14 THE WEDDING GUIDE
Sample from page 3
of my group. In the sea of women, they were like three deer caught in the headlights, arms empty. “You have d resses ! ” t hey exclaimed. “Yes! Now take these and get
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in line for a dressing room! I’ll stay down here and see if I can negotiate for some others that are already in the dressing rooms.” And so it went. I stood outside d ressing rooms, covet ing gowns, asking for first refusal on this or that cast off. How did this happen? We were second in line! Once I had our four gowns, I waited upstairs until Danielle got a dressing room and as she cast off every dress, I would pass them over to girls waiting in line with only one dress and bling starvation in their eyes. After Danielle’s four dresses were tried and there were no others on the racks, I commandeered a consultant who was running dresses room to room. “Excuse me, but we were second in line today a nd yet people who were at the back of the line are in dressing rooms with dresses we
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never even saw! I know there are lace dresses in this store because I see them outside all these dressing rooms. We are not leaving until she tries on at least four more dresses in styles she actually likes. Can you please bring us some dresses? We will wait right here.” The consultant smiled and said she would locate some dresses and from there we went back to w a it i ng i n line for a dressing room. In the meantime, no dress passed without me halting its procession to see if we wanted to tr y it. W hile we waited, I f luffed trains and offered compliments as girls emerged like princesses from the dressing rooms. (I should have earned commission!) After trying four or five more gowns, the last of which Danielle liked but not enough to purchase, we all agreed we’d had our fill of the experience and headed for lunch. As we exited the salon, I saw a young woma n who had been at the very back of the line that morning. She had had a “game face” on and sure enough, she left with an armful of gown. Here’s what we learned from
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the sample sale experience. 1.) Don’t let a sample sale be your first time trying on wedding dresses. It is not a relaxing experience and not fun unless you find just what you want at a steal. It’s business and the store is doing some clea ning out of old stock. 2.) If you do attend a sale, go with a specific style and detailing in mind. Then visit the store, preferably a few days before the sale to see where your styles are likely to be hanging. Even if the store moves i nventor y a rou nd, get a sense of how gow ns are merchandised. It’s like running the course of a race prior to the real event. It was clear that many of the girls at the sale we attended had been to the store on previous occasions and knew just where to find what they were looking for. 3.) Br i ng more t ha n one person w it h you. Rega rdle s s of ad v er t i si ng , y ou need at least one person to stand in line for the dressing room a nd t wo people to pull dresses, then one of those people to negotiate for castoffs from other dressing rooms.
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Bride-to-be Danielle Fowler examines a veil. 4.) Know your prices. The dress Danielle liked was a sample and cost as much as one of the newer, prettier designs that was not part of the sale and she could not try on unless she made an appointment. 5.) If you are easily overw hel med, a sa mple sa le is not the place for you to shop for your dream dress. Danielle admits she was so overwhelmed that had I not refused to give up, she would have left without trying on a dress that day. One month later, we schedu led a n hou r-a nd-a-ha l f appointment at another boutique where Danielle had her own consultant who brought in three rounds of dresses based on Danielle’s prefer-
Bride-to-be Danielle Fowler wearing the last of eight gowns she tried on the day of the sale. ences and what suited her tiny frame. Danielle’s mom got to see her daughter transformed into a bride before her tear-filled eyes and Danielle got a full bridal experience and a new gow n t hat w ill be a ltered to fit her perfectly. In the end, she paid only slightly more than she would have for the sample dress which would have required many alterations. I remember watching t he “Running of the Brides” when I was younger and t hinking what fun it would be to attend an event like it. While the sample sale was an experience, I wouldn’t be inclined to shop one again. A bride trying on the dress of her dreams deserves less of a stampede and more of a standing ovation.