Special Order Wedding Gowns

One of the first questions so many of our brides ask us is if we can order the gowns when they find the one they want. The short answer is "It depends." Most of the dresses in our shop can be re-ordered but we don't like to do it. Why? you ask? Because we are a small community and we serve a lot of brides. If we re-order the same dress 5 or 6 times during a season, chances are, you are going to see the same dress on multiple brides. That would be worse than showing up at the prom in the same dress as someone else. The big box bridal shops such as D----d's Bridal are like Wal-Mart - they make their money by shoving as much out the door as possible. They are perfectly happy to order the same dress for any number of brides. We are a true bridal boutique. Every bride that comes in is absolutely special to us. We don't keep multiple sizes of the same style dress on the racks. We have one of each style. When we find the perfect bride for it, we replace it with a new style. When we first started out in this business four years ago, we did things like everyone else. We purchased the "best sellers" from the commercial sites and then re-ordered them several times. Then I had a bride come in to try things on. I put one dress on her and she said, "Isn't this the same dress ______ wore at her wedding?" Yes, it was! When it happened a second time, I decided right then and there that it would not happen to me again! Our name is Unique Boutique and Bridal. To live up to our name, our gowns must be unique! Most of the time going to WalMart for a mass produced widget is perfect! You know what you need, you don't need a salesperson to help you, they have 45 identical items and they have them for a great price. Perfect! Not so with a wedding gown. You don't know exactly what you want until you try lots of different gowns on. You do need a caring salesperson to help select the gowns, help you get into them and give you the support you need. You don't want to have 45 of the same gown going out the door the same weekend that you buy your gown but you do still need a reasonable price. We can make all of this happen for you!

Prom dresses galore!

We now have all of our custom invitation samples displayed on a wall for everyone to see! No more hiding them away in scrapbooks!

Its official - Prom season has begun at Unique Boutique and Bridal! We had girls in on Saturday from Plainfield, Sescina, Mt. Vernon, Eastern Hancock and Greenfield. We are usually closed on Mondays, but we have prom appointments all day. Most of the schools are closed for Martin Luther King day today so the girls are making the most of it! We a re placing an emergency order for more prom styles today so we can keep up with the demand. What a delightful problem to have!

We are also placing an order for more wedding gowns and mother of the bride dresses. We are going to introduce something new to the Mother's line. So many of the moms really don't want the full length, blinged out formal dresses that make up the majority of our line. They want something a little more subdued, something to the knee or a little longer, something they can get more than one use out of and still get something with a jacket that looks classy. I have found a line of dressy suits that I think will fit the bill perfectly! They really are gorgeous! The colors, the fabrics, the styles are wonderful! I can't wait to get them in so I can post photos of them for you.

Our funky old building is wonderful for what we have going on; however, it does have its challenges! The cold outside temperatures have seeped into her very bones and it has become a real challenge keeping warm in here. Spring is just around the corner, right? I sure hope so! We have had enough cold and snow already!

Wedding Gown Crazy!

Greetings!

I learned something about myself this past week. My passion for wedding gowns runs through my very veins. I knew I loved them - everything about them - the fabrics, the design, the subtle shades of white, the beading, the personality of each and every one - but I didn't realize how deeply my passion ran until I was faced with turning over bridal appointments to others. I ended up not being able to pass the reigns, so I am back to handling each one personally. I guess I feel as strongly about finding the right bride for each gown as the people who dedicate themselves to animal rescues do about finding the right person for each of their rescued animals. That may sound completely crazy but my job is incredibly serious! A girl's wedding gown is the single most important garment she will wear in her entire life! And I have the honor of assisting that bride in finding the perfect gown. That is not an honor that can be taken lightly.

The big box bridal shops sell perfectly wonderful gowns but do the salespeople feel this passion or are they just interested in making a sale and getting the bride out the door? Do the people who created the big box stores feel anything about the gowns they are selling or is it just a numbers game to them? Do they study the lines of the gowns, the personality of each one or do they study the sales trends. Is it about searching high and low for unique gowns that are exquisitely designed or is it about what can be mass produced for the lowest cost and pushed out the door? I can't speak for others, but for me its personal, its not just business.

Thanks for listening to my morning rant. Come back again tomorrow.

Suzy

Custom Wedding Gown design center is open!

Good Morning! Here are a couple of photos of our December and January window displays. Hope you enjoy them!

There is so much going on around here! The girls here at the shop gave me an ultimatum about a month ago that I must get more serious about getting my new custom gown designs off the paper and into production. So, we have worked really hard and have created a sewing/design center in the back room of our building. The fabrics are ready, the designs are ready, the patterns are ready and I am ready - I think. Doing custom gowns for specific clients is one thing. Creating my designs for public scrutiny is like putting your child up in front of people for them to judge. Because my designs are a little edgier and a little more non-traditional, I know they will not appeal to everyone. We shall see how it goes. I will try to post pictures as progress continues.

Today Hannah and Nicole are taking Audrey on a sales call at the American Legion for our linens and table-scapes division. This area of the business is really taking off. We just picked up another large venue and will be doing display tables for their upcoming open house. More info on when and where you can come to see the display and visit the open house tomorrow. We also have a planning meeting today for the February 19th Prom, Party and Bridal fair we are co-hosting with the Creative Arts and Event Center.

That's it for today. Thanks for visiting.

Suzy

Welcome to 2011!

It is already January 4th! Things at the shop have been hopping with walk-in brides everyday plus those brides who are calling to schedule appointments. My goal for today is to get three bodices cut out for three of the dresses for our new line. One is ivory taffeta and bits of black flocking. It will have lots of black accents - Very Dramatic! Another one is ivory raw silk with ultra sheer pink sparkly accents - Very Romantic! The third is white on white with silver accented brocade and will be further accented in silver satin - Wow! I am so excited! The whole concept for the new line is gowns with parts that can be switched to achieve all levels of comfort from all white or ivory to a little bit of color to knock-your-socks off bold.

Working in an historic building such as ours has offered us with some unique challenges! If it gets really cold outside such as all of December, we are lucky if we get the interior temperature to 63 degrees. Because we have a wall of south facing windows, if the sun shines it warms up nicely by afternoon. On those gray, blustery days, even 63 feels sub-arctic. The furnaces have not shut off for about 38 days now so we are dreading when the mail man brings our next electric bill. It won't be pretty. We are slowly doing all the weatherproofing things we can come up with. Yesterday I used that insulating spray expanding foam around the edge of the walls in the back room. We realized that there was an inch gap between the flooring and the wall that went all the way to the basement. Since the basement is really cold, the cold air was just kinda flowing into the main space. Then there is the issue of the 23 foot high ceilings and the fact that our heat comes from exposed duct work hanging from the ceiling. Not real efficient for heat distribution. Oh well, such is life! We really wanted this glorious old building so we will work with what we have. My main goal is to eliminate goose bumps from our brides. :)

Have a fabulous day and thanks for visiting!

Suzy