You're invited to celebrate the simplicity and sophistication of Vera Wang VERA WANG CHICAGO
34 East Oak Street
2nd Floor
View the current collection featuring romantic, sensual, and luxurious styles. Receive special savings on your special order gown, and $100 off a veil and headpiece.
· come up with a team uniform- matching hats, t-shirts, headbands, carry whistles-anything that would make it easier to find each other in the crowd
· assign jobs to team members—someone to gather, someone to trade, someone to help you in and out of the dresses, someone to guard your inventory from prowlers
· tear out pages from bridal magazines, or print styles from on-line wedding gown sites to show your team what you’re looking for
· pick place to rendezvous in the store
Dress code-- wear a sports bra and shorts or a bathing suit so you can try on dresses anywhere in the store; DO NOT WEAR FLIP FLOPS if you plan to participate in the “rush to the racks.”
Leave your handbag at home—you’ll need both hands for this.
No food or drinks inside the store; get rid of trash before the doors open in the receptacles provided.
Best Time to Arrive
The doors open at 8am. Brides-to-be and their teams who have been in line the longest will get to the racks first. In fact, it’s possible that the racks will be bare by the time you get into the store. DON’T DESPAIR! The dresses are not all gone. You’ll see brides trading or putting dresses back on the racks almost immediately. Use the first hour to look for brides who are trying on dresses you like. Then, be there to grab or trade for her “rejects.”
At the Event
Be nice—with all the excitement, shoppers have been known to get a little territorial and competitive. As our security manager once said to a TV reporter, “you don’t want to be walking down the aisle knowing you had to punch somebody out to get the dress.”
Be fair–keep only the dresses you are seriously considering, and set the others free as soon as possible.
Remember, wedding gowns don’t always run true to size—look not only for your regular dress size, but try a size or two bigger as well. Even if a dress isn’t the perfect fit, at this price it may be worth the cost of alterations. Experts on gown cleaning and alterations will be on hand to advise you.
Try on whatever comes your way--sometimes a gown that isn’t what you pictured yourself wearing turns out to be “the one.”
Be decisive--it’s only a one-day sale and gowns are not returnable.
The annual "Running of the Brides" at Filene's Basement Chicago will take place on July 25, 2008. The Chicago store will house 1300-2500 designer wedding gowns that can be had at three price points: $249, $499 and $699. This is such an incredible deal considering they carry some wedding dresses that retail for $9000.
The doors for this event open at 8am. But please be advised--most brides camp out overnight for this spectacular sale! Not sure that you have the patience or stamina to "run with the brides?" It may not be at all necessary. See a few of the answers below from the FAQs from Filene's:If you don’t get out of work till 5:00PM, or you’re just not up to the frenzy of store opening, the odds of finding a dress are still excellent. Only one in three or one in four people in line are shopping for a wedding gown. The others are helpers. For instance in Boston, usually the biggest event, there may be 800 people in line but only 250 of them are brides-to-be and there are up to 2500 gowns for sale.
What happens when the doors open? Customers run full speed to the racks; they grab as many dresses as their arms will hold. It takes less than sixty seconds for the racks to be stripped bare; the record is 36 seconds. The brides-to-be stake out a spot on the selling floor, preferably in front of a mirror and start trying on dresses. Even though we sometimes build a temporary fitting room on the selling floor most brides try on gowns in the aisles. Some women wear sports bras and shorts, others wear the lingerie they plan to wear under the gown.
Should I bring help? Definitely bring help—your mother, bridal party, a style-savvy friend. You need people to help grab gowns off the racks, make trades with other parties, help you in and out of the dresses, and guard the ones in your “maybe” pile from prowlers. It’s a good idea to have a team “uniform”—something that will help you find each other in the crowd, like wearing the same color shirts or big hats. Some teams get very creative. They print their team name on t-shirts, carry whistles or walkie-talkies, and so on. Some teams have strategy meetings before the sale; one woman created a Power-Point presentation for her team all about the dress she wanted.
Please be aware that dresses are non-returnable, because Filene's doesn't carry wedding gowns except for the day of the bridal sale. But if you find a gown that you later fall out of love with, I'm positive that it wouldn't be that hard to get rid of. You could list the dress on eBay or Craig's List or take it to a consignment shop.
We (TLC) are looking for soon-to-be Brides who will allow us to film them
wedding dress shopping at Kleinfeld in New York City for an upcoming reality
show to air on TLC. There is no monetary compensation for appearing on the show
and SAY YES TO THE DRESS does not reimburse participants for travel,
accommodations, or purchases made at the bridal store. Although there is no
obligation to buy a dress, we are looking for serious participants who are
actively searching for a wedding dress and planning to get married.
This may be considered a win-win if you wanted to shop at Kleinfield's anyway. . .please click here to apply today!
