The "Cardinal Rules" of wedding dress shopping

On a recent episode of Say Yes to the Dress on TLC, Kleinfeld Fashion Director Randy Fenoli offered “The Cardinal Rules of Wedding Dress Shopping.” As simple as these rules may sound, following them can help any bride find her perfect wedding dress with out all the stress.

1) “Don’t try on a dress that is outside of your budget”
A bride will inevitably fall in love with one she cannot afford and will be very disappointed when she can't have it.

2) “Don’t keep secrets from the bridal consultant”
If the bride has already seen something somewhere else that she likes, she should let the store consultant know so she can work with her.

3) “Leave the entourage at home”
It’s ok to bring a friend or family member but the more people a bride brings, the more opinions she will hear and the more confused she might be.

4) “Once you find a dress, stop shopping”
Some brides keep shopping because they are afraid they will miss their “perfect dress.” According to Kleinfeld’s, 90% of the brides who keep shopping actually stick to their original choice.

5) “Don’t get your heart set on a dress you saw in a magazine”
The bride should keep an open mind and try on a few dresses. The one she saw in a magazine might not suit her when she tries it on.

and finally.........

6) “Always wear underwear (when trying on wedding dresses)”

Intuzuri Collection Debuts in the US!

We know how you love your couture lace look and did we ever find a fabulous collection! Intuzuri {$1900 - $3,000}debuted for the first time at NY Fashion Week from over the pond.

We snatched this jewel of a collection up and made sure that our Bliss brides could be one of the first to wear this style down the aisle!

So…………. We had them pack it all up and ship the collection straight to our salon from Market! Yes, you heard that right! All of the US stores saw it NY Fashion Week and our brides get it this week!

Months before any store will have it in their collection! The gowns will arrive on November 16th and stay through November 24th!

Make your appointment to try these fabulous gowns while they are here! For more pinnable goodies, follow Intuzuri on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/intuzuri/!

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 – Bliss is a boutique experience with private appointment rooms and therefore, smaller seating areas. We want to ensure that all of our guests receive the same opportunities and service therefore we are limited the number of appointments each day. We have two ways you can schedule an appointment, by phone or online. Our online service takes your appointment request, will email back with a confirmation or email suggesting an alternative time and will also send a remider email the day before, just in case! We know it is completely different than most of the “big box” or larger stores in the area but we are striving for quality over quantity. 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. In the end, we will always do the best 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, assist the bride as she may not have ever tried on such a garment and to protect our gowns. The salon pays for each and every gown in the salon and tries to keep them 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 without a family member having to do all the work! 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? Our bridesmaids boutique is a seperate store within the salon. As each bridesmaid gown comes in an array of colors, but not every color, as well as many different pricepoints, we ask that a bridesmaid consultant assist you. Also, it can be very distracting to the bride if you are absent from her appointment, after all, she did ask you to be there! 6.No pictures! What do you mean no pictures?!?!? 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. 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!

Your wedding gown! When is it really time to start shopping?

Over the past few weeks, it has become apparent that some of our brides are unaware of the "gown time-line" so we thought we'd take a moment and break it down. This is a rough time-line and will vary by month as well as by designer. However, be concerned about any major deviation from this time-line as this may forewarn you of a store's stability. (IE. an overall exaggeration of the time-line for all dresses - not specific designs or designers).

 

Typically, it takes 12-16 weeks for a gown to ship (not arrive) from the designer. It can take less time but a well planned bride always works off of worst case scenarios.

Once your gown arrives in the salon, you will need to schedule an appointment to pick up your gown or begin alterations. (add 7-20 days here).

Alterations can take anywhere from 6-8 weeks depending on your schedule, their schedule and the amount of work to be done. This includes multiple visits to the alterations specialist.

Add all this up and you are looking at approximately (6.75) 7 months - just to get the dress ready to wear!

Now, factor in bridal portraits since this is the first time you will wear your gown (assuming you are taking bridal portraits). Then, factor in climate. Climate - why climate? Well, we do live in Texas. July-September equals HOT! (read: glistening bride and not in a good way) December - March equals all things dead. (plants) so, if you want outdoor portraits, this could drastically change your time-line.

Example: You are getting married in October. You are taking bridal portraits and want them outdoors so you probably want to take them April - June. To have your gown ready in time, you need to have it purchased by November. Amazing how quickly time gets away from you!

From December until the end of February, the time-line gets longer as you have to factor in the holidays. Gown production teams typically take three weeks off during this time which means that your time-line needs to expand by three weeks during these months.

Now, this time-line is "worst case scenario" but a well planned bride will work off this to alleviate as much stress as possible. It can be done in a shorter time frame with some creative bridal consultants behind you that know their stock and their designers but why take a chance

Start early, be prepared to buy at your first appointment (we didn't say you had to - just be prepared to) and the gown shopping experience will be Blissful!

The "Cardinal Rules" of wedding dress shopping

On a recent episode of Say Yes to the Dress on TLC, Kleinfeld Fashion Director Randy Fenoli offered “The Cardinal Rules of Wedding Dress Shopping.” As simple as these rules may sound, following them can help any bride find her perfect wedding dress with out all the stress.

1) “Don’t try on a dress that is outside of your budget”
A bride will inevitably fall in love with one she cannot afford and will be very disappointed when she can't have it.

2) “Don’t keep secrets from the bridal consultant”
If the bride has already seen something somewhere else that she likes, she should let the store consultant know so she can work with her.

3) “Leave the entourage at home”
It’s ok to bring a friend or family member but the more people a bride brings, the more opinions she will hear and the more confused she might be.

4) “Once you find a dress, stop shopping”
Some brides keep shopping because they are afraid they will miss their “perfect dress.” According to Kleinfeld’s, 90% of the brides who keep shopping actually stick to their original choice.

5) “Don’t get your heart set on a dress you saw in a magazine”
The bride should keep an open mind and try on a few dresses. The one she saw in a magazine might not suit her when she tries it on.

and finally.........

6) “Always wear underwear (when trying on wedding dresses)”