Introducing the Newest Member of the Encore Bridal Team — Rachel Harvey

We are thrilled to have Rachel as Encore Bridal’s newest member and styling expert.  When you call for a virtual style consultation or come to one of our Open Sunday Style Salons you may just have a chance to meet.  In the meantime, here is a little intro…

Rachel

Before Encore Bridal: I graduated from The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles where I studied Merchandise Product Development. My major covered many aspects of the fashion industry such as fashion design, marketing, trend research, garment construction, styling, and manufacturing.

Why bridal? As far back as I can remember, I have always loved bridal fashion. I would save up my money to buy bridal magazines.  Then, I’d tear out all the dresses and accessories I loved and make collages out of them. Nothing seemed more beautiful than a bride in her dress.

Favorite Designer: Marchesa and Badgley Mischka

Favorite Accessory:  Shoes

Go To Outfit: Black dress and heels

Thing I Can’t Live Without: My Phone

I Like to Splurge On: Shoes

I Like to Save On: Make-up

My Personal Style: Edgy, Urban, and effortless

Favorite Thing about Encore Bridal: I love that Encore Bridal offers high-end designs and quality at an incredible price. I also love the idea that one wedding dress has multiple stories behind it and that Encore Bridal gives back to the community with every sale.

How NOT to Get Burned When Buying a Used Wedding Dress

In the last few weeks I’ve been contacted by three different brides-to-be with horror stories of used wedding dress purchases gone wrong.  This is basically how each story went:

- All three ladies found the perfect wedding dress through an online classifieds / listing service (sites will remain unnamed) specializing in pre-owned wedding gowns.  All of the gowns were being sold by individual sellers.

-Each found that  the dress listing stated the dress was worn but  in “mint” condition, professionally cleaned, and preserved.

-Each dress was shipped to the brides following payment.  Once the box was opened, they quickly realized that they were not in the stated condition online let alone wearable.  One bride found the gown to have several large round orange stains down the front of it.  Another bride found several stains on the front skirt.  None of brides were able to have the stains removed with re-cleaning (another expense). 

-After many frustrating conversations, tears,  and weeks passing two of the brides were able to re-coup most of their costs from the sellers (but not all) and one of the brides lost $2000 (the seller refused to refund her money).

How sad for these brides!  And, how frustrating that these individual sellers are ruining the name of  online pre-owned wedding dress shopping!  These are smart brides who got burned. The good news is, I have almost a fool-proof way to avoid being in their shoes:

Purchase your  dress  from an online business, not an individual seller. 

Why should you only buy your used wedding dress from a Business:

1.  Businesses are dependent on happy brides.  They need you to have a positive experience so that you will tell your friends and they will tell their friends etc.  Or even more so, they don’t want you to spread negative reviews about their business. We all know the power of YELP.com.

2.   Businesses accept credit cards allowing you some added protection from your credit card company. 

3.  Most bridal consignment e-Boutiques allow returns.  So, if the dress you thought would be perfect, turned out not to be so perfect on, you are not stuck with it. 

4.  Such businesses employ experts who are dedicated to helping you find the RIGHT dress, not just a dress that they want someone to take off their hands.

Encore Bridal sells each and every dress on our site.  By doing this we ensure brides have consistently excellent customer service. 

Other businesses we love that sell pre-owned bridal wear:

*Posh Girl Vintage

*White Lux Shoes

Tags: consignment bridal boutiques, pre-owned wedding dresses, used bridal gowns, used wedding dresses

Second Guessing “The Dress” – Surviving Buyer’s Remorse

    You are not alone.  I promise, YOU ARE NOT ALONE.  If you are having second thoughts about whether the wedding dress you purchased is “The One”, you are one of many brides out there.  It is normal.  Maybe you bought the first wedding dress you tried on.  Or, maybe you tried on wedding dresses  every Saturday for the last 6 months finally making your decision last week.  It seems nobody is immune to the stomach dropping feeling of “Did I purchase the right dress”? 

I probably receive a call a week from one of these brides.  The conversation starts like this, “I wanted to get more information about your consignment policy, because I’m starting to second guess my dress”.  Now I own a consignment bridal boutique — a business that is dependent on obtaining new inventory.  You’d think I’d be rattling off our consignment policy and discussing how quickly they can get their dress to me.  But, instead I start asking more questions.  I want  to see if I can talk them into keeping their dress! Why?  Because 9 times out of 10, they purchased the right dress.   

If you were talked into a dress that isn’t you, you really don’t love it,  and you purchased it to please your mom, grandma,  best friend, or second cousin once removed,  I get it.  Read about our bridal consignment policy  and contact me today.  But, if that isn’t the case, keep reading…

How to survive buyer’s remorse and fall back in love with your wedding dress:

1.  Breath  and repeat after me, ” This is normal. I will get through this.”

2.  Identify what made you have second thoughts.  Was it a wedding dress you saw on Say Yes To The Dress, trend changes, a negative experience with the seamstress or sales consultant, or a clueless friend who said something stupid such as, “That dress looks just like the dress Sally wore at her wedding last year, don’t you think?”. 

3.  Take a break from looking at all wedding dresses including yours.   No more skimming through bridal magazines or reading wedding dress blog posts.  Don’t try your dress on again or look at the pictures.   Try to do this for at least 2 weeks.  However, if your wedding is less than 5 months away, you can shorten it to 1 week.  Encore Bridal has gorgeous dresses which you can purchase today and have by tomorrow if need be.

4.  Remember what it was about your dress that you liked.  Did you like the material? Did you like how it made your waist look so tiny? Did you love the delicate lace, or the unique details?  Remember the positive. 

5.  Try your dress on again – after your short “separation”, go back and revisit.  If you must have another opinion, seek the opinion of only one person.  Make sure this person understands YOUR style and wedding day vision and is able to look past their style preferences.  Add any accessories you might be wearing  - veil, headpiece, jewelry, shoes.  See the big picture. 

6.  If you’re still questioning, find out if small tweaks can be made to your wedding gown to make it closer to what you are looking for (ex. add/remove straps, change silhouette from a-line to trumpet, add beading etc…).

7.  Make your decision and keep it.  Once you’ve decided that you love your dress again, move forward.  There are plenty of other details to stress about. Stop looking at wedding dresses all together and be happy that you get to enjoy your Saturdays with your sweetie and not on the computer shopping for your dress.

Feel better?

Tags: buyer's remorse, buying a wedding dress, purchasing bridal gown, second guessing wedding dress

Bridal Boot Camp in Los Angeles’ South Bay

It is a universal truth that nothing combats pre-wedding day jitters and stress like a good fitness induced sweat. Enter Scott Ducharme, certified strength and conditioning specialist (C.S.C.S.) and elite personal trainer. Scott Ducharme, who began his career as a strength and conditioning coach for the Toronto Blue Jays Organization and later spent three years as a personal trainer to New York’s social elite (from athletes to celebrities, models and media) at the infamous Chelsea Piers, is now transforming Southern California’s brides-to-be with a Bridal Boot Camp.

Scott Ducharme’s Bridal Boot Camp is an 8-week or 12-week private to semi-private boot camp for the bride, groom, mother-of-the-bride or anyone in the wedding party. The Bridal Boot Camp meets three times per week for 50 minutes, at a time that is convenient for the client. The sessions focus on keeping the heart rate up for the full 50-minutes with a total body work out that combines strength training and circuit training with balance and core training. The Bridal Boot Camp, much like yoga and Pilates relies on the weight of the body to build strength and burn fat. The Bridal Boot Camp caters to any fitness level and no equipment is needed: Mr. Ducharme will bring the gym to his client.

Scott will be our special guest this Sunday, September 27 during our Sunday Style Salon (11am-4pm) at our Manhattan Beach showroom. Brides attending the salon will have a chance to meet Scott and find out more about his Bridal Boot Camp.  In addition,  he is offering a free group mini-class at 4:00pm (meet at the showroom and walk down to the beach together). If you are interested, wear gym or yoga clothes and bring a towel.

About Scott Ducharme:

Scott is a dedicated fitness specialist focused on improving the physical fitness and overall well-being of individuals willing to put in the time and effort to better themselves. He is committed to improving overall health within his community.

For the past 8 years, Scott has worked to help everyone from 7th grade athletes to professional baseball players; from 70 year old retirees to 40 year old moms; from college level rowers to celebrities. This is possible for one reason; Scott understands the human body and the physiological responses and adaptations to different forms of exercise.

With a degree in Exercise Science and Fitness and Cardiac Rehab from Ithaca College, Scott is a certified strength & conditioning specialist, with a proven success record in helping all levels of clientele improve their body composition and aesthetics, metabolic rate, overall strength and agility, balance/coordination, stabilization, 1st step quickness, aerobic and anaerobic capacity and endurance, explosion/power, etc.

Discounted Designer Wedding Dress of The Week – The “Sassy” Edition

This week’s dress is the fun, sassy dress, “Balneo” by Cymbeline Paris. Just looking at this dress makes me want to spin around and dance. A perfect dress for the non-traditional bride or for the bride looking for a second reception dress.

Designer Photo

Real Bride Wearing Cymbeline Paris, "Balneo"

Real Bride wearing Cymbeline "Balneo"

A note from the seller:

It was my second marriage and I already wore a long traditional gown and a veil once. This time, I wanted a fresh flirtatious chic and comfortable look. I was looking for a short dress! I thought it would be an easy find, but as it turned out, it was a much bigger challenge than I thought it would be. To skip the details of my search, I finally came across Cymbeline Balneo. The moment I saw it on a mannequin, I new it was MY DRESS. When I tried it on, and came out of the fitting room, honestly, the entire shop including sales associates and other brides and their girlfriends gathered around to take a look, giving me compliments. So… I got it! The dress was strapless and fit perfectly, but if I were to lift my arms or take a deep breath my breasts would come up and slightly show. Constantly pulling up a strapless gown takes away the glamor of wearing it…So, at first, I thought of
taking it in on the sides. But, luckily I have a friend who is a tailor for a couture designer. She said that making it tighter would visually flatten my bust and would create slight discomfort when breathing. She suggested we keep it as is and add thin Swarovski crystal straps which would add luxurious sparkle and provide the support I was looking for. That is exactly what I had her do, and I was sooo pleased with results! I felt so comfortable and confident in my movements and Swarovski crystals looked awesome! This dress is uinique, very feminine and fresh. I loved wearing it so much and want for another bride to enjoy it as much as I did !

Now you have a chance to have this gorgeous gown at a fraction of the price. Here is “Balneo” in our e-Boutique: