Blissful Brides In...Bridezillas Out

Owning a 26 year old bridal salon is the best education anyone could receive. Not only have I learned about how to run a business, but most importantly, I have learned about people. And let's face it, retail is about people. It's just that plain and simple. How many times have you gone shopping someplace where there is no customer service to be found? Or, on the contrary, you've been shopping while a saleperson hovers over you to make you feel uncomfortable. Consequently, I have noticed that customers are frustrated from their experiences, and sometimes, come barging through the front door with a well deserved chip on their shoulder. I say take a deep breath in and relax. Clearly, you haven't shopped at the right vendor that suits your needs. Not all retailers are created equal, and the majority of us are considerate with the customer's wants and needs foremost in their minds. Too often brides act out their frustrations by acting like a bridezilla. Retailers cringe at the sight of a bridezilla and have a difficult time pleasing her. However, a blissful bride who realizes that we all want to make her happy ends up with the most thorough service.

Listen up ladies: Blissful brides are in...Bridezillas are out.

I blame bridezillas on the media. Before Bridezilla, the t.v. show on WE, people actually minded their manners. Shows like this promote and applaud bad behavior. No one enjoys being around a person who is closed minded and unable to listen to new ideas. Now granted, sometimes things go array and mistakes are made, but, especially in times like these, it is important to use good old fashioned ettiquette and deal with the situation at hand. No reputable business owner will intentionally mess up a bride's wedding day. Working together to create a dream wedding creates new bonds and friendships that can last a lifetime.

Blissful brides tend to enjoy the entire process of wedding planning from beginning to end. Typically, these girls shop with a vision in mind, and with their eye on the prize. The prize is the marriage rather than the wedding. Although, the wedding is one of the most important days in a girls life, her marriage is the most important part of her life. On the journey to the altar there are many situations to meet new people, create new liaisons, and open up new opportunities. Friendships that are forged during the process can last a lifetime. Your wedding planner, the caterer, the photographer, the florist, your bridal salon fashion consultant and seamstress are people that you will work very closely with. Along with patience, communication is key when dealing with your people. It's fun and exciting to plan a wedding when everyone enjoys each other's company.

Bliss is in. Be a blissful bride. Have a blissful wedding.
Live a blissful marriage.

Beautiful Advice

I spoke with an interesting woman the other day. Her daughter's wedding is just days away and she is happy and excited, and seemingly stress free. This is highly unusual for a mother of the bride to be so genuinely calm and radiant from within. We had a chance to visit for a while and she shared the most insightful advice. She compares the cost of paying for a wedding to the cost of adopting a son. After the numbers come in, clearly the wedding is an easy bargain. Gaining the love of a son is worth every penny spent on a ceremony and reception. It was a beautiful expression of unconditional love for her daughter and future son in law. I knew after speaking with her that the wedding events would go on smoothly, because clearly, she understands the true meaning of the ceremony.
People are so hung-up on unimportant details that they lose sight of the love and life that 2 people are ready to share.

Bridesmaid Etiquette

Attention all bridesmaids! When your girlfriend asked you to be in her wedding you squealed with delight and thanked her for thinking of you. Now that it is time to actually be a bridesmaid and follow through with your duties, do it with thoughtfulness and grace. Please remember that agreeing to be in a wedding is an honor, but at the same time it is an expense. You should be prepared to put aside time, money and personal opinions during your journey to your best friend's wedding.

First and foremost remember that this wedding is all about the bride. The dresses are a reflection of her personality and taste. Although some brides allow their bridesmaids to pick out their own styles and others try to find styles that the girls can potentially wear again, the etiquette is for the brides to pick out the bridesmaids gowns. She is creating a backdrop for herself and her groom. You are supposed to be in the background like a backdrop on the stage of a broadway play. She is the star, and you are part of her supporting cast. The bridesmaids should work together to make the bride look good, and if she thinks that you all look good then she will feel confident. Remember that she is spending thousands of dollars on her photos and she needs to love the story that she is illustrating in her wedding album.

Now that the dresses are picked out, it is time for you to get measured and pick your size. There are a couple of options for you. The ideal situation is for you to go to the salon where the bride is registered and get measured by those professionals. Usually, they are familiar with the designer and his or her sizing. They will measure the fullest part of your bust, the smallest part of your waist and the largest part of your hips. Think of your body like an hour glass. They will measure all of the extreme parts. In addition, they will ask you your height. Extra length may be required if you are over 5'9". After all of your numbers are written down, the salon fashion consultant will take out the size chart that pertains to that designer and plug your numbers into his or hers. Now, this part of your journey is a slippery slope. Get ready to be shocked at the size they suggest you to order. It will not be the same size as your jeans. These bridesmaids dresses have no spandex in them. Most casual wear has a percentage of spandex in the make-up of the fabric unlike these dresses that have no give to them at all. Typically, you will need to order 1-2 sizes larger than you are accustomed to. But, that is ok. Your goal is to be classy and beautiful. These dresses should fit loosely. You should not have chicken skin hanging out from your underarms or back cleavage at the back. So, when you are comfortable wearing a size 4 jeans, and the size chart states that you need to order a size 8 dress, swallow your pride and place the size 8 order. Nobody will know what size you are wearing unless you pull the tag out while you walk down the aisle. You do not to look or feel like a stuffed sausage. You will be uncomfortable and look heavy. Also, everyone looks thinner when their clothes are a little loose fitting.

Now that the size is chosen, get ready to open your wallet. Remember that you agreed to be in this wedding, and that in doing so you have a financial responsibility. If at this time you decide that you cannot afford the dress, call the bride and politely state your facts. Times are tough and the economy is bad. If the bride is your true friend, she will understand. Sometimes she will even offer to pay for part or all of your gown. The most important thing is not to skimp on size in order to save a few dollars. Usually there is an additional charge for sizing above a size 16 and for extra length. You will end up spending more money in the long run if you do not order a big enough size. Be smart, and communicate with your bride. She wants to share the most important day of her life with you. She wants you to be happy with her and love all of the decisions she has made.

Nowadays, bridesmaids cause great stress for the bride. These poor brides have enough to worry about without this added stress. Each and every bridesmaid should take responsibility for herself, do the right thing and make sure her bride is happy and as stress free as possible. Please remember, you are a reflection of your bride. You are not supposed to be looking for attention, rather you need to look classic and elegant and be a quiet reflection of the bride's taste in people and in fashion. If a problem does arise try to handle it without getting the bride involved. Bridal salons are responsible for the fit of bridesmaids dresses. They want the bride to be happy too, so they will make sure that you look and feel good. Each wedding is like a fashion show with the salons name all over it. So ultimately the salon wants everyone to look and feel good so they will look good.

Attention all bridesmaids!
Buckle up for you journey because it's going to be a bumpy yet terrifically fun and exciting ride.

Tips for Saturday shoppers

Saturday is a popular day for wedding dress shopping. We are going to recommend some helpful tips to ensure that your day out is an efficient and enjoyable one. Girls just want to have fun shopping for their big day! Before you leave your house, be sure you are organized. Some brides are more organized than others. If you are the "Monica" from FRIENDS with your 5" binder full of dividers and lamenated pictures organized by color and style you are in great shape. However, most people are not that organized, in fact, some are not organized at all. So what should one do? Set a goal for the day.

First, be prepared to communicate with your fashion consultant.The most important thing is to have a picture of your ideal wedding dress. Most fashion consultants are visual people. If you do not have any actual pictures with you, have no fear, create a visual by describing details you wish to have on your gown. For instance, some brides are traditional and have always dreamt of a white satin gown with covered buttons down the back and train. Others may be planning a destination wedding and might desire a light-weight fabric like chiffon. And then, there are girls who want a more trendy look. However, if you are having a difficult time communicating with your fashion consultant, tell them the looks that you hate. Seriously, some girls refuse to wear taffeta because they do not like the feel of it. In addition, some girls despise bows and will not even attempt to try dresses with bows attached to them. Clearly, by translating the details you do not like, you are beginning to create a vision of ideas that suit your style.

Secondly, never compromise your personal style. Sometimes, when shopping with a group of people, customers are overcome by other people's opinions. Too many times, brides-to-be fall in love with a dress only to have her mother, sister and/or girlfriends respond negatively to how she looks. It is so important at this time to focus on yourself and how you feel in the dress. Remember, it is your day that you have dreamt about your entire life. Pictures last a lifetime and are expensive. Your wedding album should be a story of your romance illustrated by your personal fashion style. Each and every bride owns her own look. Be true to yourself and you will love the final product.

Finally, on Saturdays, everyone needs to pack a bag full of patience. It is the most popular day of the week to shop. All of the bridal salons are busy and everyone is working hard to satisfy their customer. Sometimes there might even be a waiting line for a dressing room. Nonetheless, it is a fun and exciting time. Actually, it is more fun to shop when several brides are around to share in the excitement and joy, because they are the only ones who can truly relate to the feeling of that moment.

Shopping for a prom dress

The other day I received a phone call from a friend of mine in Chicago. She was totally stressed out over her daughter's prom dress or rather lack of one. My friend and her daughter were exhausted and frustrated from shopping and trying on hundreds of dresses and not finding what they wanted. Now I use the term "they" because the mother definitely has to approve of the daughter's chosen dress. Shopping for the perfect prom dress is a right of passage for teenage girls everywhere. Grab mom, make sure she has money, or at least enough to cover the difference if the dress is more than the girl can afford, hop in the car with pictures of the perfect prom dress and take off. Usually, everyone starts off in a great mood with high expectations. Of course, after about the 3rd boutique, everyone's nerves are wearing thin. Mother and daughter begin to argue, frustrations begin to brew and the whole afternoon goes up in smoke without a dress to wear. Does this sound familiar? Well, my smart friend dialed us up, and began shopping long distance. She shared her story with me and told me exactly what her daughter wanted. I told her which designers I carry, we looked on-line together, and I told her the styles I had available here at Formally Yours. After a great conversation, we agreed that I would ship her a few dresses for her daughter to try on in the comforts of her own home. I shipped the dresses to Chicago and bingo, it was a perfect match. She loved one! Everyone was thrilled to pieces and my friend was relieved to know that her job was complete and her daughter was happy. I'm just glad that people trust Formally Yours, and realize that we are here to make everyone's fashion wishes come true. Also, we are here to ease the pain for the moms who are tired of driving and wasting gas!
Just come in or call us, and trust that our fashion knowledge will guide you to your dream dress.

Prom Girls

Hey girls, speaking of finding your inner princess and our history and all, let us tell you about PROM! These highschool girls shop all over until they find the perfect dress. Thankfully, we have smart, hip, young fashion consultants to help each and every girl. We have the cutest customers with the most adorable figures who are in the know when it comes to fashion styles and trends, so they shop at Formally Yours where they know they will find the perfect prom gown for their special evening. We only have one of every style in order to insure that the best friend will not show up in the same dress. Not only do the teenagers love shopping here, but their mothers do too. They love the no hassle, relaxed atmosphere that we provide, not to mention the one stop shopping trip. The moms sit and enjoy the fashion show that their daughters provide while we continuously bring them dresses to their heart's content. After the prom dress is chosen, we finish off their look with jewelry and shoes. Everyone enjoys their experience and more often than not, our prom girls return as brides to be! It is so cool to see them as young women and reconnect on a different level. Having a 26 year old bridal shop is rewarding and yet at the same time comforting for our customers. It's old fashioned, but at the same time always new and exciting because of the ever changing fashion trends. We welcome the old and the new with tradition and history and fashion for our customers. Come in and visit our place, and if you have ever purchased a gown here in the past 26 years, bring in your pictures, because we are starting to create a Formally Yours history book.
We look forward to seeing you soon for your formal occasion, because after all, we are Formally Yours!