Articles on: Getting Started

Getting Started Checklist

This streamlined checklist outlines the essential steps to set up CloudBridal for your bridal or formal wear business. Focus on these key configuration tasks to get your system up and running quickly.


The same steps are in CloudBridal itself: open Settings, and the Overview page shows which ones your shop has done, with a link to each. New shops also see a setup card on Home, for people who can manage settings, until the essentials are done.


Initial Setup


1. Set Up Your Business Profile


  • In Settings › General, enter your shop name, address and contact details
  • In Settings › Branding, upload your logo (used on receipts, the client portal and more)
  • If desired, set up an email signature in Settings › Communications. It's included with your emails to customers.
  • Optionally choose how CloudBridal looks for your team under The app for your team in Settings › Branding: a theme and a font. Staff can pick their own theme in their profile, and customer-facing pages aren't affected.


2. Key Configurations


These configurations feed into the overall system so it's important to do them first.


  • Set up the customer types you serve in Settings › Customers, under Customer types. CloudBridal includes some default types, but you can deactivate them as needed.
  • Set up your item types in Settings › Items, under Item types. These can be physical goods (e.g. Dress, Accessory) as well as services, fees, etc. Focus on getting the main categories defined rather than every switch.
  • Set up your sales taxes in Settings › Sales tax. Each tax rate chooses the item types it applies to.


Tip: For item types without physical stock, like services, leave Track stock turned off.


3. Configure Appointments



4. Add Vendors


  • Navigate to Vendors
  • Add your vendors. For the time being, you can just add their names, but later on you can fill out additional information.
  • View the Vendors documentation for additional information


5. Begin Building Inventory


Option 1 - Manually:



Option 2 - Import:



6. Decide on Payment Processing


CloudBridal offers two options for processing payments:


  1. Stripe: This is our system-integrated payment processor. It's easy to set up and directly integrates with CloudBridal — connect it under Card payments with Stripe in Settings › Payments. See the Stripe Integration (Payment Processing) documentation for more information.
  2. Other: You can bring your own payment processor. CloudBridal allows you to record payments from your existing processor at the time of sale. See the Payments & Processing documentation for more information.


If you decide to use Stripe, you should sign up for a Stripe account by following the Stripe Integration (Payment Processing) documentation.


7. Additional Order/Payment Settings



Additional Setup


These are recommended steps to take after you've completed the initial setup and are ready to start using the system.


Add Your Staff Members


If desired, you can provide login access to your staff members.


Create profiles for your team:


  • Go to Settings › Staff members
  • Create roles (e.g. Sales Associate, Manager, etc.) with appropriate permissions
  • Add each staff member as needed, assigning their appropriate role
  • Send account invitations to staff who need system access


Communications


Set up essential customer communications:


  • Navigate to Settings > Communications
  • Review the wording of the built-in appointment messages, and pick an email design
  • Create templates to cover your essential communications with clients, or start from the Template library


Tip: Consider automating your communications based on rules you define. See Email & SMS Communications for more information.


Twilio


  • If you want to use SMS/text communications with your customers, we strongly encourage you to set up a Twilio account to do so. See Twilio Integration (SMS) for more details. This unlocks features like text reminders, text automation, and more.


Print Labels/Tags



Staff Training


Once you are comfortable with the overall workflow, you should train your staff on the system based on your needs and their role.


Perform Test Workflows


Practice using the system:


  • Create one or more test appointment through the Preview scheduler button at the top of the appointment settings page.
  • Practice approving appointments, rescheduling, and other common workflows.
  • Practice blocking time off, which prevents clients from booking those slots. See Blocking Time Off for more information.
  • Process a sample order. We recommend trying different types of orders:
    • Create a special order
    • Create a "from inventory" order
    • Create an order with multiple items in it
    • Create an order with a discount
  • If you handle prom, try using the prom registry
  • Generate a receipt and sales agreement and go through the signing process.
  • Test creating a payment.
  • Consider roleplaying an appointment or walk yourself through a sample appointment if you are operating solo.
  • Create a purchase order.
  • Try running reports based on common data you need to extract from the system (e.g. monthly sales, daily payments, etc.).


Getting Help


If you need assistance at any point:



Remember that your CloudBridal implementation should reflect your unique business needs. Focus on the essential setup steps first, then gradually explore additional features as you become more comfortable with the system.

Updated on: 19/10/2026

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