Run for Your Dresses!

When I got engaged, I had always pictured finding my dress in a bridal boutique, surrounded by my bridesmaids, Mother Library, and possibly Mr. Library's mom. I would stand on a platform, people would oohh and ahhh over me, and we would all cry when I found "the" dress.

That was a nice dream, but my dress-finding experience was way better!

It all began when Miss Sox in the City, one of my gorgeous bridesmaids and a bride in her own right, saw an ad for The Running of the Brides in downtown Boston. It had always been shown on television as a bloodbath, a time when dress-starved bridezillas scratched and clawed their way through the racks of marked down bridal gowns to find their dream dresses at ridiculous savings. As a part-time thrill seeker, I jumped at the chance to go. There was no way I would find my dress there, but it was worth the experience. Mother Library was as thrilled as I was, and when my engagement photo shoot was rescheduled to another day, I called Miss Sox in the City and made plans to carpool.


While I had no plans on getting my dress, I didn't want to walk - or sprint - into this event without backups. Unfortunately, Sister and MOH Library had to work and couldn't get time off because of her previous weekend off. Bridesmaid C had to work, but Cousin Library (bridesmaid A) was chomping at the bit to go. Miss Sox in the City invited her bridesmaids K, N, and me (I'm so glad we are in each other's weddings!), as well as one of our friends from grad school, C. Miss Sox in the City had made matching bright orange T-shirts so we could find each other, so we dawned those before getting into the car. C would be meeting us in the city, as would Cousin A, so the rest of us bundled into Miss Sox in the City's car and headed into the big city.

With Mother Library riding shotgun, K, N, and I chattered on and on in the backseat about how we were going to rampage the event and find all of the best (and worst) dresses we could. The laughs continued when we received the first phone call from C. She was lost in a random neighborhood and had no idea who to make it to the Prudential Center. Being the tallest and most prominent building in the Boston skyline, we were a little skeptical that she could miss it if she was in Boston. After a few "Have you looked up?" jokes, she was clearly angry and the phone was passed to me. I'm not sure how this ended up being, as I am from Southern Maine and have never lived in Boston. Nevertheless, I tried to guide her through different streets and get her to the Hynes Convention Center. Once we were off from the highway and into the parking garage, Miss Sox in the City took over and had her own round of ridiculous directions. Fifteen minutes later, we landed C into a parking garage and had her walking toward the correct building. It turns out that she did indeed need to just look up.

Poor Cousin A had been waiting for forty-five minutes before we ended up gracing her with our presence, and with my phone dead, we had no way of reaching her (thank YOU, prepaid service plans!). She had taken it upon herself to stake out some of the better-looking dresses, make a singular rack of them, and prepare herself to put me in and take me out of them. She also came with water bottles, granola bars, and a whistle. This is why I love her!

At 11 AM, we burst into the convention center. It was much less crowded and a lot friendlier than I had been expecting; we had missed the beginning onslot by about four hours. After a few group shots in our t-shirts, we dispersed and were overwhelmed by where to start. Picture a warehouse filled with racks and racks of unorganized wedding dresses in ever size, shape, and color. It was my organizational nightmare. Word to the wise for those ladies who wish to come to this event to find their own dresses: plan ahead and have an idea of what kind of dress you want. It makes the hunt a lot easier. Also, bring a TON of people.

With Cousin and Mother Library gathering a few first dresses, I stripped down to my sports bra and bathing suit bottoms (no need for modesty here!) and tried on the first dress. It was a dud. No shape, wrong color, and a weird neckline. The next few were also very underwhelming. As my pose went to find more, I spied a dress that Miss Sox in the City had put in her "maybe" pile. I asked her if I could try it on (since it was the first dress she had tried on) and she gave me the go-ahead. I tried it on...

and LOVED it. It became the dress I compared everything else to. Cousin Library had said that she wouldn't let me settle on my wedding dress, so we still had some work to do, but this dress had some serious potential.

After three more hours, about fifty other dresses, a bloody finger (the day wouldn't have been complete without a little bloodshed), and an epic journey across the warehouse with eight dresses strung over me, I knew it had come down to a decision. Did I want to go with this dress or did I want to see what I found somewhere else? I had heard cheering for other ladies finding their dresses all day, and part of me wanted that. We had cheered for Miss Sox in the City finding her dress about a half hour before. But I wanted to know that I had found the dress. When I tried it on for the final time, I began to cry. The dress was the one. I could have my own turn for cheering!

As I packaged the dress up, I looked at the price tag to see just how much I would be saving. I expected a difference of maybe $200 to $300, but what I saw made my mouth drop. Originally, my dress had been upwards of $1500, but today, it was $250! Not only did I love my dress, but I loved the price, as well as the free t-shirt I got with purchase.

Did I get to stand on a pedestal and get oogled over? No. But in this case, the cement floor was the best place in the world.