Friday, September 14, 2007

The Dress


I've found it!
I've posted a photo of it below...
Yeah, right.
Of course you can't see my dress! But I thought I should at least share that I have settled on one...seeing as though I've been thinking aloud here on the blog.
I will say this, it's nothing like the photos of any of the gowns I've posted previously.
I'm really excited.
Now, however, I'm faced with one more hurdle.
From whom do I order the dress?
Options are:
1. online vendor
2. Full service, 'brick-and-mortar' bridal boutique
Pros of Online Vendor:
-Almost always cheaper
-Very reliable... as long as the online vendor has an actual, reputable store somewhere in the U.S. That means, if said boutique has had a popular bridal store, say, in North carolina for 25 years and then branched out to also sell online.
Pros of Traditonal Bridal:
-Real, live person to assist you, measure you and take care of logistics
-Real live person to answer questions, etc. that has been through this many, many times
-Usually, small (10%) discount on bridesmaids dresses if you order everything from them
-Usually do alterations on site or can refer

Cons of Online:
-Sketchy if the vendor is solely based online and doesn't have a physical store. For all you know they can just take your $$$ and disappear.
-Sketchy just because you're not dealing with a real person
-Alterations are on you- have to find someone to do them, and figure in that extra cost
Cons of Bridal Boutique:
-Almost always more expensive
-Almost always fairly crowded and often chaotic (at least the ones 'round here)
-Some degree of pressure from salespeople

Still not sure how I feel about the possibility of ordering something this important online.
On one hand, I feel like as long as the vendor has a reputable physical store, and if you can check them with the Better Business Bureau, then why not?
Then something says..."just be safe."
What are your thoughts?

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