The Running (over) of the Brides

So with some sweet coaxing and bribery of free food- i convinced jimin to check out the madness that is Filene's Basement's "Running of the Brides"

bright and early, we awoke last friday 4/4 (yup the 1 year mark!)- and convinced ourselves that maybe it wouldn't be as hyped up as it seemed on the website... taking our sweet time, we got coffee and leisurely made our way over to tyson's, only to be greeted by a line going around the building and past the parking garage... we were still about an hour early!

apparently this is supposed to be one of the major bridal events (fortunately it was right down the street from us), and people bus/fly/drive in from all over the place at a shot at finding the "dream designer dress" for a fraction of the cost. well, we soon discovered it's a fraction of the cost because of the ridiculous quality and styles (long lace puffy sleeves, gold leaves stitched onto the dresses, rips down the side, busted zippers). although, watching that youtube clip below, it seemed like other filene's locations actually did have some decent dresses (and a lot more too). maybe the tyson's filene's was for all the reject dresses...?

anyhow, i'm doing NO justice to this post in explaining the wildness that we experienced that day (not to mention this girl we met on line, Connie- whom we quickly befriended after realizing how hilarious she was....
"mmm my fiancee told me to go find a dress at David's Bridal and I said- David's Bridal? HELL to tha NO!" )

ok so here's some descriptions and pictures about the event (from the filene's site), with my own running side commentary of course...

fyi- i didn't find a dress there (not surprised) but i'm so glad i got to go and witness that savagery for my own eyes... we made it out in an hour with no damage to our wallets or bodies!


"Running of the Brides"

News reports so often compare it to the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain that the event is now officially called the “Running of the Brides.”

The day of the sale, brides-to-be and their helpers line up early. When the doors open, they run full speed towards the racks. (i crap you not people were getting run over and pushed around....i've never seen so many girls sprint so fast in my life-shoot event jimin engaged in a light jog)
In less than 60 seconds, the racks are stripped bare (store employees have to hold on to the fixtures so they don’t topple). The women grab whatever gowns they can, haul them off to a corner, strip down to their underwear and start trying on dresses. Minutes later the trading begins. Every dress, no matter what size, style or color, gets bartered for another, as each bride tries to find the gown of her dreams at a cut-rate price.

Do I need to make an appointment? What are the hours of the sale?
Doors open at 8:00am, but brides-to-be start arriving much earlier. In fact, some brides arrive the day before and bring lawn chairs, sleeping bags, and even pop-up tents. Most brides arrive between 7:00am and 8:00am. The sale continues all day until store closing (which varies by store).

What happens when the doors open?
Customers run full speed (and some of them girls were BIG! my shirt got ripped when i got pushed around in the crowd trying to get in...) to the racks; they grab as many dresses as their arms will hold. It takes less than sixty seconds for the racks to be stripped bare; the record is 36 seconds. The brides-to-be stake out a spot on the selling floor, preferably in front of a mirror and start trying on dresses. Even though we sometimes build a temporary fitting room on the selling floor most brides try on gowns in the aisles. Some women wear sports bras and shorts, others wear the lingerie they plan to wear under the gown. (some people brought their own full-length mirrors in with them!)

Should I bring help?
Definitely bring help—your mother, bridal party, a style-savvy friend. (i rolled 1 deep that day...) You need people to help grab gowns off the racks, make trades with other parties, help you in and out of the dresses, and guard the ones in your “maybe” pile from prowlers. It’s a good idea to have a team “uniform”—something that will help you find each other in the crowd, like wearing the same color shirts or big hats. Some teams get very creative. They print their team name on t-shirts, carry whistles or walkie-talkies, and so on. Some teams have strategy meetings before the sale; one woman created a Power-Point presentation for her team all about the dress she wanted. (i saw jimin's true ahjooma skills that day as she started with nothing, found a fugly dress, and proceeded to barter, beg, and trade our way up to some decent dresses- we then walked around negotiating with four ugly size 10-12 dresses)

I’ve heard all kinds of stories about how people behave at this sale—are they true?
This is an emotional purchase so we see a range of behaviors. At the start this event can bring out the worst in shoppers—shoving, elbowing, hoarding, and so on; but eventually it brings out the best. A lot of bonding takes place between the bridal groups. Everybody stops what they’re doing and cheers for brides when they declare a dress “the one.” Once, when it was discovered that one bride’s mother couldn’t fly in from Chicago because of bad weather, all the other mothers acted as surrogates and helped her find her wedding gown. Brides-to-be who are shopping alone have met on-line and in line and joined forces and help each other.

The behavior of Bridal Gown Sale customers has been studied by two professors of marketing at Bentley College, near Boston. They have shared their findings in scholarly journals and at academic conferences. (err....study of bridezilla's =scholarly)

How far do brides travel for this sale?
We’ve talked to brides who traveled from Alaska, the U.K., Switzerland, all over. A group from Fresno, California flew to Boston for the sale after hearing about it from an uncle who lived in Taiwan. The gowns themselves have traveled too. One woman sent 4 dresses to her nieces in Russia; another from Brazil shipped a gown to her future sister-in-law, who loved it.

What is the most unusual wedding gown sold?
A few stand out. One was custom designed gown and train made of white lambskin. The skirt was gored alternating leather with different patterns of ecru lace. Another was hand-made by designer Michelle Roth for a runway show. The skirt had five layers—one layer was hand painted with flowers and it was sandwiched between two layers with three-dimensional flowers sewn on, underneath, a layer of crinoline, and finally, a layer of lace. Two other gowns were memorable for their hand-painted skirt designs: one was a peacock and the other, a map of the world.