My Startup World speaks to Sarah Farah, the Founder of White Almonds, to find out what’s special about White Almonds and how it helps couples plan for their wedding gifts
Please tell us something about yourself.
I was born in Dubai into a mixed cultural background; I am half Irish half Palestinian and was educated in England. I graduated with a Masters in History of Art from Edinburgh University after which I moved to Florence to continue my fine art studies before going back to London where I worked in various fields that ranged from art, interior design and fashion.
Acting has always been a life long ambition so I decided to fulfil my dream and move to New York. I lived and acted between New York and London for 6 years before embarking on White Almonds. Funnily enough it was through my career as an actress that the concept of White Almonds was developed and born.
Tell us something about White Almonds.
White Almonds Wedding Gift Registry is the first wedding gift registry of its kind in terms of service, concept, and flexibility. We create a solution to gift giving that’s convenient, graceful and stress free through our highly sophisticated online platform and unique offering.
Why the name “White Almonds”?
When choosing a name for my business I was looking for something with symbolic value that was not only globally recognised but one that further portrayed a delicate sweetness with elegance. White Almonds are widely recognised in the East and West at weddings are known to have a bittersweet taste representing life, the sugar coating is added with the hope that the couples life will be more sweet than bitter.
Their symbolic meanings vary amongst different cultures. In Italy, five White Almonds are given to the guests signifying health, wealth, happiness, fertility and longevity for the Bride and Groom. The number five is indivisible symbolising how the couple will share everything and never be divided. In Greece it is said that if an unmarried girl would sleep with White Almonds under her pillow she would dream about her future love.
When creating White Almonds I knew I was introducing a concept that was new to the region and to certain cultures. I realised that the traditional wedding registry known in the West of gifting just kitchen, household and tabletop items from one store was becoming quite frustrating for the contemporary trend setting couples.
Hence I wanted to create a sophisticated program which was unique and flexible with an online presence, allowing couples the choice of numerous stores and items such as, furniture, travel, honeymoons, art, table top decorative accessories and electronics.
It was my aim to use my knowledge and flair for design whilst still keeping a tradition and gracious gift giving experience. To give couples a chance to enjoy planning a wedding registry with a bespoke, personalised service that was flexible and unique, stylish and contemporary and very importantly, convenient for both couple and guests. One that was far removed from what people feared, no hidden charges or restrictions for both parties involved.Thus, White Almonds was born.
How does White Almonds work as a concept?
The concept works as follows: A bride and groom can create their wish list online themselves or come and visit us in our private showroom for a more personalised service where we will help and advise them over tea, coffee and delicious sweets.
The couple have a huge selection of items/gifts to choose from as we work with a variety of partners and are adding new exciting stores every day. Couples can further choose to create their own gift with an amount or keep it open as a contribution fund.
If an item is extremely expensive, the couple are able (with our unique concept) to break down/divide the price into units we name ‘Almonds’, enabling the gift giving process to be courteous, fun, and original. For example, if you love a sofa that costs 25,000 AED, you can break this into 25 Almonds at the price 1000 AED, so your guests can gift you an Almond towards the sofa.
We have created a user-friendly platform with images making the experience more enjoyable for both guest and couple. As gifts are being bought the couple have full control over their list at any time. They can edit their list and keep track of all gifts bought with personal messages.
At the end of the Wedding, the couple are able to see who has gifted what from their wish list with personal messages and have full control over which gifts they would actually like. The value of all the gifts are uploaded onto a branded White Almonds debit card which is valid for a year for the bride and groom to purchase exactly what they wish for from our partner stores. As they spend they can check their balance any time through their account back end on our website www.white-almonds.com.
At White Almonds we have thought of all angles so if a couple doesn’t have a wish list their guests are able to purchase them an e gift card. All the gift cards will then be loaded onto one of our physical branded White Almonds cards to be used within any of our partner stores.
Couples are further able to write their thank you Cards online through our very own Paperless Thank you Courier saving them that extra cost of stationary and the pain staking task of writing the cards.
No more unwanted gifts, no more hassle of returning gifts but rather a wonderful solution thats stylish, original, and convenient with no hidden fees or charges.
How did you arrive on the idea behind White Almonds?
Just before moving to New York to pursue my acting career I took a temporary job at a wedding shop in London. It was during that time that the concept of White Almonds was created without me even realising it. I had allot of friends and family getting married in Dubai and I started to see their frustration and struggle to find somewhere that offered a convenient flexible wedding gift registry service.
I soon realised there was a great opportunity and potential in a market that had yet been untapped. I knew the market quite well having grown up in Dubai till the age of 10, before continuing my studies in England which certainly helped. My love for the arts and appreciation for style, elegance, tradition and service further moulded White Almonds into what it is today. My vision was very clear and unique from the start.
I saw great potential in Dubai as its a city that has and continues to grow to develop at such an amazing and exciting pace. I spotted a challenging yet great opportunity here for our business due to the melting pot of cultures and various gift giving traditions. Firstly, there was nothing like White Almonds in Dubai or in the region for that matter.
And secondly I discovered a huge problem with wedding gifts that lead to much waste, expenditure and misspent on gifts that were getting thrown out or passed on amongst cultures and traditions that did not know of, or adopt a registry.
I seized an opportunity to create a sophisticated solution to an ongoing problem and to be the pioneer of the Wedding gift Registry concept in this region. To deliver a flexible, convenient and smart form of gift giving with a top level service.
How is White Almonds different from similar platforms in this region?
White Almonds is a one of a kind platform and flexible concept. There is no other platform in the the world that does what we do in such a detailed, stylish, and technically advanced manner. On our platform couples can create a wish list with a huge variety of gifts in a mannerly approach with supporting images the couple can edit at any time.
Gift purchases can also be tracked at all times with personal messages from the sender. An additional complimentary service we supply is paperless thank you cards that can be written to thank their guests. Balance on cards can further be checked at any time and there are no hidden costs or charges.
There are no platforms in this region that offer such a flexible service for the wedding gift registry with no hidden fees. Furthermore there is no online Wedding Registry with the added benefit of a personalised service through a private showroom which is important in an area where service is key, especially when dealing with weddings, and where e commerce is relatively new in this part of the world.
White Almonds is truly an innovative and distinctive company with a level of service found no where else.
What is the revenue model behind White Almonds?
We work with over 30 different brands/designers when offering our clients table top and decorative accessories so in essence we work as a wholesaler with items we carry in our private showroom. We further have an agreement with our partner stores where our clients are able to spend their cards.
What are your future plans with White Almonds?
We plan to expand into the surrounding countries in the region and further plan to launch a sister company as a continuation to White Almonds towards the end of the year.
What advice do you have for budding entrepreneurs in this region?
If you have an idea don’t be scared to try it and do. Its only by doing will you know and that knowing will come out of your experience.
Success is never built on an easy uphill ride, there will be many tough days with tonnes of problem solving, but its through these challenges you get to where you need to be.
I always love this quote from Osho: “Creativity is the greatest rebellion in existence”. On a more practical note, do your ground work and market research thoroughly. Understand all the legal aspects of setting up a business in this region and start your social media and marketing before the company launches.
