Sister Act: A Look At The Siblings Behind Jersey Brides

Two sisters and the owners of Bijou Bridal in Paramus, will be featured in a new miniseries—Jersey Brides.

Joyce and Julie Jou of the reality show Jersey Brides
Jersey Brides, a new reality show, features River Edge sisters, Joyce, left, and Julie Jou.
Photo by Eugene Kam Photography.

Joyce and Julie Jou, owners of Bijou Bridal in Paramus, are the Chinese-American sisters behind the miniseries Jersey Brides, scheduled to premiere November 15 on TLC. The two-part special—which is likely to become a regular series, according to a TLC spokesman—follows the travails of a certain breed of bride. She’s not a quick-tempered Bridezilla, nor is she the tummy-bulge obsessed worrywart of Say Yes to the Dress. She is, instead, “what some people think of as a typical Jersey girl,” says Julie—that is, she sometimes wants leopard print incorporated into her bodice. During an interview at the sisters’ four-story, plush-carpeted emporium of all things frothy and white—and expensive, with the typical Bijou gown going for as much as $6,000—Joyce, 32, and Julie, 29, tottered around the store in sky-high Christian Louboutins and tight dresses.

You grew up in River Edge with strict, traditional Chinese parents. How did you get into the over-the-top American wedding racket?

JOYCE: Our parents have always been in fashion, in the menswear business. They’re wholesalers. I tried to follow my dad’s path—I designed a tie one time. But it was so boring. It just didn’t work.

JULIE: So we figured, there’s so much ready-to-wear retail out there. We wanted to have a luxurious environment, something where the whole experience would be grand and special.

And your parents were behind you?

JOYCE: They’re not that involved. But we still have to obey them. Like, they live in Alpine now and I’m married and live in Hoboken, but I’m still expected to go home and spend the night every weekend.

JULIE: And I live in Pennsylvania [Bijou has a satellite store in Ardmore], but I have to call them every day.

JOYCE: I’m the obedient one. She rebelled.

What did your parents say when they heard you were doing the TV show?

JOYCE:
They weren’t keen on it.

So you rebelled?

JOYCE:
No. The original idea, what the producers wanted, was to focus on our Chinese-American background and all the cultural differences. Sort of “us vs. Jersey brides.” But we’re really private. So a lot of our personal stuff was cut out, and now you’re seeing more of the brides. Which is great.

What about cultural differences? Do New Jersey brides discount your advice because your hair is naturally straight and your nails appear to be real?

JOYCE: We walk a fine line. They usually appreciate our advice. Like, if someone wants a lot of hot pink, we can suggest a more tasteful way of doing it, a way of making it more subtle. But we are Jersey girls.

Did you ever go through a big-haired, Bon Jovi-loving Jersey girl phase?

JULIE:
We went to Immaculate Heart, a Catholic school, in Washington Township. So not really.

What was that like?

JULIE: We got a lot of Jewish jokes. Everyone thought it was funny that we were Chinese and had a name that looks like “Jew.” We’d be in the hall and people would be like, “How Jew doin’?’”

You have a good sense of humor about it.

JULIE: It’s normal. Jersey girls’ personalities are normal. At the end of the day they’re classy, really. And I think the series is going to do a good job of showing that. 

[justified_image_grid exclude="featured"]
Read more Jersey Living articles.

By submitting comments you grant permission for all or part of those comments to appear in the print edition of New Jersey Monthly.

Required
Required not shown
Required not shown