Rumors and Jasmine Bridal

Ok. Rumors are just ninja kicking all over this store.  I heard that there's a Jasmine Bridal trunk show. YES.   I had to find out more...

Awkward frozen face...it's my favorite.

So I tracked down Jayme...

Cute...uniformed...but cute.

Then I headed to the steam room.  This is where we steam out all the dresses that come in, whether they are a special order or for our store.  It's also the quietest and most humid part of the store.  Nichole does almost 100% of the steaming here (WOOT ON NICHOLE!!) so I figured I would find her there...

My favorite part: "What trunk show?"

On my way out I ran into Shelley who knew a little bit more...

Well.  Now we know that samples are coming...that's more than we knew for sure before!

So if any one in the store may have heard something it's going to be Claire!  She mans the phones, she sees all the emails...SURELY she must have some kind of information for us...

Mwah, mwah...information black hole.  But dang she's funny AND pretty...a rare combo.

I decided to then go into the back to see if I could find Renee...
but I got sidetracked by a possible Jazmyn sighting!! I heard her in the dressing room and I just KNEW this was my chance to finally capture her on film!!

Holy Tuna Salad that girl is impossible to get on camera!! She's just lucky that I tripped and fell...dang it.

So I continued to the employee room/storage/kitchen/Renee's office to see if I could convince her to divulge some juicy details...

YES FINALLY WE HAVE FACTS!!! 

AND IT'S TRUEEEE!! EEEEEEEE!!!! THIS IS SO EXCITING!

But we still don't know ALL the details so I worked up the cajones and just headed into Pam's office to get the FACTS:

THE TRUTH...FREEDOM!!

Ladies...this really is an amazing event that we are hosting here at Camarillo Bridal.  It's an opportunity that you won't find all the time and I am so proud to be part of it.

So let's lay it out...

1) Jasmine Bridal Trunk show August 26th and 27th during regular business hours.
2) The dresses: here in the store for you to see the entire line in all its glory!
3) 10% OFF JASMINE BRIDAL GOWNS DURING THIS EVENT ONLY!! Lady dudes...that's seriously a great deal.
4) Go make an appointment!  Call Claire or myself!  Don't wait!!  805.389.1515!!

Here are a few photos of Claire and I here to convince you further to call us:

We are sooo good at being awkward...

In all seriousness though the appointment slots that weekend are coveted by brides all over so don't wait to call us!!

We can't wait to help you buy YOUR DRESS!!

Most Likely To...

Today at Camarillo Bridal we did High School Year Book Superlatives!!  I gave each of our Gown Specialists their own Superlative!!

Renee: Most Likely to Succeed

What is she most likely to succeed at? She graduated magna cum laude.  Which is great and all but not half as awesome as being such a wonderful Manager.

"I'd like to thank..."


Shelley: Most Athletic

CHECK OUT THESE GUNS!!  In high school Shelley aaaalllmost got Most Athletic (but went with Best Ride) so we decided it would be the perfect superlative for her!  She currently plays volleyball and pretty much always wins.

Ripped.

Claire: Most Likely to Daydream

Claire loves to imagine, create, and dream.  She can often be found in fields of wildflowers dreaming lazily, or at the front desk staring fancifully at our scheduling program. 

"I wonder what it would be like if waffles and pancakes had babies...wancakes...paffles..."

Jazmyn: Least Photographed

This was all I could get...

The wild Jazmyn is camera shy to say the least.  Her last spotting several weeks ago was unusual...we were lucky to get this close unharmed.

Nichole: Best Hair

...BY FAR.  Her gorgeous locks are famous far and wide.  I am constantly fielding calls from Herbal Essence wanting her to be a hair model.  And yes...this is completely natural.  No color.  No styling.  100% gorgeous.

I know...I know...amazing.

Jayme: Most Gullible

Tabitha: "Jayme, everyone knows that Llamas can be black, brown, or purple."

Jayme: "I didn't know that! That's crazy!"

Ok, maybe not THAT bad. But close.

Tabitha: Most Outgoing

I LOVE THE WORLD!!!

So why the superlatives today?

Weelllll, so there's this thing in Ventura County.  And it's called The Best of Ventura County.

Every year The Ventura County Reporter puts together a list of the businesses in the area that the public has voted the "best of" in it's service.  For example, my favorite thai food restaurant, Sawadee Thai Fresh, was voted Best Thai Food in Ventura County in 2005.  (They are just up the street from us and have Pad Thai that is to die for!! A little post-dress-buying food...just sayin'.)

SO this year's voting has begun at The Ventura County Reporter's website!  People log on, vote for their favorites in different categories and then BAM: winner!  You can see what this is leading to...

Can you please vote for Camarillo Bridal to be The Best Bridal Salon in Ventura County for 2011!?

If you or some one you know had a great experience with us in any way at all, please GO VOTE!!

Here is the link, too:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VCReporterBestOf2011

"Camarillo Bridal:

Best Bridal Shop in Ventura County 2011!!"

Tuxedo Awareness Week

What's black and white and hot all over? YOUR GROOM IN A TUX.

You may or may not be aware that we have a fantastic tuxedo rental program here at Camarillo Bridal!  We offer a huge selection of styles for you and your man to choose from to match the attitude of your whole day.  So let's start at the beginning of the whole process.

We are a Jim's Formal Wear retailer, so you order it through us, we call it in ("Hey Jim!"), and then it gets delivered to the store!  Easy!  Jim's is a nationwide trusted dealer of tuxedos and we are proud to work with them here in the store.

1) About two months before your wedding day call and say "HEY WE'RE COMING TO PICK OUT TUXES!" Except you don't have to say it in all caps. And then we will book you an appointment.

2) Come in and pick out the styles and colors you are looking for.

"But a tux is just a tux? I mean, they're all the same you just change the color of the vest, right?"

Not so my dear girl, not so.  Let me example for you just a FRACTION of the options available to you.

Love this color combo because I love pink.  This is a classic look that you just can't go wrong with.

 The brown suit!  So very chic especially for the more casual wedding...like on a SoCal beach!  Imagine this next to your flowing ivory gown while you have pictures taken playing in the waves...ahhhhhh.

 Then there's this mod look.  It makes me think of James Bond...I'm not entirely sure why thought because it's more Blues Brothers with the skinny tie and slender silhouette.  But can I PLEASE just have a picture of 007 in here?!

What would James Bond do?

TREND ALERT!! Check THIS out...grey tuxedos. OMG. Yes.  Here is the Light Grey which is to die for (light pink and grey anyone?!) in a summer garden wedding. Oh, and guess what ELSE?  We're about to get the Steel Grey as well and to quote Renee: "Oh, it's HAWT". Yeah you're going to want to check these out.

The pocket square is a fantastic purchase that will help you customize and coordinate your look.  I recommend TWO squares layered together to incorporate more of your colors and to tie your whole wedding look together!  Super cute, right?

See!  Add a double layer of pocket square and BAM your grey and hot pink color combo comes to life on the tuxedos!  No, trust me, a boutonniere, and a pocket square together is a winning combo!!

This is Shelley, our Tuxedo Manager!  She is here to answer all of your tuxedo questions as you go through the process of picking out the perfect look for your wedding!

Here she is pretending to be a groomsman. And not quite succeeding. Cause of the femininity.

3) Have your dudes come in and get measured for their suits.  They'll simply need to swing by for 10 minutes, let our attractive staff measure them, and then they can leave the scary bridal store.  If you have any men needing to order from out of the area they can call their measurements in to the store and we can just do it over the phone!

4) The week of your event you will come to the store and try on your tux! 

That's our tux area/man cave.  We have a TV for them and sometimes I like to play the tubular early 90's skiing and snowboarding video. Bra...it's siiiiick.

Tuxedo Tid-Bits:

- If you pay for 6 tuxedo rentals you get the 7th one FREE!! Let me show you how easily that happens.  Your Fiance, his best man, his brother, your brother, his best friend from college, the ring bearer...and BAM FREE RENTAL for the next man needing to look snazzy. (i.e. dads, other groomsmen, ushers.)

- If you are a Platinum Club* Member then you get a free rental after only 5 paid rentals!  I mean, seriously, let's that means the the 3 groomsmen, 2 ring bearers, and then BAM FREE RENTAL for the GROOM!

- We do tuxedo rental for ALL occasions.  So prom, cotillion, galas, fundraisers, quinceaneras, the Oscars, costuming, and just cause he looks really good in one and should take you out for a fancy dinner.

- Some of the baller designers that Jim's (therefor Camarillo Bridal) offers: Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Perry Ellis, Andrew Fezza, and Jean Yeves.

- IT'S NOT EXPENSIVE: The rental starts at $89 for the basic tux and the average cost is only $132!  If you haven't shopped tuxedos before then you don't realize how amazing that is.  Trust me.  It's amazing.  The shoes are an additional $25 if you would like their feets to be snazzy, too.

- Dear Grooms, you get a little gift when you rent your tux here! See:

IT SAYS GROOM!!

Come see us to that we can get your men all fitted!  We are excited to make them look like the gentlemen they are.

I just love this picture of Shelley.

(*Platinum Club: I will expound on this amazing package that offers like $500 in savings in a later blog. YEAH.)

Tuesday Teaser!

SCHWHAT?!

It's Tuesday and there's a blog!?!?

Yeah, so normally I'm not even here on a Tuesday BUT the lovely Claire (Duchess of Front Desk) worked so that I could spend the day with my family who lives far far away!  So then of course I'm working for her today and getting acquainted with Tuesdays at Camarillo Bridal.

THANKS CLAIRE!! <3

True Fact #1: Tuesdays are very peaceful here.

True Fact #2: My BFF brought cake-pops from Starbucks as a treat for the Cam Bridal Babes!  HOLY TUNA SALAD they are delicious...thank you BFF!!

True Fact #3:

Pam (Queen Mother) is in Los Angeles and Renee is currently running store errands so neither are here to supervise...meheheheh!  Which means I'm writing a silly blog and getting away with it!!!! :)

True Fact #4: RENEE BOUGHT ME PINK FLIP FLOPS!! Hh man I am so happy!

True Fact #5: This bride has pink hair!!  And since so much of this post is pink I thought I should include her amazingness :)  PLUS she just came in to pick up HER DRESS!  Yay! Congrats Emily!!

You looked absolutely beautiful in you wedding dress, Emily!

That's the end of Tuesday Teaser...see you tomorrow for the regular installment.

True or False: Every Gown Needs Alterations

Today is National Fried Chicken Day.  I have confirmed that KFC is not celebrating this National Holiday...?!?!  Their marketing department?  FAIL.

This has absolutely nothing to do with today's blog.

TRUE: Every gown needs alterations.

This is Renee.  She is pretending to be an outraged bridesmaid.

No, no, we did not order the wrong size and the manufacturer did not goof.  These gowns come in your SIZE but not your SHAPE!  Which sucks we realize, but in order for them to fit all the women around the world it's just a fact.

And no it's not too long!!  All of the gowns come long enough for, ya know, the average 6 foot model.  Same applies to the shorter length gowns.  Putting a tea length dress on our 6 foot Gown Specialist, Shelley and our petite owner, Pam will show how "tea length" simply means measurement in inches from the natural waist to the hem NOT where it falls on your body.

OBNOXIOUS FACT: these gowns are not cut based on street clothing size.  I know, I know...but that's the way the manufacturers do it.  As an example I have Renee here wearing a size 16 dress.

RENEE IS NOT A SIZE 16.

a. She measures a 12 in the bust, a 14 in the waist, and a 16 in the hips.  So guess what.  In order to make sure the dress fits everywhere she needs to order the size 16 so that the dress fits her everywhere, and then the loose parts will be altered to her size!

b. Bridal Land sizes run very differently from regular clothing sizes.  Disregard your bridal size completely and know that you are in fact BEAUTIFUL :)

BUT YOU ARE NOT GETTING SCREWED OVER!!  We order the gown based on YOUR MEASUREMENTS and match them to the manufacturer's size chart to see which size will fit your curves the best.

We will show you how a seamstress will take in a dress to fit your body like I example here on Renee.

These are really easy little nips and tucks that a seamstress can handle quickly and inexpensively.
And not only that, but when you come to pick up your dress we will give you a convenient list of people who do alterations throughout the county! We don't do them in store which means guess what else...we don't make any money from the alterations. Just sayin'. 

Happy Renee!!  The way the alterations are done will make it fit beautifully!

The same can be said for your wedding gown!

It's stunning!!

Oh...but...what's that...on the back...IT'S THE CLAMPS!  That's right. Because the dress size was chosen based on her largest measurement and then was taken in to accommodate her bust.

The bust is always tricky because NO ONE'S BOOBS ARE IN THE SAME PLACE.

So you will have slight changes made around the bust to make it fit YOUR body and NOT the mannequin's form!

See, you do a little tuck and voila: it fits against YOUR chest :)

You will also need to have the bustle of your dress done by a seamstress because let me tell you what, dragging that thing all night might be beautiful for a while but after about 20 minutes you'll need that bad larry tucked up out of your way.

There are MANY different ways to bustle and this blog is not about that, so I'm just going to show a quick French bustle on this gown to example the before and after effect:

TA-DA!!  Your seamstress will look at your gown and talk to you about what is best for the dress.  Then she will work her magic and BAM beautifully bustled gown!

And for those of you interested in ordering from one of the manufacturers who WILL make a dress based on your measurements, please know that slight changes may still be needed simply because you weren't there for them to make the dress ON:

When all is said and done you will have a gown that is not only THE DRESS, but fits YOUR BODY...how many dresses will you ever have that you can say THAT about?!

Renee feels like a princess in her perfectly tailored gown!

AND IN OTHER NEWS...

There was a Jazmyn sighting in the store today!

Yes.  The illusive Gown Specialist, Jazmyn, was in fact spotted and caught on film in the wild of Camarillo Bridal today.  Usually impossible to see because of her camouflage and extreme wariness of the camera, we are very excited to be able to share this with you all today. 



Review:

-All dresses need alterations: we'll help you out.

-Dresses are ordered in your size but not your shape.

-No ones boobs are in the same place: it's just a fact.

-Jazmyn Sighting! We'll keep you posted on more.

Happy Wednesday everybody!!