Weddingbee Blog

(if I had short hair, this would be me)

I have a hard time making decisions. It doesn’t matter if they’re big and life changing or little and insignificant. At that decision-making moment, my brain goes crazy and the teeniest decisions suddenly become HUGE. This has become quite a problem recently as I’m learning that wedding planning is all about making decisions. Sigh.

I’m the girl that spends an hour in a dressing room deciding between 2 different colors of the same dress. And then I’ll delay the decision even longer by buying both of them while promising myself that I’ll return one after trying them on again with “better lighting”. See? Crazy.

And that’s just a simple dress. Imagine the craziness I experienced (or rather, my friends witnessed) when I had to decide on a big, white, and expensive one!

So, it should come as no surprise when I confess to you all that I am a 2 1/3 dress bride. Yup, you read that correctly. 2 and 1/3. How is that possible you ask? Read on, my friends, read on.

This will take a few posts so sit back and get comfy…this is gonna be a long ride.

The story begins waaay back in August, when Miss Latte was still Miss (not so) Patiently Waiting for the Proposal. Yup, I was ring-less when I began searching for my dream dress… but for good reason! I was prepping for a big event that was taking place in my area… the famous Filene’s Basement “Running of the Brides” sale!!!

This annual (bi-annual for us lucky brides here in Boston) sale is awesome for brides on a budget. They bring in sample designer gowns at low, affordable price points ($249, $499, $699). Most of the higher end designer gowns are priced at $699, but at 75-90% off original prices, it’s an amazing steal! So, no, I was not engaged yet but there was no way this bride was missing out on a sale THIS big!

But wait, there was a tiny catch. Apparently, I wasn’t the only bride in town! People flocked from all over (and across state lines!) to wait in line for the sale… and they waited, and waited, and waited. Outside. In the dark. On sleeping bags. For HOURS.

My team and I (yes, team… more on that later) had planned to meet at 3:30 (AM!) to get in line and wait for the doors to open at 8. But when one of my teammates drove past the site on her way home that night, she was alarmed to find that a line had already formed! So her husband broke out the essentials (sleeping bag, coffee and Nintendo DS) and faithfully waited in line at midnight for us. Good thing because when we got there 3 1/2 hours later, the line was already wrapped around the block! Thanks a gabazillion, Rob!!!

(the line at 3:30 AM!)

We still had 4 1/2 hours before the doors were to open, so we took the opportunity to make the essential signs, read over our training manuals and strategies. OK, yes we had training manuals and strategies. Once I do decide on something, I tend to go all out. This was no exception.

(the team hard at work)

(Game face? Check. Walkie talkie? Check. Preparing for victory… it was early, okay?)

My team consisted of myself and 6 ladies who graciously let me be my crazy self. I handpicked each of them, based on their personality characteristics. (OK, and willingness to wake up at 3 AM to wait for 5 hours to push and shove their way past hundreds of dress-hungry brides to help me find one of my own.) Anyway, they were awesome and didn’t complain when I handed them their training manuals (”Playbooks”). These books contained basic information about dress silhouettes, necklines and definitions of frequently used terms. It also included a short history of the “run”, exercises to build up the muscles we would be using that day, a chapter devoted to strategies (”plays”), a layout of the floor plan, and a “BONUS! Quick Dress Guide” with pictures of dresses to keep an eye out for. They were so easy and fun to put together and I loved giving each of them a “souvenir” of the event.

(some pages from the Playbook)

No official team would be complete without uniforms! Using Avery Iron-On Fabric Transfers, I ironed on a cute picture of a running bride (courtesy of an artsy gal pal) to the front of each t-shirt (on sale at AC Moore for $1 each!), and a number on the back. All the advice I read about uniforms recommended having t-shirts in bright colors, but I just couldn’t get myself to buy neon green ’80s-esque shirts for the girls. Instead, I bought each a girl a pink headband so that we could be easily spotted amongst the massive crowds on game day.

(front of shirt)

(back of shirt)

(one teammate was pregnant, so she had a special number… what a trooper!)

(the full set! t-shirt, headband and playbook)

Now that we were properly trained and dressed, we were determined to WIN, er… I mean, find a dress! Did we succeed? Stay tuned…