By Appointment Only? and other such questions.

Often times, people will ask why we are by appointment only and other questions about the store policies. I thought I might take a moment and explain the store policies, the reasoning behind them and why we do what we do. Remember, 80% of the rules are for 20% of the people and typically the ones that get their feathers ruffled are the 20%!

1.By Appointment Only – We are a small boutique with limited dressing rooms and seating areas. We want to ensure that all of our guest receive the same opportunities and service therefore we limit the number of appointments each day. Also, we schedule our consultants based on each day’s appointments to keep our costs down in an effort to keep your costs down. We have two ways you can schedule an appointment, by phone or online. Our online service takes your appointment request, alerts you that your request must be confirmed and we respond via email confirming or rescheduling your request to an open time slot. It’s really no different than going to the doctor. You call/email, request an appointment, they call/email you back and let you know it is confirmed. You wouldn’t just show up at the doctor or dentist without a confirmed appointment would you? We know it is completely different than most of the “big box” or larger stores in the area that have been around forever but we are into over serving our brides, not trying to make as much money each and every day as possible. We will sacrifice sales for serving our brides with appointments to make them as happy as possible! On occasion, as with all technology, things can go awry. The other day, we had an appointment that didn’t make it to our calendar and we called in one of our consultants on a moments notice to accommodate the bride. In the end, we will always do what we can to make our brides happy.

2.Why don’t you answer the phone during an appointment? Our focus is directed towards the bride with as little distraction as possible. We cannot focus on the bride’s wants and desires if we are constantly running for the phone. So, we hope that our future brides will understand this and leave us a message so that we may return their inquiry after we are finished with our appointments.

3.Why must someone be in the dressing room to assist each bride/bridesmaid? Simply, to protect our gowns. We pay for each and every gown in the salon and want to protect them so that they are in the best possible condition for our brides. Also, we have had some practice in helping brides in and out of gowns so it tends to make the appointments run a little smoother!

4.Appropriate Undergarments, what are those? We ask that our brides wear appropriate undergarments to their appointments. We do not keep a treasure chest somewhere with every size and shape imaginable of bra/bustier. We think that’s kind of awkward to wear something many other people have worn. So if you have a strapless, no matter what kind or color, please bring it and above all else, please wear underwear! Yes, we actually have to ask that! You’d be surprised, we are!

5.Why can’t we look at the bridesmaids while the bride is changing gowns? Well, two reasons actually. First, you came with the bride; it is her day, pay attention to her. She cannot focus on what she wants if you are continually saying, look at this/me, what about this color, do you think “insert bridesmaid” would like this? Second, they are behind the jewelry cases! You don’t go behind the counter at Macy’s or Neiman’s do you? We have them blocked off for security reasons and theft prevention. If the world was a different place, things would be different.

6.No pictures! What do you mean no pictures?!?!? As stated before, we have paid for each and every gown in the salon. With that being said, we have also signed contracts with designers stating that we will not allow pictures. Breaking these rules can cause us to lose the line – meaning – we cannot order any more gowns, any gowns that we have on order for brides will not be delivered and the gowns that we do have in the salon are now obsolete. Sorry girls, we love you but we have given our word and will not go back on a promise! I would be wary of any store that would! We have signs posted to try to let you know that this is policy so that we don’t have to get into sticky situations but every now and then, someone decides the sign is not for them and we have to enforce the policy. We hope not to ever enforce the “we reserve the right to refuse service” policy and escort a family out!

7.Why do bridesmaids all come in one size? That’s what the designer sends us! Many times, we have no choice to color or size. We will do our best to accommodate the bridesmaids but sometimes the sizes are too small / too large and it either doesn’t look right or just doesn’t fit. Again, we will do what we can but in the same breath, we are there to protect the gowns from unnecessary damage as well. (I will not go into the 5’ bridesmaid that thought it was OK to traipse throughout the store in a full length bridesmaid gown stepping on/ dragging the hem as she went.)

8.Why do you only allow the consultants to go through the gowns? There are a couple of reasons we do this. First, we walk each bride through each and every gown, within their budget, in the store. Don’t worry! You won’t miss anything! Second, it protects the gowns to have limited stress placed on the gowns. Many gowns are hand beaded and we want them to remain pristine, or as pristine as possible. We do not like the look of gowns in plastic bags so this is our chosen option to maintain the integrity of the gowns. Third, we hope that this will help you make decisions based on what you want, in lieu of other people randomly saying “try this one” when its not at all what you want but you feel you “must” to make them happy.

9.Why do you ask my price range and limit my selections based on this? Well, you’ve seen it a hundred times on TV, the bride will try on a gown out of her price range, fall in love with it and then can’t have it because of price which breaks her heart. We want to avoid this unfortunate situation all together. There are plenty of beautiful gowns out there that will not break the bank or put undue stress on you to pay for them and we are here to help you find that gown! It is not our goal to sell you the most expensive dress; it is our goal to sell you the right dress. The ladies on “Say Yes to the Dress” ask your budget and so do we! Honestly, it’s all in your best interest!