What’s the big deal about bridal appointments, anyway?

So glad you asked. A lot of our brides will schedule appointments (especially because we require them on the weekend and recommend them for weekdays) but some girls prefer to just “stop in”. Others think that appointments are stupid. So what’s the big deal, anyway? Here’s the key: Have you ever had a friend or relative just pop by your house unannounced? You love them and are overjoyed to see them. All the sudden you’ve got one of two thoughts going through your mind… 1. “Wow. They have perfect timing. I recently vacuumed the living room and we just went to the grocery store so I happen to have snacks I can offer them!” or 2. “Yikes. I have to leave in 5 minutes because I have plans with other friends to do dinner and a movie. I really would’ve liked to visit for awhile.” If it’s the first scenario, you’re perfect! Y’all pop popcorn, play Wii (or whatever you’re into), have a great time, and say goodbye feeling great about your relationship and the time you spent together. If it’s the second you’re in a quandary. How do you explain without hurting their feelings that they are really important to you, it’s just that you had other plans first… if they had called you could’ve set something up for tomorrow night… or the weekend. What to do? See what we’re getting at? We love all our brides and want all of them to feel special and not shorted out of the proper amount of attention. Appointments allow us to look forward to your visit, properly plan, and make the most of your time at our store. Now, if you pop by on a weekday we are not going to smack your hand with a ruler. We may just ask you to bear with us a little while so we can finish up with another customer, or we may ask you if we can set you up an appointment for a little later on that day. We enjoy what we do, and we look forward to helping you, so we just try to make your experience as smooth as possible. It’s not cause we’re meanie grump faces. I promise.

Don’t sweat the small stuff, and what is the “small stuff”?

We meet a lot of brides. They have different personalities, different interests, different venues, different dress ideas, different time frames, different *everything*. We also meet a lot of family members and friends of those brides and therefore we hear many, many opinions and pieces of advice directed at those brides. The most heartwarming part of this is that those people have the bride’s best interest at heart, they love her, and they want her to be as happy as humanly possible. Sometimes though, people will be certain that what makes them happy will also be what makes the bride happy. Not always the case. Surprised? Think… Do you and your sister have the exact same taste in shoes? Your best friend has the exact favorite food you do, right? Your mom watches all the same shows you do and you laugh at exactly the same jokes, huh? One or more of those could be true, but my point is that what makes others happy won’t necessarily always make you happy.

So I’ll give you a clue to de-stressing the wedding process. Try making a list (even if it’s a mental list, although I recommend putting it to paper or iPhone note) of what components are most important to you concerning your wedding. Break it down into “I’d basically cry if this didn’t happen”, “This is pretty important, and I’d be fairly upset if it was missed”, “This is reasonably important, but I wouldn’t be crushed if it didn’t come together”, and “I mostly don’t care about this at all but someone said once if you have a wedding in North America you must do this or bad stuff will happen to you… or something.” You can name your categories something different if you don’t like mine. But stay with me here… as things come up and loved ones make suggestions… as complete strangers make suggestions… as you are bombarded with opinions from every direction… put those components into your categories. This will prioritize your decision making and also help you with budgeting. If your dress is really important to you (cause clearly I think it should be) then put that in your top category, make the decision on it first, and give it the attention it deserves. If having a clown tie balloon animals at your reception is at the bottom of your list… on second thought… we need a whole other category for that… unless you’re into it, then put it in the top category.

Do you see what I’m saying? Other people can make a really big deal out of elements of the wedding that aren’t important to you at all. If you don’t know where it falls in priority of importance to you, then you could get sidetracked and your focus could be stolen by something you don’t really care about. That stinks. Especially if it makes you miss doing something else you really cared about. Keeping your categories and referring back to them as you get overwhelmed will keep you focused and on track. Your list will look different than anyone else’s and so will your wedding. That’s what interjecting some personality into the process is all about. The key point: What’s important to *you* is important, what’s not important to *you* is the “small stuff”. Don’t sweat the small stuff.

Don’t blog me down!

If you’re paying attention you can see that we’ve had a blog for awhile but haven’t made much of it… until now. It’s our goal to change our ways and keep up with our blog. Our number one focus is serving our customers and that keeps us quite occupied. We enjoy spending time visiting with you in our store, helping you find the dress of your dreams, and walking you through the process from beginning to end. So our blog has been on the back burner. But recently a friend helped us realize that our blog is actually an extension of our service to you. It’s our intention to provide you with helpful information that will ensure your wedding planning process will go smoothly and hopefully provide a little entertainment along the way! If you have suggestions of topics you’d like to hear about or questions you’d like to ask we would love to hear them! We’ll attempt to keep it simple and not ”blog you down”!