Running of the Brides anyone?

kater99

So, i'm planning on attending the July 23rd running of the brides in chicago this year.  Is anyone else going?  If you are, are you going to go for the run or are you going to wait until the rush is over? I'm still undecided.  Does anyone have any tips?  Thanks girls!

seventiespop

I went last July and found my dress. I copy and pasted my experience below:

Bridal Dress—Filene’s Running of the BridesMy dress is Anna Maijer/Ulla-Maija Couture Danielle; it had original tags that showed a price of $4,900 but I only paid $699.99!I met 3 of my bridesmaids and my MOH at Filene’s during the July 2009 event.  This was my first time dress shopping and I hadn’t planned on buying my dress (I intended to shop with my Mother when she came to visit later in the year) but thought it would be a good way to try on a lot of different styles and get a sense of what I was looking for without the pressures of a stuffy bridal salon.  The second dress I tried on was the one I ended up buying (after trying on 20+ other dresses, just to be sure).  I don’t care for crowds and standing in line for hours so we showed up in the afternoon around 2:45pm.  There were maybe 15-20 other brides looking for dresses and well over 1400 dresses to pick from (I know this because when I purchased my dress I was told by the cashier that I was the 250ish person to do so and they started out with 1700 dresses).  Because we got there after the rush, most of the dresses had been put back on the racks making it easy to comb through them (there were still a few piles of dresses scattered throughout the store left by other brides).  Since there are no dressing rooms, I came prepared wearing a camisole and a stretch jersey strapless dress that I could easily pull up and down.  We had our own space in front of a mirror (not private) and my bridesmaids had fun combing the racks and grabbing any dress they thought I wanted to try and bringing it back to "our area".  Most of the dresses I tried on were sample sizes (8, 10) but there were also sizes smaller and larger than the typical sample sizes. All of the dresses in the store were priced at $249.99, $499.99 or $699.99. There were also representatives from Davis Cleaners giving alterations and cleaning advice and giving out coupons (we picked their brains about what could and couldn’t be done to alter/clean my dress before I bought it—this gave me some peace of mind).  All the dresses are samples so some of them had missing buttons or light dirt around the bottom of the skirt.

mrs.rab

I've never heard of this. Is there a website or something?

mrs.rab

found it and looks like so much fun )

TheFutureMrsBrock

I would recommend going, it definitely can't hurt!

I went last year. Since then I have been to sample sales at several salons in Michigan, and in Chicago at Macy's, and Belle Vie/Vera Wang.

If you think you are the type of person who would be happy with a sample dress then definitely do it!

There are hundreds of dresses of all kinds.

If you have family/group of girls up for the challenge, I'd suggest going early for fun and see what you find. Google the sale and research tips... it's crazy. However, like the previous poster said you can go later in the day and browse hundreds of dresses for cheap. There will be tons and you can dodge the crowds and have your pick. Last year I saw a few Vera Wangs, several Romana Kavezas, a few Priscilla/Melissa Sweets, and lots of other couture (but not as well known) brands. I found a dress I LOVED for $299, but decided the color wasn't right.

AubsAndSean

I went a few years ago and we had so much fun. I did buy a dress, but ended up not wearing it. My advice is that if you decide to buy a dress make sure you LOVE it the way it is. I wanted to make changes to the one I bought... and was told by the women working there that they would be easy to make. When I brought it to a seamstress 3 months before my wedding she said there was no way the changes could be made and so I was stuck with a dress that I did not want.
...and be prepared to be striping in front of everyone! haha. Have fun!

aimers1525

I'm thinking about going this year--after the rush! I'm not quite a sample size (need to loose a couple more lbs. hehe) so I don't want to waste time going to look at dresses that I won't fit into.

emango83

The first post here has a video of how crazy it can get! 

http://my-wedding-concierge.com/Wedding-Trends/Running of the brides