If there’s one crazy event to experience in a lifetime of wedding planning, there’s nothing that can quite top Filene’s Basement’s semi-annual Running of the Brides, happening this year on February 19th, 2010 in Boston, MA. Check their website for the fall date as well as dates in other cities. (The Boston Running of the Brides is going to be at the Hynes Convention Center, official details are here)

For the uninitiated, Filene’s Basement basically gathers lots of extra inventory, sample sizes, of designer wedding dresses, and sells them at a heavy discount to the masses twice a year at an event called Running of the Brides. Dresses that used to be thousands of dollars can now be grabbed for $699 or less – all dresses are priced from $249 to $699. It’s truly a steal, allowing couples to use the money saved to invite more guests, add decor, have a nicer honeymoon, or just not go broke.

I went last year with my roommate Christina to help her find her dress. We did not do the running part in the morning. According to the website: “When the doors open, they run full speed towards the racks. 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.” Yeah.. I’m 5’2″ and weigh less than 100 pounds, there’s no way I’d survive that kind of situation. We opted for midday instead.

Here are the lessons Christina and I would like to pass on:

- Go in at 10AM rather than door opening. By that point, many of the dresses have already gone back up on the racks and you will not be caught in what can only be described as a crazy, screaming, opening of the floodgates.

- Bring a mirror and 2 – 3 helpers. Dresses are heavy, sometimes the plastic wrapping is hard to take off, and you want to save time taking them off the racks and have more time trying them on

- Make your helpers easy to identify. Have fun and make team T-shirts, whistles, bring walkie-talkies, whatever will make communication easy for you.

- Wear a body-hugging underwear or swimsuit or even track gear, or wear the underwear that will closely resemble what you will wear on your wedding day. Most people change on the spot so you want to be comfortable walking around. Keep in mind that there will be a few brave men at this event.

- The majority of the dresses on the racks will be popular sample sizes – I saw mostly sizes 8 – 12 (wedding dress size, not street size). Buy a dress that’s larger, not smaller. Alterations will be able to size them down, but keep in mind that a difference of greater than 2 sizes may lead to a drastic change to the style of the dress.

- As great a discount they can be, sale prices still can lead to impulse buys. Therefore, make sure you think hard before you pay because all sales are final

The roommates back then – Lusi, the beautiful Christina, and me at Christina’s wedding! (photo taken with a Canon SD800)

Anyone else been to a Running of the Bride? Got any additional advice to pass along?

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In other news, I received word today that I’ve won the Bride’s Choice Award 2010 from WeddingWire! This award recognizes the top 5 percent of local wedding professionals from the WeddingWire Network who demonstrate excellence in quality, service and professionalism. The Bride’s Choice Awards™ are determined exclusively by recent newlyweds (brides and grooms) through extensive surveys and reviews! A big big thank you to all my 2009 brides for making this possible for me!

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Eugenia and Stephen’s wedding was on a beautiful day at the end of summer. I’m loving, LOVING all the details and thoughts being put into it. I also highly coming back to the John H. Pierce House – last time I was there for another wedding I didn’t get to stick around for the end. All right, enough blabbing, on to the photos!

This was one of the first photos I took. I noticed these shoes literally when I walked in and fell in love. Eugenia wore these during the reception

I also can’t get enough of her dress. It’s a beautiful Maggie Sottero

Eugenia chose to get ready at a hotel, I’m loving the window light!

Their limo was pretty fabulous – provided them with a champagne toast post-ceremony =) And I don’t know how the driver did it, but he got Eugenia and Stephen to the reception site before I did even though I left earlier

Look at her smile! She is so happy

And they could not stop smiling at each other throughout the ceremony. Awwww

Big smiles all around right afterwards

We shot the formal portraits in delicious sunset light at the John H. Pierce House

Um. I love that red shed. That’s all

A creative wedding party as well!

Eugenia is Greek, so imagine my delight when they did a Greek dance! I love Eugenia’s Dad, he’s exactly as I’d have imagined him

During Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” I asked them to show their bling :D

These four fabulous people came all the way from London to be part of this wedding. They tore up the dance floor all night long! You guys rock!

Eugenia and Stephen surprised everyone with a dance in the middle… can you guess what it is?

Superman… OH!

Vernee rockin’ it out with the DJ, who was so fun! He also came at her recommendation. Vernee, you are a treasure trove of awesome connections =)

Some of the details… see how one of my engagement photos got used for the guest book!

Eugenia and Stephen, thank you for letting me be a part of your intimate day! It was an absolute joy witnessing your marriage, wishing you many years of love and romantic laughter!

I gotta rave about the many vendors who helped make this wedding happen as well. This was one of the smoothest weddings I’d been to. The catering was all vegetarian but boy was it delicious! The mini cala lilies in Eugenia’s bouquet take my breath away. And the personalized Hershey bars and the owls on their wedding invite… The DJ (who came up from NYC) kept the dance floor packed all night long even though the wedding itself was pretty small (~40 guests)… I kept dancing too! It’s true what they say, it’s in the details, and when the details mold together the effect is great!

Vendors!

Ceremony: United First Parish Church, Quincy, MA
Reception: John H. Pierce House, Lincoln, MA
Catering: Tastings Caterers
Dress: Maggie Sottero from Camilla’s Bridal
Veil: Button + Bloom
Rings: Engagement from Brilliant Earth, Wedding rings from Long’s Jewelers
Tuxedos: Men’s Wearhouse
Florist: Cedar Grove Gardens
Make-up and Hair: Kathy and Jill from Illusions Salon, Quincy, MA
DJ: Lord Easy

The details – the wedding color was mainly a peachy pink with Chinese red.. I didn’t know that they had personalized water bottles with one of the engagement photos I took for them, pretty cool! For the guests during cocktail hour there were canvases for them to paint on. There was also delicious sorbet / gelato during cocktail hour. The reception was a Chinese banquet (so good!) There was a menu that explained the significance of every dish… helpful, because I didn’t quite know the significance of the dishes either!

One of the groomsmen and I put together this surprise gift for the couple – a 8×12 Giclee canvas of one of the engagement photos. I LOVE being able to see my work in print, it’s sooo cool that it got displayed during cocktail hour! And yes, I get that excited

With the happy couple

The ladies of 96D#4. A parting shot for a while

Beautiful and joyous wishes to the awesome couple on the first day of a long and amazing journey!

Kicking it off with some details! Emily was incredibly prepared with baskets of emergency supplies lying around in the bridal suite and in the restrooms

I love this image of Emily getting ready

Right after she put her dress on

Coming down the stairs for the First Look..

Portraits outside

Being silly!

Group portraits

Right as Jesse began his vows… the handkerchief came out

Every dinner table was named after “Love” in a different language

A very fabulous first dance!

I laughed so hard during all of the toasts. What a funny crowd!

A little back story to the cardboard cutout in this photo – one of the cousins could not attend, and so he sent along a cardboard cutout of himself that people could pose with during the wedding. He ended up crowd surfing the dance floor

Emily and Jesse, thank you so much for including me as part of your day. I couldn’t help but dance with the rest of you!

Vendor love!

Venue: Contact Jay at Union Club of Boston
Music: Jumpstreet Band
Violinist: Birdy Chou
Dance Floor: Boston Party Rental
Florist: Valerie Miller
Hair and Make-up: Mia Lisa Salon
Host Hotel: Sonesta Boston
Officiant: Jean Ellis La-Bossiere
Desserts: Modern Pastry
Rings: Peter Jon Studios

I am biased towards doing photos before, but I’ll try to weigh both sides. When planning your day, remember to allocate time towards what you value. For some, it is photography, for others, it is spending more time with their friends at the reception, for others, it may be a very long and lavish, tradition-filled ceremony.

Photos before the ceremony:
Pros:
- You can allocate more time – usually up to 2 hours – which is especially helpful if you have a large wedding party or you want to travel farther for your photos
- Your hair and makeup will be just finished and perfect
- Help chase away those pre-ceremony jitters by spending quality time with each other
- You can then see your guests at cocktail hour – which is usually a much better way to see them than during a formal reception where you may be confined to your table for most of the night
Cons:
- If you wish to do family photos, they may not all be present by this time
- Seeing bride before wedding? I hope it doesn’t bring bad luck!
- You might also be rushed if your hair and makeup runs over

Photos after the ceremony:
Pros:
- You’ll be all happy and relaxed from having finished the ceremony. It shows in a beautiful glow on your face!
- You can include family members as well if they’re around
- If you have a particularly long cocktail hour, this gives you something to do while your guests relax and explore the area
Cons:
- Time! You may not have planned enough time between the ceremony and the reception, and these photos will end up rushed, you can’t travel as far
- You may need makeup/hair touch-ups
- If your wedding is low on resources, members of your bridal party may be needed to help set up parts of the reception
- You may not be able to spend as much time seeing your guests at cocktail hour

For all my clients, I understand that sometimes it’s best to plan your wedding without someone giving you advice every which way. However, if requested, I’m always happy to help review your schedule, make sure you are not rushing too many things, and make sure you have planned enough buffer time in between to allow for any delays during the day.

Vendor information:
Venue: Tosca
Tuxes: Men’s Wearhouse
Cake: Maria at Tosca
Floral design: Sue Chasia Design, Scituate, MA
Music: Contact Catherine Bent or Rose Wollman

First off, Rich and Stefan are so, so adorable together

There were many cherry blossoms falling nearby

Their friend Lisa conducted the ceremony, and her shoes were absolutely fabulous

Looks so delicious!

Oh, and their friends are too hilarious! During the dinner a bunch of them went outside, and when I joined them I found them all singing merrily

Congrats again, Rich and Stefan!

Images while prepping

The ceremony..

This was when Chi Li said “I do” a little early =)

We had about 10 minutes to get some photos outside. It was a GORGEOUS day with temps in the 50s

Gorgeous women!

Champagne at the reception

Thank you Emma and Chi Li for letting me capture such a beautiful day!