Should Brides Buy Wedding Dresses Online or In a Bridal Salon? Pros, Cons & Regrets
episode
Wedding Planning Experts | Wedding Planning Tips, Budget, Vendors & Advice for Brides
17 min
2 speakers
6 chapters
transcribed 2 months ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Why did you bring the podcast to the Grand Rapids Bridal Show and who are the guests?
We took our podcast right down to the Grand Rapids Bridal Show at the DeVos Place and sat down with a number of vendors and did a podcast right at the Bridal Show. With so many options of where to get wedding dresses, how do you know where to go? And how can you stay on budget? welcome to the wedding planning experts podcast hosted by dan and andrea de ward owners of full circle weddings after 25 years in the wedding industry owning and operating multiple wedding venues hosting hundreds of ceremonies and receptions we provide tips to help brides and grooms plan their wedding stress-free and on budget so let's dive in and talk about all things weddings So Kathy and Amanda, welcome to the wedding planning experts podcast.
You are from Cinderella's closet. You provided the fashion, the gowns and everything for the bridal show at the bridal expo this weekend.
Correct.
So we wanted to sit, talk with you. We welcome you to the podcast.
Thank you. So we'd like to learn a little bit more about your business as far as, can you tell us where you're located and how did you get it started? We are located in the Lake Small in Muskegon.
About 18 years ago, I started taking in prom dresses at my house for girls that couldn't afford to go to prom.
So that's how it launched?
That's how it launched. I was a cheerleading coach at Oak Ridge, had some girls that couldn't afford prom dresses. I sent out a message on Facebook, bring me your old prom dresses. Let's see if we can get some dresses, help these girls go to prom. It has kept growing and growing, moved into the mall, and just recently expanded again into the old Victoria's Secrets.
So prom dresses, has that been kind of your staple? Yes. How long? Are you just getting into the bridal gown, or have you been doing that for a while?
It really picked up probably, what, two years ago? Yeah. You know, everybody always talks about Amazon, Amazon, Amazon's killing people. you know, our small businesses, the brick and mortar. And the reason for that is, is like a lot of bridal shops. If you don't have a thousand or $2,000 to shop, you're not going to find a wedding dress. So we started kind of looking for lower priced wedding dresses because we honestly have brides that come in and say, I'm getting married in a month and I have $300. I have $400. You come into our store with 400 bucks. You're going to walk out with a very nice dress.
That's impressive.
Yeah. Yes.
That's a price point. I thought I heard, and correct me if I'm wrong, but in the fashion show when that was going on, was there a price point they use or none of your dresses are above a certain price point?
We don't have a dress over a thousand bucks. All of our dresses are $9.99 or under. We have very few that even reach that. Most of them are like in the maybe mid-fours to $800 range. We have a few that are over top of that, you know, that might be like $9.29 or something like that. But we do have like one dress that we had. What did we have in three colors on the stage today?
Yep.
And it comes in like three different colors. It comes in blush, latte and white. And I think it retails for $3.49. $3.49.
Wow. I mean, those price points, Andrew and I, way back, we're going back a long ways, but we used to have our bridal gowns a lot. And we understand, I mean, those price points are amazing. So good for you. I mean, that's going to attract a lot of brides out there that are looking for good price point gowns. And what I saw on the fashion show, They were beautiful dresses.
Oh, they're absolutely beautiful. But we deal with companies. I've told a lot of brides today, like when we go to market in Atlanta, I mean, Amanda went with us last year. Like some places we walk in and they'll have champagne and wine and... Over-the-top food.
Yeah.
I mean...
How did Cinderella's Closet start and evolve from prom dresses to bridal gowns?
escargot and shrimp and lobster and you pay for that as a bride right yeah you know the companies we deal with we might walk in and there's a table in there that might have some water popping chips on it for you but that keeps the prices down because they don't spend a lot of money in wine and in dining the vendors they don't spend a lot of money on advertising you know they they leave it up to us to sell their dresses rather than
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Why did you bring the podcast to the Grand Rapids Bridal Show and who are the guests?
0:00–3:32
2
How did Cinderella's Closet start and evolve from prom dresses to bridal gowns?
3:32–8:19
3
What price ranges and inventory does Cinderella's Closet offer for budget-conscious brides?
8:19–11:24
4
How do bridal market decisions (vendors/marketing) affect dress pricing for brides?
11:24–13:08
5
What experience and services does a bridal salon provide that online shopping can’t?
13:08–14:58
6
How do appointments, ordering timelines, and alterations work at a local bridal shop?
14:58–17:25
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Wedding Planning Experts | Wedding Planning Tips, Budget, Vendors & Advice for Brides
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