Chinese Labor Shortage

I just got this letter from the shop I bought my dress from, and I thought I should share it:

You are probably wondering how problems in China can possibly affect your wedding plans. Well, if you have ordered your gown and it's running late, YOU ARE AFFECTED. If you are waiting to order until closer to your wedding date, YOU WILL BE AFFECTED. I hate to break it to you this way - but almost ALL bridal gowns and fabrics are produced in China. The companies may be based in the US, but the gowns are not made here.

Due to a combination of factors (labor shortages, workers demanding higher pay / better working conditions and stricter scrutiny at US Customs) gowns are running behind from most manufacturers. In fact, these companies are no longer accepting RUSH orders for gowns.

If you are waiting to order until closer to your wedding, you will have longer delivery times and most importantly your gown is going to cost more. We are beginning to receive letters from our manufacturers stating the price of goods out of China are going to increase 20 - 30% as soon as August 1st.

Weddings are stressful enough . . . don't delay in ordering your gown. There is no need for you to pay more or be needlessly worried about its delivery. I've included some links to articles regarding the situation in China.

Chinese Labor Shortages, US Problems

Denying Global Slump, China Has Labor Shortage

Companies Brace for End of Cheap Made-in-China Era

If it weren't for the articles, I'd think they were trying to scam brides, but this makes sense, so if you are in the market for a dress, you may want to order it a little early.

Love Love Love...

Swedish Crown Princess Victoria's on-the-shoulder wedding gown. Simple, elegant, grown-up.





I hope this style catches on.

Photo from CNN.com

Dresses

It happens all the time in movies. Or at least trashy romance novels. Girl swears she will never have anything to do with Guy. Girl meets Guy, argues with Guy...but then realizes she has fallen in love. Eventually she admits it, and everyone lives happily ever after.
I fell in love with a strapless A-line ballgown. It didn't want to, I swear. It just happened. But you have to admit when you're wrong.
I was wrong. Not in that strapless wedding dresses are overdone--they still are. But I was wrong to care about that. The only thing that matters (other than your budget) is how you feel in that dress. And if it's the most bridal wedding dress that has ever existed, like mine, so be it. I will no longer condemn brides for their choices in wedding attire, though I will still praise those who take the road less traveled (just WAIT until you see Andrea's dress).
I still think that brides should be open-minded about different kinds of straps and silhouettes. It doesn't have to be strapless to be special. It just has to be yours.

My dress is made of white taffeta and is A-line in shape. The bodice is corset-style, with pleats across the bust and a straight neckline. The skirt has a basque waistline, with box pleats in the back that I am WILD about. Because Derek reads this from time to time, I won't post the pictures of me in the dress up here, but they are available upon request.

I do think I'm going to add spaghetti straps to my dress, and take out the tulle underneath the skirt to make it less full, however, my sentiment about the strapless A-line dresses remains the same.

The chicken or the egg?

My wedding dress hunt has come down to two options. I do like one better, but only barely. The issue is whether to choose that dress, or choose the second dress because it fits in more with the time of year and style of the wedding (do not be alarmed--it is only a very close second place; I feel like a princess just as much in Dress #2, notwithstanding my long-held belief that "Princess comes from the inside").

Naturally, I conferred with my friends and bridesmaids, who, on the whole, seemed astounded that I would consider choosing Dress #2. To them, The Dress comes before the wedding, and the whole wedding should be designed to accommodate The Dress.

I loved Dress #1, but it really called for a Victorian-style wedding with its soft style and ornate beading. I can't see that kind of wedding being representative of "Me and Derek." Dress #2 fits in much more with what I had in mind, its clean lines and simplicity aligning with my idea of a summery, fresh affair.

What do you think? Which comes first: The Dress, or your Wedding Style? Or is it personal preference?

Several Bridal Shop Reviews

I forgot that part of why we started this blog was to review the wedding planning experience! So here are a few shops I've been to recently:

1. Demetrios. Date: early January 2010. Shopping for: wedding gowns. Location: Troy, MI (although they have several other stores around the country)
Demetrios was not too bad. The staff was very attentive, and great at suggesting gowns that I didn't think I'd like, but turned out to be great. I would go again if they had had THE dress, but for the most part my mom and I found Demetrios dresses to be too gaudy, particularly for a summer wedding.

2. Alan Ray Bridal. Date: January 30, 2010. Shopping for: wedding gowns. Location: Columbus, OH.
Very good store, the saleslady was very patient with me, and very attentive. She also let me and Theresa roam the store to pick out whatever we wanted for me to try on. They didn't have a huge selection, but Theresa and I did like the gowns they had, particularly the Maggie Sottero ones (I don't think it's just me--Maggie Sottero makes great gowns that seem to make every girl happy). They take very good care of their store--you are asked to take your shoes off when you enter the bridal salon.

3. Aria Bridesmaid Try-On Program. Date: March 6, 2010. Shopping for: bridesmaid dresses. Location: Lititz, PA (but it could be anywhere--read on an I'll explain).
This is a great program. Aria only has retail stores in DC, Boston, and LA. Since it is difficult for some to get out there to try on their beautiful, well-made gowns, Aria has a program where they send a potential customer dresses to try on at $15 each. You get to keep the dress for a few days and then you have to mail it back. Andrea ordered a bigger size so all of the bridesmaids would fit in it (so we didn't have to order two dresses for each girl), and we used potato chip bag clips to hold the smaller girls in. Unfortunately, neither style that we tried on was well-loved, but it's good to know that this program is out there.

4. Enchanted Evening. Date: March 6, 2010. Shopping for: bridesmaid dresses. Location: Lebanon, PA.
Great store! They are very careful with their merchandise; for example, I was not allowed to hold the gown until I had to put it on--the saleslady held it outside the dressing room and then passed it to me through the curtain once I was undressed. This makes sense--as the saleslady explained, when many people try on a dress, it can get snagged or ripped.
Additionally, Enchanted Evening offered a 20% discount if 5 or more bridesmaids ordered from them! On a $200 dress, that's a lot! (For those of you who are interested, Andrea ended up choosing this dress from Avalon Bridal for her bridesmaids, which we really do all love. It will be in dark red, with the sash being the same color).

5. Alfred Angelo. Date: March 6, 2010. Shopping for: wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses. Location: Lancaster, PA (although Alfred Angelo has several stores around the country).
I wish I had more good things to say about this store. My appointment started almost a half hour late (admittedly, it was a Saturday, and I understand they were busy) and the sales lady was particularly pushy. She kept pushing me to name one dress "THE dress", when, to be honest, none of them were even close. The wedding gowns felt cheaply made; none of them felt right.
The bridesmaid dresses were not too bad, though. No sales lady was needed for my girls to try them on, so I think they had fun, and we found some good dresses. Although--another demerit for our saleslady--we asked her what fabric one dress was made of, and she said chiffon. We didn't believe her, so we looked it up in the catalog, and it was crepe (good job Kristy, sticking to your guns!).
So overall, the Alfred Angelo store did not leave a great impression on me. I liked their bridesmaid dresses,* but their wedding gowns and salespeople were below par.

That's all for now, but there's more to come! I'm headed to the Mon Cheri Trunk Show at Bella Bridal this weekend in West Bloomfield, MI and then I have an appointment at The Wedding Shoppe in Berkley, MI. I'm having so much fun planning this wedding (and helping in all my friends' weddings), and I hope you all enjoy reading the blog and following along.


*I may still end up with Alfred Angelo dresses for my bridesmaids--my sister likes their designs, but she is in Argentina on study abroad right now, and I don't want to make any decisions until she can try something on.

Things

Things I do not like:
1. People who use the U-Scan and then pay with a personal check
2. Radio stations that play car horn and siren sounds while I'm driving
3. STRAPLESS A-LINE WEDDING GOWNS!!!!

I love my cousin. And she picked out a beautiful dress. But while beautiful, it is also strapless and A-Line, and consequently, looks like EVERY OTHER WEDDING DRESS I'VE EVER SEEN.
Here it is:

Like I said, beautiful dress. But I'd like to reiterate my agreement with Lily's post from last year. Since starting this blog, Lily and I have come to think of ourselves as wedding critics, and that sometimes entails pointing out things we don't like. Choosing a strapless A-Line dress is like choosing white bread toast for breakfast.

Yes, there was a time when I would have been sucked into this. My friend Claire is probably going to call me out after reading this, because sometime in college we all picked out wedding dresses that we liked best, and I am pretty sure mine was a strapless, A-Line lace thing. Claire saved pictures of the ones we picked.

But I have seen the light. My wedding dress will at least have spaghetti straps, or maybe an off-the-shoulder neckline. Here is one I have tried on and liked:


My friends are probably surprised by this. I really was one of those girls who wanted that princess ballgown. I, too, thought something like this would be more my style:


But when Theresa and I went to a shop to try it on, it turned out to be just too poofy. Maybe it's because I'm rather short, but the A-line skirt just didn't do it for me. It was difficult to move around in, and I didn't like the feel of the stiff filler material under the dress that gives the skirt that body.

My current favorite designer is Mon Cheri. I'll be heading to a trunk show next month, and you can be sure I'll blog about the experience. I'll probably write a short article on my experience at the Demetrios store as well. Stay tuned!