Monday, May 22, 2017

Bridesmaid Appointment Etiquette

We love helping bridesmaids find the perfect dress or dresses that bring the bride's wedding vision to life! A week ago, we posted about the 5 Basics of Bridal Appointment Etiquette. Here are a few pieces of advice to make the bridesmaids shopping process easier for everyone involved!

Read below to learn our 
6 Basics of Bridesmaids Appointment Etiquette

1. Don't Overwhelm Yourself with Options

We have hundreds (literally hundreds!) of bridesmaids dresses to try on in our store. Nothing starts a bridesmaids appointment off on the wrong foot more than the bride (or bridesmaids) insisting they try on everything. Not only is it impossible, it also becomes a huge chore about halfway through. Limit yourself to a few different options per girl at the beginning of the appointment. Once you have them on & know what you are looking for, your stylist can then steer you in the right direction. 



2. Be Mindful of the Other Bridesmaids

Whether you were friends before or are total strangers, keep the feelings of your fellow bridesmaids in mind during the appointment. Saying a dress is "so cheap" when it is at the top of someone's budget or saying how the size you order is "huge" when someone is ordering a larger size than you is a quick & easy way to hurt feelings. Even if they aren't your close friends, be mindful of their preferences and opinions while dress shopping. 


3. Don't Expect a Dress to be the Perfect Size or Color

Most bridal stores are not able to carry the same dress in multiple sizes and colors. In a store like ours, the bridesmaids dress companies send us one of each dress (usually in a size 8 - 12) in whatever colors they consider stylish for that season. We then take your measurements for the perfect size and use swatches to determine the perfect color. 

Luckily, we now have samples that range in size from 4 - 24. We also have a wide selection of colors so that you can see how a color swatch looks when it is actually on a dress. However, 99% of the time, the dress sample you fall in love with won't be your perfect size or color in our store. 


4. Don't Overbook Yourself

Like we said before, we have a huge variety of options at our store. Often when bridesmaids "shop around," they tend to get very overwhelmed & the fun of shopping is lost. Rather than booking 4 appointments all over town, we recommend booking at one boutique and making it a fun & stress free day.


5. Be Aware of Your Surroundings

We want everyone to feel at home in our boutique! However, don't treat our store like it is actually your house! We have walked into bridesmaids fitting rooms and seen a thousand dollars worth of bridesmaids dresses strewn all over the floor, stepped on, & in a state of disarray. Yikes! 

Your consultant is happy to clean up after you, but make it easy on her by hanging the dresses back up when you are done with them.


6. Save Happy Hour for After

After you find a bridesmaids dress & get your order started, by all means, go out and celebrate! However, getting tipsy with your bridesmaids BEFORE your bridesmaid appointment is a definite no-no. We have had brides who have started Happy Hour well before they arrived at Miss Ruby, and it makes for an awkward experience for the consultant, the other appointments, and especially the bridesmaids. Drink up afterwards, not before!


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