Gianna’s birth, Chryssie wanted to balance her work life with her new role as a mother. “After she was born, everybody was expecting me to run right back,” she said, “but it was just a lot for me.”

George, who has a degree in mechanical engineering from Northeastern University, left his career and went to work full-time in the store after Gianna was born. He has been co-owner of the store since its opening.

When Chryssie went back to work after the birth of her daughter, clients asked to work exclusively with her when it came to selecting a dress, even though there were other bridal stylists in the shop. She did not want to say no to anyone, but found that the demands of the job were taking a toll on her physical health.

“I decided to take a backseat from being on site,” she said. They have since maintained the same roles, with George handling day-to-day operations and Chryssie doing work behind the scenes. However, she is always available for any client who wants to reach her.

Chryssie treasures one aspect of her business: the calls she gets from women who bought their dress from her and now want to bring their daughter in to find their own dress. “I get goosebumps,” she said. “We treat every bride well, but it’s very important to me to show that we appreciate people supporting me.”

Pattie Pinciaro was one of those brides. She purchased her wedding gown from Chryssie’s shop, and many years later one of Pinciaro’s daughters had the dress altered and wore it to her wedding. Later, her two younger daughters and her sister found their dresses at Chryssie’s.

Chryssie and her mom, Anastasia, in 1985

Last year, Jackie Kelly went into the store to see Chryssie and brought photos from her wedding. She was the first bride that Chryssie ever took care of and she returned with her own daughter, who was looking for her wedding dress. “I broke out in tears,” Chryssie said.

When she asked Jackie how she was able to trust a 22-year-old to help with her wedding all those years ago, she replied that she knew Chryssie cared more about the wedding than she herself did. For Kelly’s wedding, Chryssie and Jackie chose white dresses for the bridesmaids. “It was a gutsy move,” she said. “Every so often, I had to bring in something that was making more of a statement of the artist in me.”

Chryssie said that her mother’s talent was the catalyst for her career. “The bridal fashion was something I got from my mom while she was making my own wedding gown,” she said. “I had a vision for how things should be and she just carried out my vision. Her mother worked with her for the first 20 years of the shop’s existence, doing alterations on dresses while also continuing to work at Canton Cleaners.

Chryssie’s brother Adam and his wife, Evangeline Zervos, have a son, Michael, and a daughter, Anastasia Zervos Scrivanos. When Anastasia married, her grandmother (also named Anastasia) did all the alterations on her dress. It was the final bridal gown that she worked on. She also did the alterations on 25 dresses for the same wedding, retiring at age 80 after finishing that work. A well-known and respected figure in the Canton community, she passed away in 2019 at the age of 85.

Reflecting on her own experiences as a bridal shop owner, Chryssie noted that the industry has become very competitive over the last 40 years. As one of the oldest boutiques of its kind in New England, Chryssie’s Bridal does everything for bridal parties from dresses to preserving wedding gowns. There is an independent dress maker on site, and the shop prides itself on providing personalized, full service for their clients.

“It’s kind of like a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” she said. “I am a people-pleasing perfectionist — very attentive, very caring, very honest. I have a great team.”

That team includes Chryssie and George as well as former customers like Kristy Casali, who is now the store manager, and Cristina Petrillo, a former bridesmaid client-turned-bridal stylist. Also working at Chryssie’s as bridal stylists are Cathy Varetimos, Elizabeth Skafidas, who is Chryssie’s cousin, and Jill Mills. Kathy Tsianakas handles social media for the business, and Corinne White, the newest team member and a Canton resident, serves as the assistant and receptionist.

“We have a most phenomenal group of women — I am so blessed,” Chryssie said. “One is just better than the next.”

She said that gowns have become simpler over time but are still elegant. Chryssie’s Bridal sells many gowns that are made with lace, but they look different than they did in the 1980s and 90s. “We provide the best quality in merchandise for the price,” she said. “We have gowns for every body shape and price point.”

While the bridal industry has undergone major changes over the past several decades, Chryssie noted that some things have stayed the same. “People really do want to feel special on that day,” she said. “They want you to make them feel good. They want to have the right gown.”

“It’s providing the right service,” she added. “It’s all about connecting with people, having them be happy with what you’ve given them for their day. We try to make sure they feel heard. They want to look beautiful. It’s a rewarding career.”

Chryssie’s Bridal was included in the filming for the romantic comedy About Fate (2022) starring Emma Roberts, and it was “quite an experience,” according to Chryssie, with “a hundred people coming in and out of the store” over a period of two days. “It was cool to have [Roberts] in my store,” she said, recalling that the filming took place in July and the crew filmed until late at night.

Chryssie’s Bridal has also participated in a number of bridal expos and previously held a number of fashion shows at the old Village Mall, with several Canton residents modeling in the shows.

Chryssie is grateful to the residents and her clients for all of their loyalty over the years. “I love this town,” she said. She is marking the 40th anniversary with a celebratory blowout sale from September 29 to October 5. For more information on the boutique, go to chryssies.com.

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Posted by Mary Ann Price on Aug 29 2025. Filed under Business. Both comments and pings are currently closed.