Thursday, June 27, 2019

10 Things We Love About Working At Miss Ruby

If you visited our boutique you can definitely tell that we love our jobs!
Working at a bridal boutique can be challenging and physically exhausting, but it is also so rewarding and so much fun.  And working for Miss Ruby makes it even more fun.  Here are some of the big reasons why we LOVE what we do & why we wouldn't want to work anywhere else!

Natural Intuition Photography

1.  The BRIDES

To put it simply, our brides are AMAZING. We get to work with the sweetest, kindest, most inspiring, radiant, smartest, most interesting, loving women every day. It’s a pretty unique experience getting so close with our brides and their families and we are so grateful for it. Many of our brides come back with friends and family members so we get to see them for years to come. 
Miss Ruby Brides are the best!
Robyn Vining Photography

2.  Our downtown Milwaukee location

WE LOVE MILWAUKEE! There is always something fun going on right outside our doors! We frequently walk across the river and have meetings at some of our favorite spots like Sweet Diner and Collectivo. The Public Market puts pretty much any lunch we could desire right at our fingertips, and The Milwaukee Ale House is the perfect spot to get together for dinner after a busy Saturday. Can you tell we love to eat?! 


Michael Sears


3.  Being surrounded by all the gorgeous dresses

Duh! We have the most BEAUTIFUL work environment ever…and yes we do try on the dresses all the time!

Natural Intuition Photography

4. The opportunities

We may be a small business, but we dream big! We are constantly growing and creating new opportunities for new and current stylists. Aside from being expert stylists, many of our consultants also hold other positions at Miss Ruby such as Team and Community Outreach Leader and Logistics Leader. Working at Miss Ruby opens so many doors and offers so much experience in fashion, event planning, operations, leadership, and so much more. The sky is our limit!

5. Being able to express our personal styles

We do not stick to the traditional, all black bridal stylist uniform. We work in this industry because we love fashion, and Miss Ruby empowers us to express our own unique styles every day. We love that all of our consultants are so different and we celebrate that. As stylists, we want to empower our brides to be unapologetically themselves and find them a dress that reflects that. We try to do the same with our style and have fun while doing it.



6. Collaborating with other amazing vendors

We’ve already raved about Milwaukee, but have we mentioned the wedding industry that is thriving in our city?! We get the pleasure of meeting and collaborating with the most talented vendors in the business. We are frequently participating in photo shoots, fashion shows, wedding expos, and other fun events and get to work with the best hairstylists, florists, event planners, makeup artists, photographers, and other creatives. We are constantly inspired and grateful for the magic we get to create with them. If you are a Milwaukee bride, you are in great hands!

7. Giving back

One of Miss Ruby’s core values is to make our community and our world a better place. Giving back is so important to us because we truly do love our community so much. We have so much fun getting out of the boutique and volunteering at all kinds of different charities and events. We also hosted our first ever fashion show last winter, of which all of the proceeds benefited a local organization that empowers young girls.


8. Our hilarious company culture

To say we have fun is an understatement. Our entire staff is so funny and we are constantly laughing. Whether it’s a sassy comment from Sadee, one of Sara’s impromptu jazz squares, or literally anything that comes out of Meredith’s mouth, there is never a dull moment. We try to catch some of it and share it on our Instagram stories, but that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. We have a super emotional job, so having a sense of humor is key for us.



9. Our team bonding activities

Oh you thought working together every day was enough for the Miss Ruby fam? Nope! Not only do we do super fun team bonding activities like bowling, yoga, and brunch; but we also get together outside of work all the time. We love getting drinks and dinner at our favorite local restaurants, going to Kylie’s to watch The Bachelor, and we even took a trip to Chicago together a couple weeks ago to celebrate Chanae’s bachelorette party. We really are a family, and we wouldn’t want it any other way.



10. Feeling empowered and inspired daily

I definitely saved the best and most important for last. Miss Ruby is the most empowering environment. We are constantly inspired by our owner Erin to chase our dreams and work hard for them. The women of Miss Ruby have a certain way of lifting you up and making you feel so proud of exactly who you are. This is why we do what we do. At the end of the day, the dresses are pretty, but it’s the impact we have on our brides and each other that is really our driving force. We are so lucky to work in an environment that fosters our growth and creativity and most importantly our individuality as women.

Sean Chris Photo





Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Real Wedding: Kelsey & John

Dress: Mikaella Bridal from Miss Ruby
Floral: Wood Violet
Photographer: Heather Cook Elliott











Monday, June 10, 2019

How to Actually Enjoy Being Engaged


CONGRATULATIONS!!! 

You just got engaged! Maybe you have been dreaming of this moment for your entire life, or maybe you never thought this was going to happen, but that right person just showed up in your life and changed everything. Either way, YAY!! If your initial reaction is to get out that Kate Spade ‘bride’ notebook (that you bought two years ago, same girl) and start planning, then keep reading. If your initial reaction is oh s%&# what do I do now?!?, then keep reading.

Being engaged is crazy and exciting and stressful and scary and wonderful, and you deserve to ENJOY it! This is not a basic list of unrealistic bull#*%$ that is actually just going to stress you out more. I’m Sara, Miss Ruby Boutique’s Store Manager, and have been engaged for over 6 months now and these are just five simple things that I have done to actually enjoy my engagement. I hope you find them useful and I hope you have the most MAGICAL year (or 1.5 years, or 3 months, or 5 years) of your life.


1.  Let yourself ENJOY being engaged

Plain and simple. Don’t get so caught up in the ring, the proposal, posting the perfect instagram pic, what your family thinks, how you are going to pay for the wedding, what your fiance’s ex thinks, and if you should ask your friend from college to be a bridesmaid that you forget to just soak in the moment and enjoy this time with your fiance. Depending on your timeline this might mean relishing in pre-planning bliss for 3 months or 3 days, but either way stop and just take it all in.



2.  Get real about what kind of wedding you can and want to have

Once you’ve given yourself some time to take it all in, sit down with your fiance and and decide what’s important to you. How do you want to celebrate your love? What would feel most special and the best reflection of you? This is going to be very different for every couple and that is ok! It’s actually more than ok, it’s AMAZING! Some couples are going to run off to the courthouse and celebrate with just each other. Some are going to bring their closest friends and family to a tropical island for a week long party. Some are going to have a lavish event with 400 guests. There is no wrong way to celebrate as long as it’s what feels right to you and your fiance.

3.  Take Engagement Pictures


This seems like an obvious tip, but seriously do this! Whether you are an instagram queen or not, you will be so happy to have photos to document this exciting time. You will have so many uses for these photos from Save the Date cards to social media posts and your wedding website. I love my engagement pictures and I actually felt like they were the kick off to my wedding planning. Pro tip: Since we are having a winter wedding and all of our pictures will be in the snow, we took our engagement photos in the Spring on a trip to Georgia so they would look totally different from our wedding photos. 


4.  Spend some time getting inspo and then pick a style and go for it!

Pinterest and Instagram are going to be your new best friend. Check out some different styles and see what you gravitate towards. There is so much inspiration out there that it can be hard to narrow down what you want. Your venue or time of year and location may help to guide you into a certain style. Once you find a “theme” or “vibe” or “color scheme” that you love, pick that and run with it. With how many options are available to us brides right now, having a clear style can really help you make other decisions. Since I picked a winter wedding in a snowy lodge setting, that really helped narrow my options when it came to dress shopping, flowers, and honestly just about everything. If you are worried about FOMO for other styles, refer back to tip #3.

5.  Do something that makes you feel engaged!

Once the initial excitement slows down and your ring picture fades into your instagram feed full of pictures of your dog, I think it’s important to do little things that remind you that you are engaged!!! For me that meant buying a “FEYONCE” t-shirt and drinking my morning coffee out of a “wifey” mug. Such silly little things keep me excited on a daily basis and remind me to celebrate this time in my life. Also, picking my wedding dress was the ultimate way to celebrate being engaged and was the first moment I truly felt like a bride. It’s seriously the most magical experience.