THE DRESS SAGA, PART 2

OK, this is where it gets good. Let me set the scene for you.

It's 6:45am. There's a little over an hour left until the doors finally open. Hundreds of brides and their entourages rub their sleepy eyes and down cups of coffee to get physically and mentally ready for what lies ahead. A whisper of a rumor (much like that old-school game, Telephone) makes it way down the line to my team...

They're opening the doors at 7!!!

We immediately spring to life, collecting all our belongings and making sure we have everything. Signs? Check. Full-length mirror? Check. Shoelaces tied? Check.

And sure enough, at the stroke of 7, the doors to the convention center magically opened and we were ushered inside to wait in front of the doors of the actual room...the starting line! My team and I were pretty close to the front, so we were able to peek into the room and catch a glimpse of the seemingly never-ending racks of big, flowy white dress goodness.

(our first glimpse...so many dresses!)


(the crowd inside)

The next hour was the longest hour EVER. Even the camera crews (the Rachel Ray show was there!), giveaways and a fight that almost broke out (!) did little to distract us. At 7:45, as the excitment was building, my team went over our strategy one last time, took our places and waited for the big moment. 5...4...3...2...1!!!

(the team going over our plays)

The doors opened and we sprinted towards the racks. The next 3 minutes were the craziest of my entire life. I ran towards my designated area and grabbed as many dresses as I could. Those gowns are HEAVY! As I cursed myself for not including a weight training regimen in the training manual, I dropped my arms and dragged the dresses towards our meeting place. One by one, my teammates appeared, each carrying an armload of dresses, and adding it to our growing pile. I was SO proud! I later learned that one of my teammates just grabbed a pile and sat on her dresses until the crowd thinned out. My pregnant teammate (who was assigned with the task of bringing the mirror to our location) actually made it to our spot and then braved the chaos by going back and grabbing more dresses! WOW!

(our growing pile of dresses)

Once we were all safe and accounted for, we immediately manned our positions. The "Sorters" began sifting through our huge pile, sorting by size and style, while I started trying on the ones that had potential. The "Barterers," the eyes and ears of our team, began walking around to different groups, trading for dresses that I would like, and keeping an eye on groups that were looking for similar styles and sizes.

(the bartering begins!)

My team was incredible! We were able to quickly and efficiently find and trade for so many dresses that I liked. I think that between the 4 barterers, they knew not only which brides in the room were looking for the same style of dress, but also their sizes, and who had which dress at any given moment. Amazing!

(check out how similar this dress is to the picture on the sign! see?? how amazing was my team!)

(having some fun...love the FUR!)

A couple of hours and a whole lot of dresses later, I found my dress! It wasn't what I was originally searching for, and honestly, I wasn't 100% in LOVE with it, but it had great potential. And it's LOW price point won me over. So I happily paid for my dress, and my weary team and I celebrated our success over brunch. Yum!

(my awesome team and my dress!)

This experience was one I will never ever forget. Although it was tiring and super crazy at times, I really enjoyed sharing it with my ladies and would do it again in a heartbeat!

For you future "runners" out there, I thought I'd share some tips with you.

1. Know what size/style you are looking for. This makes it so much easier for you to sort through your dresses and to quickly find what you're looking for. Bridal sizes run at least 2 sizes bigger than street sizes, so visit a bridal salon before you go. Try on lots of different styles and confirm your bridal size.

2. Organize your team. Assign each person a role to make your team more efficient. The "Protector" finds a good spot on the floor and protects all the dresses that get dropped off. The "Sorter" should know your size and style preferences to quickly sort through the dresses and weed out the ones that can be bartered. The "Barterer" trades for dresses you would like. This person should know designer names and have a very clear idea of what style of dress you are looking for.

3. Make signs. Signs are the quickest way to let people know what you are looking for. Also remember to make a sign for the "Protector" so that you can find your spot on the floor after the running portion. For example, we had a tall sign (we taped a sign to an empty wrapping paper roll) with a big "M" on it that made it easy for us to spot our team.

4. Bring a full-length mirror. They are not provided and there are no dressing rooms, which brings me to...

5. Wear something you are OK wearing in public. I chose to wear a camisole and long thermal pants. Spandex or a bathing suit would also be great choices. There are a lot of people walking around, not to mention news cameras taping everything!

6. It's OK to go later in the day. If this type of "hard-core" run makes you want to run away, don't worry! There are a ton of dresses left after the crazy part of the day. And they're all back on the racks so you can leisurely browse through them without feeling the pressure to grab and run! My co-worker went at 1pm that same day and found her dream gown!!!

Whew! Miss Bride has a wedding gown! But remember my confession a few posts back? Yes, this is just dress #1 in the great dress saga. See...I told you this was going to take a while!